20220313 : Cycle research

Few days back, I heard our housekeeper saying that my younger daughter's cycle had become small and needs a bigger cycle. 

It's been 4 years since we got this. I remember having taken the girls to decathlon (a big sports goods store) and having got her this one. I think it was a white/ pink combo and she was thrilled with it.

Her birthday is less than 2 months away and will make a nice gift this time around.

Needless to say, I was quick to get online and do the research and try to select.

Gosh, I simply cannot start with all the varieties and options out there.

Cycles come with shock absorbers nowadays! No more bumpy rides...

There are so many varieties of seats - hard to soft to comfortable to wide to springy etc, etc.

And the gear chain mechanism - is a world of it's own.

She won't need gears though - it's only mainly around the apartment.

Maybe a basket in front will be helpful which she can use for the bag she takes to play.

Don't need a carrier maybe.

I felt a bit like a kid in a candy store. Gosh - I wish we had all these options when I was a kid. I would fo nuts literally!

I got my first cycle when I was in my 5th. It was a cute red cycle small size one. We had bought it second hand from a guy who had grown out of that size.. I liked that cycle a lot and would cycle to school everyday - school bag on the carrier and lunch basket on the handle. 

Later, we used to have severe water scarcity in Bangalore and became the mule to help us transport buckets and plastic pots of water from the community borewell (hand pump) for a while.

It served us well.

Soon, I got to High school (8th grade). It had gotten a bit small for me also. I also needed something more reliable as this school was far (~ 10km I think) and I had to go on busy roads.

So one fine day (I don't remember any particular event), my dad took me and my mother to a well known cycle shop in the city (I think it was called Raja cycle mart in City Market , near Town hall)

I knew what I wanted - it was the rage those days and a new design. It was called the "Ranger" from "Hero cycles".

It had a new handle design - nobody else had something similar. 

The tyres were wide and - unlike the usual thinner ones.

It didn't have the usual clunky chain guards - it had an open mechanism and would be very easy to put back a slipped chain.

It had smaller and lighter mud guards - unlike the big and boring ones with flaps at the bottom.

The carrier was slim and light - unlike the usual ones.

I can go on and on. In short it was new, sexy and super cool. Just the thing for bloke in a new high school!

I went straight to that section and started gawking at the displayed pieces. I liked it in a burgundy shade and I was dreaming how I would look.

To my horror, my dad was not interested in the super cool thingy.

He was examining and enquiring with the salesmen about the traditional hero model.

It was so bland in comparison.

The usual bent handles, the big long seat, the clunky chain cover, the bulky carrier. What was wrong with him!

I tried everything dropping hints - being absolutely disinterested with what was being explored and discussed and instead going over to the other section.

I don't think I voiced it openly though. 

The usual model was some 600 rupees and the cool model was 850 I think. 250 rupees clearly was a lot of money some 32 years ago.

In hindsight - the bent handles would have been sturdy, the bigger seat would have been more comfortable, the chain cover would be safer preventing the pants from getting stuck in the chain and preventing the grease from coming on to the pants. The sturdy carrier would be more stable - the bag in high school was bigger and heavier. Clearly he was doing the right thing for me.

We didn't buy anything that day. 

I remember I came out of the shop and started wailing. It wasn't sobbing quietly, it was loud crying with tears rolling down my cheeks.

It had been a long time since I had cried like that. I think it was a combination of sadness, anger and embarrassment. 

I just would not get into a rickshaw with them. I started walking to my grandmother's house. It was quite a long distance away (had to go across JC road and some more - present day VV Puram food Street). About 4 or 5 kms in all I think.

I didn't want to walk with them. I crossed across and we walked on either sides of the road. I remember I was crying the entire duration till we got back.

I don't think I had demanded anything from my parents till then. This was the first time I had shown a preference, and I was being overruled! Could they not see that I too had a wish and a dream!

It was then that it struck me what I was doing - when it was my turn - 32 years later!

I stopped the research I was doing, closed all the browser windows and put away the phone....

PS: what happened later - 32 years ago?

A few days later, my dad took me to a cycle shop, close to home (it was in Sheshadripuram - don't remember the name) and bought me the "Hero Ranger" - "Burgundy colour". 

250 rupees was a lot, but a lot less in comparison to my feelings I guess.

 I also think my mother had something to do with vetoing the decision....