Ravi Speaks:
This article I have written while refreshing my very cherished memories of school days. I had gone to Srinagar during my Summer Holiday and this true story is 45 years back.
My Bicycle In 1976 At Srinagar
I was just fifteen when I had secretly approached the ‘Lambretta’ by trying to kick it repeatedly, and it got suddenly started to my surprise. I took it around the park, which was outside my residence in Srinagar. This scooter was of one of my relations’ who met my grandfather from Karan-Nagar Srinagar and had parked the same outside the house. I was very naughty at that age, and I went silently outside the house and started kicking it. Once it got started, I changed the gears and put them in the first gear, as I had seen most of the people doing that way. The scooter ran quick, and I was on it and it lost control suddenly and got smashed by the park wall. Because of that, I fell, and the part of the heavy scooter fell on my legs. I had small bruises but thank god nothing serious happened. My shirt was all drenched with blood on the backside-which was not visible to me. I was more worried about getting the scooter back to the place where it was parked by the owner and since it had a collision on the wall there was a big dent on the side of the scooter as well. I wanted it to reach the original place fast since the owner was about to come out and go back to his place. I requested the boy next door-who was elder to me by a couple of years, and he helped in getting the scooter back on the original parking position by literally dragging the same. Luckily, after the scooter had come back to parking, the owner came out and tried his utmost to start the scooter by kicking it repeatedly and even trying to tilt it to its sides, but it did not start. I knew I handled the same, and it had got damaged. I silently went inside and sat in the room, expressing no response. I knew that had I been standing outside; its owner would have directly asked me about it and I would land up in trouble. Nothing happened, and he did not ask me anything. He took the scooter dragging and got it repaired from the nearby market of Jawahar Nagar-Srinagar-where I was staying during my summer vacations with my maternal uncle and, raising no further hue and cry, he left straight back to his place.
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| Bicycle-Riding |
This incident was to be mentioned importantly because I was very fond of a bicycle or even a two-wheeler-which I wanted to drive myself and was not knowing even about cycling. Just as the young boy of fifteen would like to be more adventurous and try out his hand on anything new and unique-the same sort of behavior I too had. I started putting more pressure on my grandfather to get me a bicycle since I wanted to learn to cycle and also wanted to go from one place to another on a bicycle. I told him I was getting bored during the day since I had no other work and wanted to learn at least cycling during the vacations.
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Boulevard Road Alongside-Dal Lake-Srinagar.
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Finally, one day in the evening he brought me a bicycle and presented the same to me with a caution that I would use it with full care till the time I learned the cycling fully well. I became thrilled and thanked him for the same. Those days, even the bicycle at my age was a big thing. I started learning bicycle riding on my cycle frequently. I could become a perfect rider only after a few days of rigorous riding. During my initial stage, I had a fall quite many times, and that process bruised both my knees badly. Even my elbows too were injured and bruised. But despite all this, I was very thrilled to have the bicycle, and I used to go longer distances on the same. This process of my long bicycling made me perfect for cycling and it also gave me a lot of confidence. I started getting smaller things from the market, like the Kashmiri-naan, etc on the bicycle. For any market work, I would promptly offer my services and I could get that work done faster. The only attraction for me to do such work would be my having time to take out my bicycle and do a bit of cycling that way.
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On Boulevard Road-Dal Lake-Srinagar.
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My confidence levels became so strong that one fine morning when all had gone to their respective works and we the children and our aunty were at home-I took my younger cousin- six years younger than me and around 10 years of age on my cycle and we went to Dal-Lake-Boulevard Road. We went cycling till ‘Chesham-Shahi’-the Mughal Garden on the side of the Dal lake. Took the cold drinking water there in the garden and proceeded back towards the residence late in the afternoon. We had to climb up the small hillock-shaped road towards the garden while reaching the garden since we could not do any bicycling against the steep road in between. During our coming back from the garden, I was feeling thrilled and had a proud feeling that I did cycling such a long distance on my own-where the road was very busy with traffic and quite a distance from the residence.
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On Boulevard Road-Dal Lake-Srinagar.
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I remember while coming down the hill from the ‘Chesham-Shahi Garden’- I met an English-foreigner who too was on his bicycle and we both had competition too in moving as fast as possible till the main road of Boulevard. He too encouraged me and told me it was very unusual that a boy of my age would cycle on such a busy road and had covered so many kilometers. I became more encouraged and confident and till evening reached my residence safe and sound with my cousin. When I related this to my grandfather, he became furious and told me I did an immature act since it was not at all advisable to do cycling of at least ten kilometers from our residence, and that too when I had taken my cousin along. I thought I would be applauded for my feat, but contrary to my expectations, I was badly reprimanded and even my aunty was asked why I could take the cousin along with me and go such a distance?
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Chesham-Shahi Mughal Garden Srinagar.
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The net result was that one of his office employees with the name ‘Mathradas’-came in the evening the next day and took the bicycle along with him. I was left without it. Otherwise, also I was there in Srinagar only for a week and then my schools were opened after the summer vacations back in Jammu, and Bicycles were not used there because of the uneven hilly roads.
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| The bicycle is like the one I used |
Thus, at a young age, over-smartness took away my bicycle, and I was left high and dry without it.
