Started Cycling a few days ago. Buying anything brand new always generates a feeling of excitement,whether that new thing is a book or a pen or a cycle. The test of that thing , however, starts with the initial excitement and curiosity over it wearing off. Initially the reason i starting cycling was to ensure that I did atleast some excercise for some part of the day. As the days are going by,however, I am discovering a new purpose.
The world that we see while riding a bicycle is an entirely different world as compared to the one we usually see. Its a version of the normal world but in slow motion, unlike the highlights that we see when riding a bike at 60 km/hr. Its a world where time passes by slowly, with our peddling driving the motion of time. This relativity of time brings out all the finer and minor details of the world that we live in , details that we seldom notice in our T20 mode of life
For instance, cycling has made me observe my surroundings much more carefully. The Morning World is a different one from the afternoon world and the evening world. The Chai and Breakfast stalls are abuzz with activity( some permanent and some makeshift stalls- many of them have steel cans attatched to a bicycle)and the waft of morning air brings with it the smell of fresh tea leaves. Students busily munching Pohe and Upma,on their way to tutions,colleges and libraries.Early morning workers indulged in serious discussions on national issues( I have always believed that morning time is the time when people are the most politically active, ready with solutions for each and every problem of ours!) Multitasking, again, is a specialty, involving drinking of Chai and reading the newspaper at the same time( a typical Indian feature)
It is not just that. It is also the peak business hour for newspaper sellers, sitting on roadsides as well as travelling on their bicycles, delivering news to the doorsteps of people like only they can. I especially love the way they roll the newspaper and throw it directly into the galleries of people's homes from below. That is a skill for sure.
Adding a spiritual fervor to this materialistic world are the morning Bhajans in temples and the Azaan from mosques. In this noisy world of brakes and horns and shouting and fighting people, morning time is the best to connect with God. Full range, as mobile enthusiasts would call it.
Experiencing all this would not have been possible without cycling. Morning time is the time when cycling is the most respected mode of transport ( by the time the day ends,cyclers are the most neglected and abused species on this Earth)and that is the time to look at the world we live in , and look at it in a manner we haven't before. So get cycling! You will realise that Contentment and meaningfulness are not really that far away. :)
