When World Bicycle Day was celebrated recently, I could not help but remember my early association with that vehicle.
A relative who owned a bicycle used to pay us frequent visits. The vehicle was always clean and shining. Colourful plastic covers adorned its seat and the crossbar. It had a bell that went on ringing when rotated by hand, a dynamo that energized the headlight and the red rear light. The bicycle was under lock and key in the absence of its owner, and we, the children, were not allowed even to touch it. When in a happy mood, he would place us on the crossbar and give us a short ride. We were so proud then that we wanted the whole village to see us.
Owning a bicycle was a status symbol as very few people had it. Keeping one required a licence, renewable every year by the government department concerned, by paying an annual fee. Riding at night without a head light was an offence.
In my native town of Mannar in Kerala, there were a couple of shops that rented out bicycles on an hourly basis. Those in a good condition were given to experienced old-timers. Others were kept for learners. There were smaller bicycles for children and those without crossbars for girls.
All used the football ground of the high school for learning cycling. It was common to see learners falling with bicycles even when they had someone to help. Once they learnt, some would ride standing on the pedals without using the seat or speed through the roads without touching the handlebar, causing occasional ‘accidents ‘.
There was a police inspector in the local police station who waited with tools in unexpected corners to catch such acrobats. If he found someone riding without using the seat or handlebar, he would remove those parts as he did not need them, and allow him to go without asking questions. When he was transferred to another place, there were several bicycle seats and handlebars lying in his room.
Those were the days when circus companies were a competition to the cinema houses. One of the attractions in the circus was unicycles with one wheel. Groups of girls in shining apparel would pedal through the arena. Sometimes the riders were monkeys or bears.
The Covid-19 pandemic saw the closure of gymkhanas where the health-conscious people went to tone up their muscles. The only alternative was the bicycle, and its sale went up considerably. It was environment-friendly, required no expensive fuel, and took one out on adventure tours. Cycling clubs have come up in big cities, and their members are rich, owning bicycles that cost lakhs of rupees with several innovations like sophisticated gears. One can see its members pedalling through highways, wearing protective gears like special types of helmets. Some cities the world over have come up with separate cycling tracks and keep cycles in different parts of the city to encourage citizens to use them.
Bicycles of the present generation are ‘luckier than their ancestors ‘. There was a time when older bicycles carried the whole family or worked as the carriers of heavy gas cylinders and milk cans!
