Cycle is the first vehicle we start to ride in our childhood. We have so many memories with our favourite cycles. Then the priorities change for some. Some go for bike and some for cars. But for poor families cycle is the cheapest vehicle to drive to work or anywhere. Cycle is precious to them because it gives them a chance to earn their livelihood.
This pandemic has shown India and many other countries that cycle can come to rescue so many people. It has got back its own necessity and charm. Poor migrant workers who could not afford the train or bus fares rode cycles to go back to their villages. They covered great distance with their cycles by paddling from work place to own village. They were desperate to be with their families in the lockdown. They had stress about losing jobs and gradually were without any money to pay rent to landlords. Some had their cycle vans with them and carried their family in the back. There are some interesting as well as sad incidents which happened to the migrant workers on the road.
Jyoti Kumari Paswan is a fifteen year old girl who thought of helping her ailing father in the lockdown. She had a second-hand cycle which costs Rs. 2000 and a bottle of water in her home. She decided to use the cycle to reach the hometown with her father on back seat. She was so determined that she pedalled around 1,200 km for eight days straight from Sikandarpur in Haryana to Darbhanga in Bihar with brief stops at Palwal, Agra and Mathura. She started the journey on 7 May on an impulse to save father from struggling to afford two meals with zero savings. Her story became viral in social media and she got praises for her resolve. Seeing her potential to pursue her career as a serious cyclist the Cycling Federation of India has offered her a trial in New Delhi after the lockdown. Ivanka Trump, the US President Donald Trump’s daughter, has also saluted Jyoti for this “beautiful feat of endurance.”
In another instance Mohammad Iqbal decided to steal a cycle from Rarah village in Bharatpur from Sahab Singh and left an apology note. Iqbal was determined to pedal 250 km with his son to reach home in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. An innocent heart and a desperate situation led him to apologize to the cycle owner with the note mentioning that as a helpless labourer he had to reach home with his specially-abled son. Thus he took the cycle and asked the owner to forgive him.
Prashant Nayak’s case is no less interesting. A twenty three year old migrant worker, he was determined to pedal his cycle and reach his hometown. As he was stranded without any work for a week he decided to cycle his way to Endalo village, Odisha. He started his journey on 24 April with some other Odia workers. He reached Khammam, Telangana, on 5 May. While he was taking some rest under an overbridge in the darkness one unidentified person stole his cycle. In desperate and helpless situation Prashant stole another man’s cycle and reached his village after twenty days. This is like a real-life sequel to the classic movie “Bicycle Thieves” by the Italian director, Vittorio De Sica.
Dharamvir, a migrant worker from Bihar, was cycling from Delhi to Khagaria with other fellow cyclists. Suddenly on the way felt unwell and died in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. They were on road for four days and were to cover 1200 km stretch to reach the village.
Ram Biswas, a forty four old migrant worker, was pedalling to his hometown with a group of five men. They started the journey from Chennai to reach Odisha. But he died of starvation near Gummidipoondi, Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border.
The pandemic has brought back cycle to the lives of many. Lot of people are using it for commuting to and from office everyday. Migrants on the move have found in it a great means of travel. No wonder, sale of cycles have gone up in several cities. Different state governments are now seriously considering the construction of cycle bay to aid cyclists. Cycles it seems will continue to play a heroic role for some time.
Eduindex News 