Cycle

Those were days when cycles were a pride possession. Kids like us longed for one..aped at some well made-up and stylish ones..many times as we grew up, we all rode Kilometers in it- be it to play a cricket match in the next village or to go to a cinema in a far away town or just-for-fun trip to some friend’s house in next village..In our town, Neyveli, every house had 3 cycles atleast..That was the most popular vehicle..I still remember when my classmate viki’s parents bought him a cycle, he couldn't take it and flaunt at will.It was new and so had to be sparingly used and 'well maintained', u know. So he would ask me to come to his house and call him for a long drive (or to visit some teacher for some ‘doubt’ ‘clarification’) so that his parents wud allow him to take his new prized possession:-)
Hmm..those were days of nice simple but satisfying living..no excesses..Clinging to these small pleasures and making the best out of them was the key.
The cycles were one such gem. Slowly it was pushed to oblivion. Even as we all moved to colleges, slowly chetaks, M80s and TVSes started to surface in our small town and in to our own lives too..
Tough I did come a full circle in this ‘development’ cycle- graduating from cycle to a TVS50, then to a TVS Suzuki 100CC bike then a 4 wheeler..I was back to bicycles at CH but it was used only for the short rides & to catch up time in reaching station or gym. Back there at Swiss, rarely we used to go on long rides to next villages or riversides as a group. These trips also were far less than what we intended or planned.
All this build up is bcos, I was suddenly craving to ride a cycle in a city and am thrilled I did it! In this recent visit to Bangalore, I took my BIL’s cycle (a stylish looking geared one!) and decided to accomplish my one day’s meets/visits in that.
And I did that with élan er ease I shud say. That shud be a solid 20+kms..in blore terrain that’s an additional challenge. For the records, I went from taverekere to Koramangala from there to lalbagh main gate (to that organic mela!), then from there all the way to south end, then sangam circle in jayanagar, from there to JP nagar and finally back to Taverekere via BTM. 20+ in one afternoon gave me some ‘accomplished’ feeling and also the thrill that I didn’t spew any CO2. I rode it like a king with such a great relief and thought that my whole noon was so ecofriendly, travel wise!
So now that the night after passed off without any pains or discomforts, am wanting to do more of this cycling..not only for the nostalgic thrills but also for the carbon credits I can have..Now don’t mumble ‘to offset else where..’ like W. just cheer me;-)
Note: In the process I went to 2 apartments to visit my cousins and both the places the kids playing gaped at my cycle (so kids still gape at cycles, I realized) and shouted ‘hey, that’s a firefox’..poor me, I didn't know what that was, until my nephew updated me.