My Bicycle and Two wheeler Days

Pune in my teens, say from the late 60s to early 70s, was known as Bicycle city for having a maximum number of bicycles next only to Amsterdam in the Netherlands who still holds the post. Whooping 99.1% still use the bicycle.  As off now where does Pune stand I am unaware of? China, Beijing and Shanghai must have taken over long back.

The 1st bicycle in my family, owned by my maternal uncle was 'Hind' cycle model, manufactured at our own Worli next to Doordarshan Kendra, company now practically defunct. Every day he and many like him, practically in thousands, used to cycle down to places of their work more than 10 km away from the home, some even farther away at Pimpri and Chinchwad. Thus in early hours, old Mumbai Pune road was nothing but cycles and cycles everywhere.

  Very heavy to ride, nonetheless I learnt my first paddling on it. As it was too tall for me I used to paddle by putting the right leg across the cycle below the central bar. One of my friends was late to adopt to the seat, so was riding the cycle in a similar fashion practically for years, to attend the PT classes held on SP college grounds very early in the morning. 

Pelican was the name of the model bought by my mother for my brother when he started attending college. If I remember right it was bought for much less than, even thousand rupees in those days. It was an Atlas cycle company product which later was bought by Hero cycles. It too was heavy but suiting our pockets. Top in the form in those days were the cycles by Raleigh company, originally from the UK. To own a Raleigh was a point of prestige for us, teenagers. Really did not understand the mechanics and even economics of the pricing of the cycles then, because for us, in those days it was just a bicycle, to ride and to enjoy.

I too got my own cycle, when I started attending college in the late 60s. It was 'Hercules' by TI cycles from Madras, now Chennai. As compared to Pelican it was definitely suave, easy to ride and had a name in the teenage circle. Oh, how I enjoyed this one!

  PMT, bus service in those days too, was a piece in the museum, so any ride anywhere, was on the bicycle. I remember going to Vitthalwadi [ far from the city in those days], Katraj, even to Sinhgad, with like-minded friends many times. One of our friends was staying in Hindustan Antibiotics colony at Pimpri. There used to be a cinema show on every Saturday in the colony. Many many Saturdays we rode our cycles to Pimpri, though the movie used to be old and oft-seen. Far situated cinemas had lower entrance rates than the city and so I have ridden the cycle to every farthest theatre in Pune some even 20 km away from the home but the ride was never tiresome, in fact, it was very enjoyable to visit Vaibhav at Hadapsar as the roads were lined by trees and had green fields all along, not the concrete jungles of today!  
  After catching early morning local to Lonavala and then roaming all over Lonavala on hired bicycles from the shop near Annapurna, oh we did it thousand times! So when I see the millions thronging to have a single dip in Bhushi, I just abhor the sight!

  To own a two-wheeler was the utmost dream. Only 2 models in scooters and 2 to 3 models in motorbikes were available then. Vespa and Lambretta in scooters while Java, Royal En-field and the third one I forget, maybe Escort or Bullet. Amongst scooters, Lambretta was a no-no! Luna the cycle with an engine , called moped, was also popular in my undergraduate days but was always considered infra-dig.

  To buy Vespa you had to wait for years. It was costing around three thousand when Fiat, the car came at seventeen thousand, both brand new and not the old ones! To meet with the demands of the market, the Govt. Of Maharashtra in partnership with Bajaj, manufacturers of Vespa started manufacturing Vespa with a different name, Priya and that too had endless waiting period, I got my own after waiting for 5 years! What I did with Pune on the bicycle I did with Mumbai on Scooter. Every nook and corner of the old city I traversed on my Priya. To go to Ghatkopar where I stay now, was practically like going to a town away, with mangroves and marshy lands along the eastern express highway. It too was again a joyous ride with backwaters of the creek flowing along the highway! Most important, it was a safe ride with two-wheeler in those days. And we too were different riders. Now...Neither two-wheeler rides have remained safe, nor their riders!  About them..... less said the better!