It all started when I entered in the fifth class. I changed my school in that year. It was situated in the downtown area of the city. My urge to improve my 'standard of living' naturally occurred. Kids in that school were urbane, after all. 

I had already learnt how to ride a bicycle (thanks to my Didi's Ladybird bicycle) and my sweetest dream was to get my own cycle. 5th class boy and riding ladies cycle, that too in such school was detrimental to my prestige and self respect. So, I asked my dad to get me a geared bicycle. The word ‘Geared’ was the keyword. Like any middle class family, my dad was ready to buy me a cycle, but not the geared cycle. So I made a deal with him to get a good rank in first semester of the 5th class. I studied very hard, not to get a job, not to support my family, not to become an engineer but to get a geared bicycle. After all, it was the matter of my prestige. My innocent mind did not know that people study to get a good job, and  to win the rat race. 

D-day was approaching, so were my heartbeats. But my hard work gave me a fruitful result and I was in top 10. My dad also kept his word, and gifted me the geared bicycle. My happiness was at the top level. 

Since that day, I almost always used my bicycle to go to school every day. The distance was around 4km one way, total 8km. The half ticket to travel the same distance by city bus at that time was ₹2.5. Here, I made another deal with my dad. I was indirectly saving ₹5 daily, so I asked my dad to give me ₹4 whenever I used my cycle for going to school. He agreed. So, my cycle was my money making machine, too. My love for her doubled.

But when I was in 9th Class, something miserable happened. I parked my cycle outside of the school because the school parking had limited access. After school was over, when I went to take my bicycle, it was simply not there. I ran a search operation with many friends, but all in vain. I went to every class in the school (numbering around 30) and informed them abut the incident. Even cried while informing in one class. Filed a police case. Explaind the police that it was precious to me. Somehow, that officer's heart melted. He took a police van for the search operation! Police van, for searching stolen cycle.. you can imagine the seriousness of the situation. But I did not get my cycle back.

I was in 10th class now. The love for my cycle slightly faded. But like we can never forget our first crush, I didn't forget the sweet memories. On one fine day, in the middle of boring maths lecture, one of my friend from another division came running, and directly reached to my last bench. He told me I have seen your cycle. The sparkle in his eyes while saying this was unforgettable. Without taking the permission from maths teacher, we both ran outside only to stop in the cycle parking area. The Lord ganesha and Schinchan sticker which I pasted on my cycle when it was new, was still there. It was indeed, my cycle. On that moment, I promised my friend a dinner from me at his favourite place. He was my new best friend from that moment.

Actually, the guy who stole my cycle was the 10th class guy. He used that cycle for a year, and sold it to another junior boy who was in my school only. That boy also bought it because of the cheap price. After showing the required documents, I got my bicycle back. It was like getting back my true love. 

Years passed, i took admission in engineering college. Cycle was not in fashion there. My new love was the bike. I will write about it later. 

But, I never let my family to sell this cycle. It is the same cycle that you are seeing in the cover image. My sweet Hercules Top Gear. Fully restored, going strong even after 16 years…!!!