Cycling Jaunts

Today morning I went out cycling as I usually do on weekends. 

I had learned to cycle when I was eight, but it is only in the last one year that I started going on solo trips, without my dad accompanying me. Today I cycled towards Bandra, planning to cycle down Carter Road, towards Khar. Carter Road hugs the sea and is quite scenic. It was a pleasant day, not too warm, slightly cloudy, with a hint of the monsoon that’s just a month away. At 7:00 am, Carter Road was crowded with a number of cyclists, walkers, runners and the occasional vendor selling tender coconuts or street food. On reaching the point where one turns off to go to Union Park, I turned right to buy myself a coke from my usual shop, drank half of it and continued to cycle towards the end of Carter Road. I was about to do a smart U-Turn and retrace my route back home when I decided, on a lark, to explore a bit before I returned home. 

I had my mobile phone with me and planned to use Google Maps to find the best route home when I started to get tired. So kept cycling on and found myself crossing the Khar sub-way, which I vaguely knew, could take me back home through the Western Expressway. The tall towers of BKC loomed ahead. I’ve driven through BKC many times, but have never cycled through them. I had this vague idea that BKC was a couple of kilometres from one end to another, but as I started cycling, I realised that there’s a huge difference between crossing BKC by car and by cycle. I was soon tired, but refreshed myself by finishing off the remaining coke. At the end of BKC, Mr. Google advised me to turn right and I did, though shortly after doing so, I realised that I should have turned right a little further ahead. 

Soon, I was cycling through a dilapidated neighbourhood. The stench hit me hard. There was an open drain running by my side. I plodded on. I guess Mr Google wanted me to take the shortest route possible and not necessarily the most scenic one. 

I nearly collided with an autorickshaw and got yelled at. What are you doing? Can’t you see which way you are going? The auto driver was probably in his late fifties and he looked at me with wonder. Why on earth did a fourteen (almost fifteen) year old girl have to go cycling on a Saturday morning wearing a helmet in that particular neighbourhood? he probably wondered. I mumbled an apology and cycled on. I should confess that I was not really at fault. I had the right of way, but that auto driver probably had never got the memo regarding cyclists’ rights. I saw a girl my age sitting on an old car tyre, a long stick in hand, idly scratching some complicated design on the ground. A few children ran around playing. Mumbai traffic roared past them, generating a lot of dust and heat. It was different universe, far away from Carter Road and BKC. 

Within a few minutes, I was in a friendlier neighbourhood and twenty minutes later, I was home. I should confess that I was a bit shaken. I know that there exist many Mumbais and that my Mumbai is a far cry from the Mumbai I had accidentally stumbled into. I do wish I could do something to help the other Mumbai, especially that girl with the long stick drawing complicated designs in the dust on a Saturday morning before she started working on her household chores. Did she have many younger siblings to look after, I wonder? I am pretty sure she had discontinued going to school many years ago. What can I do to help them? 

I don’t have answers now, but I know that I will start looking for answers even as I continue with my cycling jaunts.