I am regular reader of Open page of The Hindu. Here’s an article by Ashokamitran .The writer gives a humorous account of his tryst with the law on traffic violation. The violation happened to be ‘not having a properly working bell on his Bicycle’. The infringement takes him to the court , where he pays a fine and finally , armed with the receipt from the court, he retrieves his bicycle from the police station.
Today, the story sounds so exaggerated and even fictitious , but I know it is very much true. In early seventies, I have seen cyclists in the twilight hour ,looking for a match box to light their lamps. Then the introduction of the Dynamo light was a great improvement and convenience.
Nothing tells more about an issue than the jokes it evokes in the weekly magazines,(like Kumudam and Vikatan) much like the whatsapp jokes today. The magazines those days had many cartoons on the plight of an erring cyclist and a policeman. I distinctly remember a few lines from a play in our school days . It goes like this,
Cyclist :why do I need light, the whole town is lit up?
and the policeman deflates his tyres saying,”why do you need air in your tyre, the whole place is full of air ? Ha ha.
Coming to the present, I still use a bicycle and at times I miss a simple bicycle lamp. I went to my favourite cycle shop at Mhow bazaar to correct the situation. As is customary in Mhow, the shop was small enough to repair a punctured tube and big enough to sell and service a 15-gear Bicycle. But when I asked for a Cycle lamp, there was a look of disbelief and some smirking all around as if I had asked for the moon. I continued to keep a straight face indicating that it was a serious question and I was still waiting for a serious answer. Gradually the smirking stopped and one of the guys replied “Saab yahan chal jaata hai” (You can do without it here).
How have we come to this state where it is perfectly OK to ride motorcycles without helmet, or for four adults to travel on a motorcycle and the number of people or stores on a bicycle is limited only by the pedaling power of the cyclist? Lamps and bells are not even available leave alone being mandatory. Anyway, I scouted for one online and placed an order, and I intend using it however ridiculous it might look on the streets of Mhow.
Have been caught several times for riding without a light, but could get away for afterall I am the son of a Police Inspector!
Murali, nice one. Loved it. I am surprised you did not cover the cycle lamps we so dearly maintained in IMA and got lot of EDs for not having a functional light on the cycle. They were of course battery operated and not the Dynamo ones. That further takes me to trousers leg cuff clips and handle bar basket with two holes for baby's legs. I remember bicycles were earlier registered and a token was fastened with wire under the seat. One was supposed to pay road tax as well. All this looks absurd today.