I learn cycling and travel to Kanpur City

#cycling #trams #rickshaw #GTRoad Yes, it is a fact that I learned cycling in Kanpur. Having been brought up in a city like Kolkata, I had never felt the need to use the bicycle. Kolkata is a city where in the 1960s, there was an abundance of buses and trams.
The buses were all of the Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC) and the trams were of the Calcutta Tramways Corporation (CTC). Private buses used to ply on a few routes outside the city limits and auto rickshaws had not appeared on the scene.
Of course, other means of transport were there like the taxi cabs and the hand pulled rickshaws – the former was preferred by people who had money and, also, for family outings to the cinema. As to the hand pulled rickshaws – that became important during the rainy season when water logging of streets created problems for buses or trams to move. Anyway, in the bargain, I never got a chance to learn cycling and, once in Kanpur, I realized that I must overcome the obstacle. For the first few days, my friends took me along but, that could not go on forever. Therefore, I hired a bicycle and, in the evenings, my friends would help me learn the intricacies of riding the contraption. In order to gain confidence, they would give me protection when on the main road – one of them would be on my right, another on my left.
Then came the day when I discovered myself in a major dilemma and was forced to take the plunge to prove that I had arrived.
It was a Saturday and four of my friends and I left to see a movie in the city. We had to take the GT Road and, it always had plenty of traffic. As usual, I had my friends around me and, when we reached a crossing I stopped because of the lights. But, when the lights turned green, I found that I was all alone – my friends had gone ahead.
I did not know the way to the cinema hall so I just got down from the bicycle, pushed it to the edge of the footpath and tried to peer into the darkness to locate my friends. And – my joy knew no bounds when I saw them some distance away – watching me and enjoying my discomfort.
They had intentionally left me stranded – just to see how I handled myself in a crisis and, also, to boost my confidence. (to be continued)

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