Growing up with boys..(Part 1)

Cycle all the way..
It was late afternoon .The whole apartment was quite . I was hurrying down the stairs to Food world. At the bottom of the stairs ,Vishal n Vinay almost crashed into me with their cycles.Both were the brothers and stayed in the opposite house.Vishal was 7 n Vinay 5. Vinay flashed a grin at me, turned to Vishal and said urgently "Speed anna..anna pls.."
Vishal got down from his cycle, which was slightly bigger than Vinay's. He violently pulled Vinay's cycle from the stairs, turned it and started pushing the cycle with Vinay in it.Out they went shreiking, yelling across the parking lot. I got scared at their speed and rushed to tell them to slow down. Sure enough, before I could reach them, I saw them crashing into the gate. Luckily, they were not hurt. But the cycle's handlebar was twisted .Vishal straightened it and again they went yodelling.
The scene was so familiar , I forgot to rebuke them for cycling so fast.

So many summers back, on a similar hot afternoon ,Jem was teaching me cycling. I was a fourth grader then and Jem in 9th grade.The cycle was rented by the hour . Jem, after another bout of running behind my cycle , was standing panting , sweat pouring down his body. He was at his wit's end trying to teach me cycling . I was simply not able to balance . I kept doing drunken-driving.
So, Jem the intellectual that he was, suggested me to peddal fast.
"If u cycle fast, u can balance easily" and gave the cyle a push, with all his might. I peddalled fast and lo, the cycle was going on a straight line. I was simply exhilarated at this thrilling experience and pedalled more furiously .WHAM! BANG! I had hit the lamp post.Blood was pouring down my knee and tears welled in my eyes. Jem came near me and said triumpantly "Good.that works. If u ride fast , u are able to balance. Keep that going and u will be able to ride easily soon. And yes, dont forget to keep your eyes open".

And that guys is my eldest brother Jem - our inhouse 'dry wit' expert and ofcourse intellectual.

I went crying to my mom , expecting loads of sympathy.

"How do u expect to learn cycling without hurting urself? Go clean ur Knee and put some Mebusil*[1]"

And that, is my mom - guess by now u know how she is-- she wears that 'am-da-practical-lady' sign on her sleeve.

By the end of the summer, I learnt to ride the bicycle on my own. Then we had two bicyles - one for Jem and one for Ben. Ben is my second eldest brother,two year elder than me.Both of them went to school in cycle, while I went in rickshaw. I yearned to go in cycle too, but my mom decided 5th grade was too young to be going in cycle to school and my supplication was summarily rejected.

Towards the middle of my 5th grade , it was decided that I should start taking the Hindi prachar sabha exams .And so I was also enrolled for hindi tuitions. Jem and Ben were attending hindi classes already. Since Jem was in 10th grade and was busy with board exam preparations and also becuz achiever-he-was-going-to-be, he roamed around with a
'do-not-disturb-me' sign written all over .So it fell upon Ben to ferry me to-n-fro the tuition in his bicycle.

Now Ben had a sisdistic(sister+sadist-sadistic when he sees sister- maybe Yosso can explain better) streak in him.

The first few days of our trip on cycle was without any incidents. Then it started .

One day Ben stopped the cycle on the way suddenly and said "Scout, get down for a moment".
I immediately got down from the carrier, wondering whats wrong!

Ben turned to me and said "Now run along with me "started cycling nonchalantly.

Bewildered, I started running beside the cycle with tears threatening to run down any moment.

After a few minutes, he stopped the cycle and asked me to climb.

When I reported the incident back home , mom shouted at Ben. But Ben protested and looked amused.
And ofcourse, mom shouted at me for being stupid enough to get down n run along, when he asked me to. So I was determined the next time.

After a few days, we had a fight on the way to tuition and Ben asked me to get down again.
I got down from the cycle and told him that I would walk my way .Ben was cycling slowly beside me .After a few mins, he asked me to get on the cycle. I flatly refused.
Ben was getting worried . He knew that If i reached tuition walking, the teacher would give him an earful .(She was a very nice lady and took a maternal interest in all the students).

Ben then told me that if I didnt climb on the cycle , then he would curse that my sandal would break.
I was like "Right..go ahead"

And to my astonishment, my sandal broke .To this day I do not know how this happened.

I was totally put off and before I could cry and create a scene in the streets, Ben made me climb the cycle and took me to tuitions.

Ben also took a relish in speeding up ,before approaching a pot-hole.He would stand on the pedal just when we are crossing the pot-holet. The cycle went DADDAM and my poor bottom went well..err..u know..

Tired of my complaints, my parents got me a cycle next year and put a fullstop to Ben's sisdism.

Today when I confront Ben with the above incidents, he would shake my head, laugh and say "That was for fun deee"..

But I have one more memory of Ben , a far cry from his sisdistic image.

One day tired of riding small bicycles, I was practicing on Ben's cycle , which was the regular size.
Ben came to me and said "Why are u riding with both hands like gals? Practice riding with a single hand"
I refused saying I was scared .
Ben then hld my left hand and running beside the cycle holding my left hand , helping me practice .
After two rounds or so on the street , I was able to ride single-handedly . Before I could show Ben, he had moved on to play with his friends......



Glossary:
1] Mebusil - I amnot sure of its name. But some kind of powder, which we used to put on injuries. Dont see it around nowadays.