On a sudden impulse, I cycled up to the Bangalore One office today to pay the bills. The word to take note of here is "cycled". Usually, I would either walk up or take the car but today I felt the urge to ride the cycle.
It felt great to be cycling - I thought about the petrol I saved on the 3 km round trip, the carbon emissions that I did not off load into the atmosphere and of course the calories that I burnt! It was a three-pronged, 'feel good' trident that helped release the endorphins in my brain to keep me elated despite the effort put in while cycling.
The reactions of people on the road was varied- a middle aged man in a motor cycle thought it best to let me pass and hence stopped to give me way - I suppose he was unsure of my riding skills and didn't want to take any chances. An auto driver, (he must have been in a great hurry) did not like my taking up the corner of the small road and kept his hands pressed on the horn, honking loudly and persistently - so it was my turn to wait and let him pass. I think I also got a few appreciative glances (I'd rather think of them as appreciative glances than rude glares) from a few pedestrians.
Anyway, as I cycled, it brought back memories from my childhood - the first cycling lesson, the innumerable falls while learning to cycle, the excitement and thrill when I finally found my balance, the pleas to my brother to let me borrow his cycle. Those days, having a cycle was a luxury. My elder brother had a Hero cycle - the typical, black, gents cycle of yester years with a rod in the middle. I could not reach the pedal if I sat on the seat of the cycle so I would ride "kathri" style - with the right leg going below the bar to reach the right pedal and my whole body slightly bent to the left and me holding on to the handle bar trying to maintain the balance! Thinking back, I wonder how I achieved this! (but that's how most kids learnt to ride the big cycle then).
My brother would wash and clean his pride of possession and would take care of it like it was his baby - he does the same thing to his car now! And whenever I asked him for his cycle, he would always say -"first learn to clean the cycle, you can ride it later". So I was forced to clean his cycle every time before riding it.
Things have changed a lot today. Both my girls have a 'girls cycle' adjusted to their height, and in a colour they like. But one thing definitely hasn't changed - it is still me who cleans the cycles!!
