(Well, that’s partly true. I did decide to cycle – for a purely economical reason than anything else. I saved on the fuel.) But now, cycling is something I do out of choice – for the green cause, for fitness, for the pocket or simply, for me.

My cycle chronicles make quite a story. “Parking the cycle” is a challenge to every cyclist. You get yelled at, if you try leaving it in the “two wheeler parking” lot by the “Chowkidar”. And that too, a pink Miss India cycle hardly qualifies as a vehicle, right? When I sneakily managed to do so in a couple of instances, I found my cycle shifted onto the pedestrian platform, where people moved it around as they pleased, to make way. But it’s generally a relief to “see” the cycle around somewhere – there is always the fear of it being “taken away for a ride” (stolen, I mean!) I then started “chaining” the cycle to poles. However, crossing your fingers and praying hard does help for things to go your way- trust me.

The traffic somehow does cater to cyclists, even in Bangalore. I began to see that several people (who perhaps could not afford to buy motor vehicles) cycled along. Traffic leaves “cyclers” alone, as long as they give traffic the right signals about where they intend to go on the road. (“Make the right moves!”)

It is a known fact that the cycle is a slow vehicle. It’s the tortoise (Wise, yet slow) of the race. It gets on a few people that the cycle does not move fast, like the rest of the vehicles. The bus drivers take the fact a little too personally, feel offended and voice their opinions out loud. The trucks, the autos, the scooters follow suit sometimes and give the cyclers a piece of their very versatile vocabulary – picking out the most graphic words to express their feelings.

But we are people of iron. We have swallowed our pride on numerous occasions, have we not? There is no abusive word that we have not recorded in our little book of abuses. Our traffic situation has helped us bring out two more volumes in the same. So we take all this negativity in our stride and don’t care much. We just tring tring and go our way.

One major hurdle is that colleges, work places and destinations in general don’t offer shower room facilities that are actually usable. So cycling is a lot of sweat, a lot of hard work. Either you live with it or you spray yourself with deodorants and perfumes so strong, that you feel like you’ve been sprayed with pesticide.

A lot of people have started cycling after I did. And have started cycling long distance (that’s 14 kms, according to me). And at the end of the day, it makes you hungry, really hungry, fit and very satisfied. Makes you feel like you are contributing to something in this world. Makes you feel like agreeing with Al Gore, nodding when he says that we have to help the glaciers survive. And it feels like you are helping. And that you are a part of some “positive movement”.

The fact that you can proudly blog about it, is one advantage. It feels great to gloat.

That’s the power of the “tring tring”.

I'm Nithya S, a highly motivated person - pursuing a B.E in ComputerScience. This motivation comes in handy - I have dabbled in a lot of things, and enjoyed it. I have been learning Classical Music for the quite some years now, I pencil sketch, I read, I write, I walk, I photograph. I believe in debating about issues - seeing the different facets of an issue. I believe a lot in going the "green way" and want to write about it in my blog, addressing the topic one way or the other. (I also believe that Murphy is an optimist, but that's besides the point, is it not?)

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