By Our Reporter
Shillong: The city is witnessing an emerging trend with bikers in the city now zooming around with rich and colourful graphic designs on their bikes, thanks to Mark Dikrud, a Shillongite with a love for creativity.
Dikrud, in his own words, was inspired to try his hands at graphic designing for bikes after watching The Ghost Rider, a 2007 Nicholas Cage-starrer movie, and specially because there is a craze among the youths of the city to display graphics on their bikes ranging from skulls to flames.
Dikrud’s workshop ‘MD Motografix’, is a small room filled with smell of paint and heat. MD stands for Mark Dikrud.
According to the designer, the trend has really picked up speed in the capital city and there is high demand to paint flames, skulls and other tribal motifs on bikes.
Besides skulls and flames, Mark has even painted guitars, tables and other designs on many bikes.
“The bikers prefer designs which are different. The choice of skulls by so many of these bikers should not be interpreted with something evil,” Mark added.
Mark, who came up with the idea of graphic designing on bikes four years ago, said he gave up his work at a grocery shop put up at his residence at Jingkieng, Nongthymmai to begin this creative journey in his small room.
He began by buying airbrush and welding materials at the cost of Rs 20,000 and began painting graphics on bikers which were brought to him.
Presently he has designed around twenty bikes and he charges Rs 5000 for the designing each bike. It takes around 15 days to complete the designs on one bike, he stated.
Bikers from Guwahati and even Arunachal Pradesh have approached Mark to paint their bikes with the latest designs.
Mark maintains a note book where he prepares sketches before painting them on the bikes.
Mark believes that designing a bike is still a creative thing for him.
“I don’t want to start in a large way as I still believe what I am doing is just an expression of my creativity. But I wish to change my work place from my home to any shop on the road side where I can provide parking apace for the vehicles,” Mark said, adding, “There is a growing demand to paint graphic designs on cars. I have so far designed only two cars since there is no space at my residence.”
This creative entrepreneur is yet to avail any of the self-employment initiative for youths launched by either the State or the central government.