Learning to ride a bike

Year 2006,

Characters: Fred (from the first prank), Mamboy (Mama's boy) and X-man (singular of X-men)

Mamboy had been dreaming long time about learning to ride a bike. Today his dream was finally going to come true since Fred and X-man had promised to come over to teach him how to ride a bike.

In the evening Fred and X-man turn up at Mamboy's house. Mamboy's joy has no bounds. Today he was going to learn how to ride a bike at last. Mamboy's parents were very caring and cautious about their son and would never let him learn to ride a bike alone.

Since riding on the roads of Bangalore was no less than an expert circus act, Fred and X-man decide to take Mamboy to a playground to help him learn. The playground had a few benches installed all along the corners for people to sit. The trio reached the playground on a single bike (tripples as we call). Mamboy was very enthusiastic and wanted to ride the bike himself to the playground. Fred and X-man calmed him down and didn't let him ride knowing that even their lives were at stake.

Since Mamboy had prior experience of nothing more than riding a tri-cycle, Fred gets into the act of explaining the details of riding the bike starting from how to sit on it. Mamboy being a very quick learner grasps all the gyan in minutes. X-man explains Mamboy the basic rules. "Riding a bike is simple maga. Just Gadi start madu, hold on to the clutch, change the gear and release the clutch slowly while accelerating. 4 simple steps. That's all. Simple maga." Fred took Mamboy for a demonstration ride. A successful demo. Now it was the turn of Mamboy.

Mamboy sits on the bike. Looks upwards to the sky to pray for a moment and then starts the bike. The bike warns him that it has an engine in it. He follows the 4 golden steps given to him by X-man and to his surprise the vehicle starts moving. He is very happy. He starts to feel the pulse of the bike. Such a lovely experience. A dream coming true. But tragedy was yet to strike. The bike was soon approaching the end of the playground. From his prior experience of riding a tri-cycle he knew that taking a steep turn would land him in trouble. He had to maneuver the bike but X-man and Fred hadn't said anything about it. He tried to turn the bike but he couldn't. He remembered Fred explaining about the brakes. He had to apply it to stop the vehicle. Meanwhile Fred and X-man keep shouting at him from far to apply brakes. He held his left hand tight to stop the vehicle, just to remember that its the clutch and not the brakes. He tried applying the front brakes and every time he tried the bike would go faster (Forgot that he is turning the accelerator knob). He shouted back at Fred and X-man. "Where is the brake ?" X-man replies in his loudest of voice. "Look under your foot. Mamboy raises both his feet from the foot rest to look where the brakes are situated and then ........ Boom

Mamboy crashes his vehicle into one of the benches. A middle aged man sitting on the bench manages to save his life by getting out of the way just in time. He didn't dare to look back and kept running. X-man and Fred reach the spot to access the situation. Fred and X-man wanted him to try once again but Mamboy knew he wasn't going to get through. Fred and X-man were also convinced that Mamboys dreams are here to stay. The bike survives with a broken mudguard and a few dents. Mamboy lost his spectacles in the process.

Mamboy no more tries riding bikes. He travels in a car when absolutely necessary (at max speed of 30 kph). Please don't mistake it to be an attempt to save fuel. Riding a bike on the roads of Bangalore remains a distance dream for Mamboy. He loves taking pictures sitting on still bikes though.


Glossary
Maga: Dude
Gadi : Vehicle
Gyan: Knowledge about unknown/great things