Yesterday i came across a hoarding displaying the latest plays being staged in various places in Bengaluru, one of them was named "The Bicycle days" .The first thing that striked me was my first bicycle that my papa gifted me. I still remember everything about it ,the color,the patterns,the design, all of it perfectly. It was something i treasured ,coz it was something i wanted from a long time and got only when i managed a good 86% in my exams( thts the way i got most of my gifts from my papa!!!!).
I also remember the times i was without a bicycle, and so were most of my friends, since we were kiddos and didnt knew how to ride one, so we used to rent them (Most of the kiddos on block today won't even know that such sort of arrangement ever existed, but yes its not fictitious, we actually did that). I can even recall the rate, it was some Re 1 per hour, unthinkable these days, but the fun was unmeasurable. All 6-7 of us, riding those bicycles, and roaming around ,trying to make most of that Re 1.
I wonder how kids today (most of them) don't realise the importance of little pleasures in life. They get most of the things without even uttering the name of the it, their parents are generous enough to make sure everything new is with their kids. Ofcourse the intention is humble, all parents wants their kids to get the best in the world, but in doing this they somewhere forget the importance of small pleasures, small joys of life.
The time when my dad told me that he will give me a thing only when i got some specific marks in exams( i don't know what weird calculations he made ,and arrived on a certain cut off!!!!) actually was irritating that time but later i realized it actually made me perform, and i felt i deserved the gift, i had worked hard for it, so in a way he taught me to earn much early in my life.
The rented bicycle seemed too much a hassle that time, but now if i look back ,it actually made us think as if we all were equal, no comparison of who owned what, which brand,which color, what cost, nothing, simply Re 1 for everyone.A lesson of equality.
The good old bicycle days are over, now the kids have newer gadgets, newer electronics, and what not to entertain themselves, but then parents need to think, where's the learning?
this post reminds me also of the old days when i also roaming here and there on my bicycle ...and yes you said right that we used to riding on bicycle on rent and that is 1 rupee per hour
ReplyDeleteand you know what that bicycle's name...its name was
ADDHA
yes we used to call it by this name
Ya exactly, "Addha", i forgot that name!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete