I repaired an abandoned bicycle, it was left against the payment of rent, by one of the tenants who left without information from our house. It was fun doing that. It had a leather seat. I used to go to college on this bicycle. The bicycle parking was next to the tributary of Musi River near the college building. On the other bank, Coranty hospital (Quarantine Fever Hospital name became coranty in local Telugu) was there. The smell of sewage still lingers when I recollect my Junior college days. I often saw many kites (birds) flying over this stream. Sometimes they also caught the water snakes by diving into the waters. My intermediate education of two years passed without any other activities. I saw just two movies in the whole of two years of Intermediate. In those days Kumar and Chermas brand dresses were trendy. One of my friends bought a shirt for Rupees Seven, during one of the shop’s inauguration, and he was wearing it to the college.

I got an opportunity to use a bicycle again during my postgraduate studies at IIT Bombay. Our department was at a distance of about 1 km from the Hostel. During lunch, we need to come all the way from the department to the hostel. To save time, I wanted to have a bicycle. I came to know that in Hostel-1, they were auctioning the bicycles left by the old students. The students after getting admissions and jobs abroad they left their bicycles in the hostel parking area and remained there unclaimed. Over a period, there were several bicycles which were accumulated. Dr Navaneetha Krishnan was our senior and the secretary of Hostel-1. I went there and selected one, it was in bad shape. I took it outside the campus and got it repaired. It had basic necessary things, and only the back wheel brake was functioning well.

My friend, Mr Biswajit Mahapatra, was staying in the same hostel. During lunch time I always took him to the hostel. Coming down from the department was easy as there was a slope. One day as we were coming to the hostel from behind the library building, someone came in between, and I tried to apply the brake. Due to inertia due to motion, there was a jerk to the front wheel fork joint. My friend was sitting on the rod in front of me, and I was cycling. As this was an old bicycle, it got rusted at the fork joint and weakened over the years, so it broke. Suddenly we were diving in the air, and the front wheel of the bicycle was going down the slope on its own, detached from the bicycle body. We both fell down along with leftover cycle parts and got hurt. The integrity of the bicycle is lost. My friend was bleeding from his hand, and he was in a shock. I too got hurt. It was a comedy scene for many other students going for lunch at that time. I pushed the parts of the bicycle to a side, and we both rushed to the Institute Hospital for treatment. My friend had such a bad experience that he did not dare to ask lift from me later on.

After writing the semester exams, I felt very relieved and always floated with freedom. To celebrate the completion of my semester exams, I went on my bicycle in the night to parts of Mumbai, to experience and enjoy a new life by night. I took Mr Reghunathan (Reghu) and Mr N. Vekata Krishnan (Venky) each one on the two occasions. I convinced them that we will explore Mumbai in the night and its life. I was cycling and they sat on the rod of the bicycle. It was joyful, talking and riding the Mumbai in the night going in an unknown direction. Only after midnight reached back to the hostel. It was a great experience of freedom and joy.