Cycle!

"How old are you, ma?", asked the kid. "I am 'nn' years old!", she said. "And pappa?", he continued. "He is 'mm' years old!", she said. I smiled hearing this conversation. She had reduced my age too, there and I felt better. "How old are you dear?", I asked him. "I am now 4 years old!", he said proudly. "Time to get him a cycle!", my wife said and quickly added, "a two wheeled one!", anticipating my answer in advance. He had a tricycle already, which he used to 'park' at odd places in the house like kitchen and in the middle of the bed; at times, on my foot too.

There are a few words that push me to nostalgia. Oh! Those wonderful days when we debated hard to get that 50 paisa for ourselves when we agreed to buy groceries / milk! Once we get that amount, we ran to the hour cycle shop [a shop that rented cycles at a rate of 50 paise per half hour]. Now such shops are not seen, at least in Chennai. We would rush there to get the best looking ones for ourselves, otherwise, our 'foes' would roam around us with double the joy. I was the last in my set to learn cycling. I used to fall numerous times and was happier that I inflicted at least a minor damage to those who 'helped' me along. One smart friend then taught me how to cycle in circles as he had seen me falling to one side or the other. I did so successfully hoping that he was with me all along. But that traitor had left me and the moment I realized that, I felt that trepidation and soon fell down. I did not talk to him for 3 days after that.

Perhaps my dreams for learning to ride a cycle came from seeing my brother on it, while I was still a kid. "When will I ever grow to ride that thing?", I wondered then, but after learning, that interest seemed to hide, like a dull moon under the cloud. It resurfaced later, when I got my own cycle, but by then, I was well aware of my limitation - I can never drive anything or anyone in my life. So, when my wife suggested this and my kid insisted, I started thinking. "How much will it be? Lets google that!", I said to myself and ended up with awe, anger and finally a defeated acceptance when seeing the price for such a small thing. It never seemed to be justified [please don't as me - did you think this way about your salary? I still get way less!].

Finally, we went there first, and decided the model. Then we took the kid and showed him the choices in that model. He preferred something else and you don't have to be announced, who won. Right? Even in that model that he chose, there was another one that was twin-coloured and better, but he was glued to the reddish-orange one [I believe that there is a child psychologist at work behind choosing the colour, seat type and other things in a cycle]. But then, he seemed to be all over the place and rode in the narrow path [walk way] between various cycles that were neatly kept in stacks. And he refused to allow me even to hold him or the cycle. It was a smaller one, right for his age and he found it comfortable. What I feared, happened next, as he pedalled and collided with the first cycle in one of the lines. As myself and the shop assistant rushed to arrest the fall, he somehow managed to get himself unhurt and laughed, seeing our hurry.

Then came the most difficult part. He started asking questions. "Pappa! How about this one?", pointing to the cycle for the bigger age group. The shop assistant answered that - "It is for 10 -12 year children!". All my kids' questions were directed to that guy now. "How about this one? And this one? and this one?". I had to stop him and divert at one point of time. It was a big showroom and even had those treadmills and exercise bikes, which seemed to blur in my view, after seeing their price tags, but the kid was keen on knowing about them and their prices too. I read out some and diverted him when he started asking, "What is meant by thousand?". Finally, his barrage of questions stopped. And unlike me, he was adamant about his choice even when we asked for the last time before billing. Then I had to start the bargain for the delivery of it and it seemed too much. After a lengthier discussion, we decided to take it with us, which left us being crushed under it all the way till we reached home.

Then my son asked that question - "Pappa! Why there is no cycle for your age?".

 

Thanks a lot Padmaja909. Happy to receive a first from you. It would even be better if you share your childhood memories about cycling too. Please post it when you find time and interest. -rgs

 

I pity their father for that, Aruna. But then, there is that peer pressure and that great urge to be the best, have the best and to show off to others as well. And yes, I am enjoying [or at times suffering?] time with my kid of late, though his tantrums turn me off. Thanks for your feedback. -rgs

 

I am so moved, reading your response Shanvy. My prayers to your kids well-being too. He will definitely be back and do what seems now so distant. There are so much of examples in many fields about people who did what was initially forbidden to them, for their physical state and they had later on excelled in them.

Even Hrithik Roshan is an example. His doctors said that he shouldn't dance when he was an injured kid. He turned out to be the best. And no, I am not saying this for just the sake of giving some hope. I've read / heard and even seen some. It is just going to take some time. Thats all.

Regarding my accepting it - Perhaps one of the things that we may understand better, later, is that we need to accept that life just moves on. At this moment, each day seems to be long with groans / disappointments at times or whirls away like a blur. But I will remember your words. Thanks for your feedback. -rgs