A Ride Down Memory Lane!

 

It was during one particular vacation of my childhood that I and my friends came to know about cycles on hire.

There was a cycle repair shop near the lane where I and my friends lived. The shop rented out cycles at the rate of Rs.5 per hour. (Ah, simple and priceless days of life!). The moment we came to know about it, all of us decided to get the cycles and try them out. It didn't deter us that some of us didn't know how to ride! We tried out once and then never looked back. Every vacation, it became a mandatory routine to get the cycles.

I remember the anticipation and excitement whenever I and my friends would leave for the shop. There was a crossing involved, and it seemed to be really adventurous and dangerous for us. We would form a long horizontal line, with all of us holding hands and waiting till it was safe to cross the road. We must have made an interesting sight indeed!

We had good days and not-so-good days at the shop while renting the cycles. Good days would mean that the cycles would be brand new and polished. Bad days would mean clearly repaired cycles and some girls not getting the cycles meant for girls. Oh, there was a discriminating feature for the cycle, you know! The girls would take the one with two diagonal bars running parallel to each other. The boys would take the ones with the bars forming sort of a triangle. God forbid if a guy got the cycle meant for the girls or vice versa!

The crossing seemed all the more difficult with the cycles. Now that I look back, I remember some vehicles slowing down and gesturing us to cross safely while the vehicles waited patiently. I wonder whether this happens today!

We would start riding the cycles on the road itself. It used to be a busy road and we would ride on one side with utmost care and attention. In the middle of our lane, there used to be a steep drop. We would remind each other to not to pedal the cycle there as the slope's momentum took the cycle down on its own. It always used to give a strange kind of thrill! Some adventurous friends would pedal even faster at that slope, shouting with glee and exhilaration.

Our building had a very narrow compound and we rode our cycles around it. In the beginning I needed help. Some of my friends would help in balancing while I rode on blissfully. I appreciate them even more looking back now, for I was a hefty kid and must have weighed a lot. To balance me and the cycle must have required lot of effort from my friends! This went on until one day my friends decided that it was time for me to ride on my own. They didn't catch my cycle from behind and just pretended that they were assisting me in balancing. I rode on for a while until I realised that I was cycling on my own.

Someone from the group always kept an eye on the timing. We had to return the cycles to the shop within an hour exactly, else the shop owner would charge us extra. The journey back to the shop always felt tiring and difficult.

So much has changed now. I wonder whether the shop is still existing by the crossing. The friends are scattered in different cities. Only the memories bind us together now!

My kid has his own cycle. And my husband has one, for fitness. At times, they both ride out and my kid's friends accompany them on the road with their own cycles. I see them and take a trip down memory lane, where a group of friends ride the cycles on the road and shout - 'Idhar pedal mat maar, apne aap hi cycle aage chala jaayega!'