Delight in Bicycle–ride (2002)

By Lunminthang Haokip *

The Reason: Why do I delight in a bicycle ride? It's not that I had enrolled myself in the cadres of MPP (Manipur Peoples Party) which flaunts the bicycle as its symbol. But it has something to do with an MPP-leased obscure restaurant catering to the spoilt tastes of the masses and classes alike and doing a booming business of it somewhere near pologround's gate No. 1, Imphal.

Recycled Appetite: When I cycle for hours before eating anything in the morning, the excess fat in the body is recycled, sweat is reproduced, the heart pounds faster and the torso is drenched down to the waist. Exhausted, I take a quick shower to wash away the sticky moisture the body emits out and after prayer, hit the dining table with the appetite of a hungry bear and the capacity to devour as much.

Eat To Heart's Content: I'm not on a culinary promotion spree. But after a cycling sweat-out, nothing satiates one's hunger better than a fish-curry called 'atoiba', that is prepared with the critical palate in mind by the chef of MPP canteen no. 4, Pologround, Imphal, that you bought on the way back home. The sad part is, the delicious cuisine that beats any other stuff in its own category offered by star-rated hotels, demands one's demolition of hillocks of rice along with it. So, the poor cyclist, despite the fat burnt up in the limb-exercise, simply would not have a flat tummy.

Simple Simon: Cycling to office is no big deal. You notice a lot of the lower staff doing that every day. Heads turn and eyes are focused on it only when someone not lesser than a senior officer of the state civil service, who had always been seen seated smugly at the back of a car or the front of a Gypsy, is spotted pedaling the wheeled frame-of-steel in office premises. For the curious onlooker, such scenario has the shock¬ing effect produced by one's switch-over from watching a star-studded sleekly-made movie in 70 mm to a shabbily-shot 16 mm documentary in black and white.

Cycle - used for ferrying water in Sita Village

Going Green With Envy: This convenient "steel-horse" is not only a scene-stealer but is a money-saver too. A rupee saved is a rupee earned. In these days of spiraling petrol prices, thanks to the highway blockades and black-marketing, I can, while biking on the roadside, read the mind of an envious owner of a swanky Zen. He rolls down the windshield, sticks his neck out, takes a good look at the simple on-wheels frame and silently curses the vanity in his own self for shying away from riding a bicycle at almost zero maintenance-cost. What a blessing in the present times when fuel price had shot up to absurd rates.

No To Journo: In no way am I alone in this noble crusade to not consider highway-rubbery on a cycle a drudgery. In the late seventies, Yambem Laba, our one-time only Investigative journalist-turned-mountaineering enthusiast turned-human-right-activist, who once was my class-fellow (but not necessarily a glass-fellow) at Donbosco, Chingmeirong, wrote in the then esteemed Thounaojam Tarun Kumar edited 'Resistance" on how he, an accredited journo, was halted by the cops-on-duty on his way to cover an Assembly-session just because he was riding what he called "the poor man's Volkswagen (cycle)".

Bicycles not only made the manufacturers rich in cash but also made many celebrity-users rich in social respect. One such example was the fearless and athletic IAS Officer, Shri Y. Jugindro (now Secretary, MPSC), who was quite a sport when it came to having to cycle in and out of the State Secretariat before his big-time postings came about.

Owner's Pride; Neighbours Spite: In the villages founded on the plains that stretches up to the foothills of Manipur, bicycles play many roles in the economic activities of our less-fortunate brethren. As carriers of rural trade-items, there seldom occurs mismatch of role to player. From pigs to planks, milk-cans to pots and pans, paddy to sick-body, mats to pets and from charcoal to alcohol, the bicycle bears the brunt of the frequent movement of merchandise. The owner of a brand new Raleigh cycle in rural Manipur, in the distant past, enjoyed a clout that rivaled the possessor of the latest model of motor car today.

Carrier of Lovers: Inspired by movie-scenes where the hero mounts a bicycle with his heroine closing up in front while a haunting duet is shot with them, the boldest among love-struck village-guys takes the beauty of his locality for an occasional cycle-ride with starry dreams in their minds. They are awakened to reality only when the bumpy country road throws the day-dreaming twosome off-balance to fall together in a way they'll remember with tears of romanticism, even decades later—more so if separated. Sweet silly treasured nothings are attached to bike-rides that once featured would-have-been brides and someone else's grooms.

Burma's Take: Across the international border, in Myanmar, more than anything else, brand counts. Hero cycle, along with Nirma washing powder (a flop in India) sell like hot cakes. Other brands, how good they may be, are dropped like hot bricks. The Moreh-Tamu trade, despite the advent of Mitshubishi and Datsun taxies, thrives on bicycles that carry a huge chunk of trade items every business day..

Lady On Gents Cycle: Myanmarese girls, on behalf of family's bread and jam, tighten their lungis, bundle up the hemlines and pedal heavy loads on gents' cycles. For reasons best known to them, they prefer the gents' model. It's an awesome sight to see young 'tanakha' (weather-resistant cream) smeared round faces making a living out of cycle-lifting under-invoiced Chinese and Thai Products. Weird devices are conceived to tie and tag anything on the framed two-wheeler on the busy Tamu-Namphalong road. Perhaps, the only thing the female-pedaled bike-for-gents doesn't carry on it is a feminine outlook.

The Urge To Splurge: Human nature being what it is, there's a strong urge to splurge in the state-of-the-art luxuries. But, at the end of the day, it only strays, strains and stains the staid state-of-the-heart. There is no limit to self-pampering. These days the visual electronic media capitalizes on the spirit of consumerism Million of Rupees are invested in ads to make a product popular. The prices of things are worked out in such a way that the buyer bears the cost incurred on making the buy familiar to him. Nevertheless, a sucker is born every minute.

Yeh Dil Mange More: You skip meals, save and get what you'd been wanting for years. But for how long will you want what you got ? Models and makes change to suit the whims and fancies of targeted consumers of a given period of time. In no time, Pentium I paved the way for Pentium 2, 3 and 4 in Computer configurations. The unrestrained self in you craves to grab the best and the latest by hook or by crook. You had graduated from a bicycle to a Maruti 800. But given the choice, the mysterious desires of your covetous heart would settle for nothing less than a Tata Safari. What next then ? May be a Mercedes or a private helicopter ? Nearer to sea and big rivers, dreams zero in on yachts and luxury cruise ships.

The Mirage Chase: The higher your ambition, the more pliable you'll be to compromise with the shady ways of amassing wealth. If you think you can satisfy your ever-increasing demands by the plunder that befits a reckless player in the field, you're heading for big blunder. You may as well plant an oak tree inside a flower-pot and expect it to thrive. Unless you belong to the super-affluent bracket, all these vanity-necessitated purchases, after a momentary spell of cheap thrill, will make you feel miserable. Bred in liberty in your salad days, now you fret because you're neck-deep in a quick-sand cesspool of debt.

"Owe no one anything except to love one another (Romans 13:8)"

Loan-Takers Groan: Taking loans to indulge in luxuries one can scarce afford is an ensnaring folly one can resort to only at one's own spiritual declination. Christ loved and still loves us regardless of what we are. He gave His all to save us from hellfire. Each of us owe the same divine love to others. Owing anything else beyond that is sin in His sight. That's where the bicycle proves its utility to perfection. Using it saves a lot of borrowing we are compelled to do otherwise. It also simplifies human wants, reduces needs and humbles the user.

Taxing Roads: Major repair of an old Maruti car, for example, robs its burdened owner of a poor-man's fortune. He has to either borrow money or invent a deceitful means of earning so as to secure the "release" of his "ransomed" four-wheeler. And on our roads, which are punctuated by potholes and speed (or spine)-breakers, you never know when your car will conk out and be pulled back to the workshop. Bad roads may leave myriad motorists fuming but they certainly keep the kitchen-fires of garage-runners burning.

Emission Problem: Young girls are ashamed of their dad's conveyance by a bicycle. How sad ? I, for one, feel liberated when I pedal my way around town. There I enjoy the freedom motorists are denied. Bundhs or cutting corners at any point of the busy market-place isn't a problem. One-way restrictions and lack of parking space don't bother me one bit. Of course, there is a lurking worry that cycling would discharge oddly odorous sweat-drops. Will the body be presentable when one meets one's boss or the likes of his ilk?

The Message: But such trivial thoughts are easily out-balanced by the gain that one is losing weight and having a better appetite through faster circulation of blood. And so what if friends and foes happen to catch sight of you in the cycling act? It's a practical demonstration that you'd changed your attitude towards job and life. Without saying anything, you're proving to the world that you're denying yourself the sinful comforts on offer for the love of Jesus who asked every follower " to deny himself and take up his cross (Mt. 16:24)".

Changed Outlook: Priorities were different before my conversion. I was good from far but far from good. Self was pampered, and I had as much control over myself as a cyclist has over his brake-less bike on a downhill slope. I was hopelessly dictated by "What others will think of me ?" Taking criticism on oneself was impossible. The heart -condition remains the same even after conversion unless one is sanctified by the blood of Jesus.

So, in the probation period of my salvation experience, I left no stone unturned to witness the truth I received. But my adversaries left no turn of mine un-stoned. Unable to handle that, at times, I flew off the handle. Now, I realize that basic human nature can't change without first accepting Christ as one's personal Saviour. And having confessed all the sins hiding which tormented me no end, God in His mercy, had forgiven me (John 5:14) and gave me a new heart. "I will give you a new heart and put on a new spirit within you (Ezekiel 36:26)".

Fresh Delight: The new heart delights in righteousness and austerity. There's great shame in falling for old weaknesses but no shame in cycle-riding because I regard myself as nothing in the sight of God and men. In fact, my Creator had changed my entire concept of the MCS I am lucky enough to be in. Earlier it was "me-first" and "mine-first". Now it's "God-first" and "His will first". The constant concern is "What will He think of me and what I do?"

So, MCS, which was "My Chosen Service" to serve my own selfish interests becomes "Masses-Centred Service" for people's welfare. I praise God every time I can derive immense pleasure in disposing a matter without expecting anything in return. God says, " I am your exceeding reward ( Gen 15:1)". Serving His interest is its own reward. When He blesses, the blessing far exceeds human requirements. And other blessings are no patch on it.

The Risk And The Challenge: However, When you give a serious try to go by divine righteousness in your daily deeds in the midst of diverse beliefs and adverse traditions, you risk being ridiculed, isolated and persecuted by your own people. Friends will become foes and foes will delight in your fall in advance. But there lies the challenge to prove pricking predictions wrong.

Double Benefit: But that's a negligible price I'd pay gladly for being gifted in return "the joy of having a conscience that doesn't condemn". Using a bicycle as a means of conveyance is a lump-sum evidence of one's integrity and self-denial in these days of much-improved-mobility. It also decreases the level of environmental pollution and keeps the spiritual pollution-tendencies under check. Acquaintances say that it's not becoming of a Civil Service Officer to ride a bicycle for purposes other than physical exercise. My humble answer is that one who can psyche himself to cycling will enjoy the double benefit of keeping both physical and spiritual diabetes at bay.

The Key To Limitless Joy: And at times when I am being mocked at for the firm stances I take in obedience to God's word and get afflicted in the bargain by the rejection of my own folks, for no fault of mine, the promise of God always comforts and strengthens me. The bonus over the matter is that the joy that the Word of God generates is not sensitive and responsive to what the world says or thinks. Only if one can stick and follow the following verse in letter and spirit, happiness of one will not have limits and diversions:

"He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil, He shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him: his waters shall be sure (Isaiah 33:15,16)".

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Lunminthang Haokip

* Lunminthang Haokip, a resident of Old Lambulane, Imphal is a regular contributor to e-pao.net.
The writer self-describes himself as 'an occasional pen-pusher and a regular reader of E-pao!!!' . He can be contacted at minth8657(at)gmail(dot)com.
This article was webcasted on October 06, 2010.

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