Ode to My Bicycle
Pooja Hiranandani, Bagalore, India
A stimulating piece of writing and one of the first pieces that inspired me to start this blog.
I like the gentle purring of the wheels of my cycle as they turn on a quiet dusty road.
I like that my choice of transportation does not intimidate the people who choose to walk. They are not forced to make way for me as they do for a large, speeding, loud sounding, engined, two or four wheeler. I like being in harmony with walkers, they are my fellow campaigners for environment preservation. I like that every time I cycle, I push myself a little further towards physical fitness. I like that my regimen contributes towards pursuing the other activities in my life, it is an integral part of my life. It is not something I compartmentalise into one hour and treat as an activity in itself. It is not isolated in an air-conditioned room with fancy equipment and hour long schedules regimented by ‘experts’.
I like the independence I experience owning a cycle – independence from petrol bunks, service centres, vehicles washers and cleaners, expensive security systems, music producing equipment, monthly loan repayments and license to drive requirements. I like spending the time to appreciate the changing colour of the leaves of the trees I pass everyday, observe the regular interactions amongst peoples in their houses and talk to the children that sell ear buds on the road. I like the lack of speed, lack of urgency and the lack of ‘convenience’. I like that I everyday cycle to further and further destinations, challenging my physical self to sustain the momentum and my mental self to enjoy the ride despite the deafening horns and long and winding traffic dominated by vehicles many times larger than mine but transporting people disproportionately fewer.
I like that I understand how my cycle works. I can maintain it myself. It needs no book, no ‘expert’, no certificate to understand its simple mechanics.
I like that the animals that I encounter on the way do not feel threatened by my cycle, they do not move away, they do not chase me, they do not see their space as being violated.
I like that my cycle does not draw attention to itself. It is not loud, it is not big, it is not decorative, it does not have flashy lights or a horn or a sound system. It does not destroy the rhythms of the nature and does not disturb the birds and animals. I like that the weight of my cycle respects the ground on which it rests and moves. It does not crush vegetation on it, it does not run over small animals that inhabit it. Its height prevents it from violently shaking off branches from trees over it. I like that my cycle will never be an instrument of death. Its structure and shape does not permit it to become so. I like the amount of space my cycle occupies on any road or lane. It does not violate anybody else’s space, it does not unfairly dominate more space than it deserves. It is not greedy. I like that my inexpensive cycle does not contribute to the feeling and imagery of inequality caused by vehicles costing more than what most households in India earn in 3 years.
I like that by riding a cycle I am challenging the societal definition of success that dictates the extent of its existence by the ascending size and cost of the vehicle I own. I like that by riding my cycle, I am saving the environment of the burden of one more vehicle’s chemical toxic waste.
You can write to Pooja at verislava_53@yahoo.com
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