THE OLD HERCULES BICYCLE

"The old Hercules bicycle"

Sometime after the year nineteen twentynine   my father acquired an imported Hercules bike. He was then doing his BSc  at Allahabad University.

He was the first one in the family to go to Allahabad University for his BSc. Subsequently, much later, my uncle also went to Allahabad university for his BSc. and MSc. I was the last one in this line to be a student of  this (then) prestigious university.

The imported Hercules bike was purchased for a  princely sum of  rupees twenty seven and eight annas! (You will get just 250gms of the cheapest dal for this amount today !)

Rupee had great value then. Those were the days when pure desi ghee was sold in retail for about ten annas (about 65paise) per kilo. An imported new T- model ford car then cost just three thousand rupees !

The bike came complete with accessories - a tools kit, an oil lamp, a bell, a career,  a chain cover and an small air pump that was hooked to the main frame. It was a  sturdy bike.

One day, early in his cycling days,  he was cycling down the  campus road of the Science block (known as Muir Central College) with his hands firmly placed on the handle  when he saw one of his science professors walking towards him from the opposite direction. Just on impulse, out of reverence, he lifted both the hands off the handle to do a quick namaskar. The idea was to quickly regain the handle. He could not and he lost balance. The bike crashed, throwing him on the ground. It was an anticlimax which he never forgot.

It was then that he decided to learn the art of keeping the bike moving with his hands off the steering handle. When I was a child he used to show me lot of bicycle tricks and I yearned to acquire a balance in cycling as early as possible. The opportunity to have exclusive use of this bike came sooner than expected.

Soon after the end of war father purchased a second hand motor car. It was a light brown coloured dodge. The deal was bad as the car proved troublesome. He replaced it after sometime with a second hand green  land rover which was a perfect driving vehicle.

The bike now became a general purpose  bike for our house as father stopped using it. It was then that I, as a kid,  got hold of it and started practising  'run with the bike and jump on the paddle' to arrive at that divine moment when you keep moving without losing balance. It took considerable effort and lots of injuries. After I acquired the balance  I continued with what was known as the KAINCHI  style cycling - left foot on the left paddle and right foot, through the frame on to the right paddle. I was then too small to reach the saddle of the bike!

So many other relations who came to stay in that house in Gorakhour  learnt cycling on this bike. These included Sri Basant Ballabh Pant, Sri Devi Dutt Pant (khal khal ji), Brahma dutt Joshi, Mohan chandra  Pant, Nilamber Joshi and many others whose name I do no now readily  recall. The bicycle withstood all the hammering that results from multiple falls at the hands of those trying to learn cycling. It  was indeed a very sturdy bike.

The bike continued to serve me well during  my years in Lucknow university hostel. Unlike Allahabad university hostels,  lucknow university hostels  were located deep inside the campus and at considerable distance from the main road where public transport was available. The bike gave me great mobility.

For some time more  after my university days I continued to use the bike. It saved me considerable money in transportation.

Then came my brand new scooter and I abandoned cycling.
For a long period the old bike remained forgotten,  resting against a wall without use.

I  finally gifted it one day to one Gopal Singh who lived in our out house. . . . .

(Girija n. joshi)