There was a red bicycle. A shorty, fit for the naive kids to learn cycling. My maternal grand uncle had gifted the bicycle to my brother on his 5th birthday. The gift turned out to be a boon for the other neighbourhood kids as most of the interested ones learnt to cycle in that very red, shorty and humble one. After its varied interesting adventures, the cycle was kept in our verandah and I grew up to a 9 year old seeing it stationed in one position until one day Baba came with a pair of balancers. They were fitted to the either side of the rear wheel. Baba summoned me and presented the boon again. My joy knew no bounds. Every evening, be it a hot one, rainy one or a cool one, my red cycle will be out in the playground. Well, the rider was still struggling with her pedalling skills, though. Then a day came when off went the balancers and the cycle sped and wandered from one corner of the neighbourhood to the other. The red bicycle now got an elder pal who got a resting place just next to it. The pal was a straight handled mountain bike which was bought for my brother as he needed one to go to school. After a few years, I, too started learning to ride in that big one. The problem with the mountain bike was one could not do 'half-pedalling' and one would have to take it all the way to a slopy land of the playground to brace herself up to the lofty seat. Well, it took a long time to tame the bike for the young one while the elder one happily rode it to school. The young one loved to get 'double carried', though and would wait outside her school get to look for the bike rider coming to pick her up.
Days went by. Some one came to request for the red shorty for her kid. We gave it away. Little did we know that the red shorty won't come back to us again. With it, its old pal also went. Don't know what really happened to it, maybe it ended up in a recycle garage after stumbling for a few times. They went away. Their first rider also went for higher studies. The vacant space of the verandah was taken by a second hand ladies' bicycle. When I saw it, I fumed. I was not ready for a second hand. I detested it and started walking to school. The cycle sulked alone till my Baba started riding it. I too, soon followed the course as I realized by that time, that Baba wanted to celebrate my adolescenthood by gifting me a cycle like the way he did for my brother, but he could not afford a new one as he took a voluntary retirement from his service because his company wanted him to.
Days went by. Some one came to request for the red shorty for her kid. We gave it away. Little did we know that the red shorty won't come back to us again. With it, its old pal also went. Don't know what really happened to it, maybe it ended up in a recycle garage after stumbling for a few times. They went away. Their first rider also went for higher studies. The vacant space of the verandah was taken by a second hand ladies' bicycle. When I saw it, I fumed. I was not ready for a second hand. I detested it and started walking to school. The cycle sulked alone till my Baba started riding it. I too, soon followed the course as I realized by that time, that Baba wanted to celebrate my adolescenthood by gifting me a cycle like the way he did for my brother, but he could not afford a new one as he took a voluntary retirement from his service because his company wanted him to.
