Indian Bicycle

We are the silent majority, we keep quiet over long periods. But when our existence is threatened, we come together, put down our thoughts jointly and hope for the best. A stab in the back, which is the worst form of betrayal, had to be answered in this secret diary. How can Mamata Banerjee, who we thought was our friend, ban bicycles from the main streets of Calcutta? Tomorrow, she may ban sandesh and hilsa from the city.

Why Calcutta, throughout India we are recognised as the poor man’s vehicle. The rural poor depend on us, so do the urban poor. We are important symbols of Indian politics. Our Election Commission is flooded with requests from different political parties to allot bicycles as their poll symbol. Further, in rural India entire families use us to travel from one place to another. At one time, the bicycle symbolised modern trends in savings, budget planning. What happened when there was a fuel crisis? Mighty MPs and MLAs who normally did not care much for us suddenly announce they would ride bicycles to attend Parliament and state assemblies. How many times have we seen front-page pictures of overweight MPs with their dhotis revealing more than they should pedal to their destinations for a day or two and then go back to their limousines?

Calcutta has always been good to us, we were the favoured transport of the masses. The police, pedestrians and trams gave us full freedom to move around as we liked. All over India the bicycle is not bound by traffic rules. We always loved Mamata didi, she’s even used us earlier in her career. We had great hopes for her as she took on the mighty Tatas and their Nano. Once the ridiculous Nano was out, we expected many more bicycles. So how could she ban us from the streets of Calcutta? This has been the most unkindest ban of them all (our bsa member loves Shakespeare).

Has Mamata forgotten the role of the bicycle in our family life, the romance of it? A boy courting a girl would make her sit on the front bar while he pedalled on. After marriage, when the girl had become a slightly heavier wife, she travelled with him on the carrier behind his seat. As the family grew, one child sat on the front bar and the other with the mother at the back. This was togetherness! A family which bicycled together stayed together! The movies captured this togetherness, how many times did the hero and heroine ride the bicycle singing popular duets. Should this singular pleasure be denied to Calcuttans? No, that would be unfair.

The Mumbai-based satirist is the creator of ‘Trishanku’; E-mail your secret diarist: vgangadhar70 AT gmail.com