I've always bordered on the dorky side. And growing up, I was a total girly-girl: the Barbie-playing, house-house playing, pink-loving, love-all-things-frilly kinda girl. Predictably so, I never learned how to ride a bicycle. I never had one of my own. Never did 'cause I never wanted one and therefore, never asked, and therefore, never got nor had one.
I did have half a bicycle though. My crafty brother wiled me into "lending" him 500 Rupees (and this was many years ago!) from my post-birthday gift money savings. Of course, I never got the money back and never really claimed ownership over the bicycle. I remember a time many years later when I began to show some interest in learning how to ride one. But by then, the bicycle was way past its glory days. An unrepairable chain problem. So that was pretty much where my interest stopped. Anyone who's from Kohima would say that it's not really the ideal place to cycle. Sure we have our share of scenic beauty, but what with the traffic being a state, only the skilled would perhaps manage to cycle around unharmed.
All this talk to make my point that all my life I had been up against some odds- inherent, social and well, geographical.
When I joined JNU, it seemed like a great place to cycle around. In fact many students did. But my friends and I never really gave it much thought. We preferred walking. It was pretty much the only exercise we'd get on some days- days when we'd wake up way too late to make it to class, spend the rest of the day mulling around in lethargy of the deepest kind, and only with the onset of dusk, we would go out for a stroll to good ol' PSR (Parthasarthy Rocks) and perhaps (!!!) stop by the pan shop to buy our ermm, stock. So yea, there again, I never quite had the will to learn how to ride a bicycle.
Luang Prabang is a lovely place. Oh, such an understatement. However, the point here is that it's sort of like an ideal place to cycle around. And when I got here, I hadn't really thought of how I'd commute to work daily, or how I'd get around town, and so on. Having lived in Delhi, I just assumed there would be public transport in plenty like autorickshaws. Sure enough, there are tuktuks. But there didn't seem to be as many as autos. And also, it seems like it's an okay thing for a tourist to do, but not for a resident. So I being a resident always got laughed at when my answer to "Oh, how did you come?" or "How do you get around?" was "Tuktuk."
Optimism told me that I should buy one. So I did! A few months ago. Last year. Person after person tried to teach me but I was incorrigible. I was so desperate to learn that I even practiced with tons of school kids watching me in fascination and laughter. After a few more tries, I gave up. And my cycle was at least being saved from disuse by Mina, one of the girls who I live with, because hers broke down, or something.
I often remembered that episode from FRIENDS. The one where Phoebe can't ride a bicycle and Ross buys her one and tried to teach her. Ross tries to (mis)use her naivete (for her own good) by telling her that if the bicycle is not ridden, it's spirit will die. Of course there is loud recorded laughter when Phoebe whispers to the bicycle,"Please don't die!" Well, atleast my bicycle's spirit has been kept alive all this time.
Earlier today, Haen, one of my friends here had invited me over to lunch. She also told me that she will teach me how to ride a bicycle. Lunch excited me because her family owns a guesthouse and she's an amazing cook and there's always food, glorious food at her house. But the part about the bicycle didn't exactly interest me. I knew it'd be yet another disappointing attempt. Yet another person unable to teach incorrigible me.
Well, anyway, I went. And yes, the food was great. After eating, I kind of tried to evade the topic. In fact, she even got a call from some other friends for some other activity. I kind of hoped she'd go. But well, she was determined to teach me. So at first, we tried in the narrow cobbled lane in front of her guesthouse. My unsuccessful attempts amused some old men sitting nearby. After a few more tries, she decided to take me to a place nearby with more space. So we did. We tried a few times. I just couldn't get it right. I would put my right foot on the paddle, and pushed, but I couldn't get my left foot on the other paddle. She tried to push me to get the momentum going. She said I moved my upper body way too much. So she kept shouting "Don't move your body! Don't move your body!" After a few more tries, I could suddenly ride to a short distance without her holding the bicycle from behind. But I kept losing the balance 'cause I "moved my body like a snake" (ew!)
Many failed attempts later, we tried reverse psychology. "Move your body! Move your body!" And what to say, I managed to keep my body straighter and paddle better and in a few minutes time, I was riding the bicycle around that place. I felt the wind in my face and I felt the rush of adrenaline (though only faintly, yet very much there), and remembered the many times when I had thought I would never ever learn how to ride one.
Of course I crashed into a parked truck, a tree, jumped off the bicycle a few times 'cause I forgot the brakes were for stopping the bicycle. Besides these, I think I did really well, and made my new teacher very proud.
So here is the post I had been dying to upload. The post that along the way, I almost felt I'd never put up. The post that would be about one of the many wonderful things that coming to Laos has made possible. Thoughts of cycling around Luang Prabang's pretty streets, along the Nam Khan river and the Mekong had become fantasies, but now, after a few more times of practice, I think I will finally be able to!! Oh the joy, the joy! Long overdue, or maybe right in its own time. And what's more the bicycle I practiced on today was a lovely shade of pink. Life's small hidden ironies!
