Shrishti Reborn

Chapter 42. The Cycling Adventure!

The first week of the college went fast. Shrishti managed to buy a cycle for herself although neither Daljeet nor Arpit were of any help. When the trio had entered the cycle shop one quiet afternoon, all three of them were so overwhelmed by the choices that none of them had any idea what to buy. Arpit confessed that the cycle he owned was earlier Raghav's. And Daljeet confessed that she cycled as a kid but lost interest as an adult and never used adult cycles. After going through all the brands and getting thoroughly confused, Shrishti ended up calling Shashi for help. He suggested calling Vaishnavi as she was well versed with cycle for women.

Once Shrishti called Vaishnavi, she was first scolded for going on a cycle hunt without inviting Vaishnavi, a cyclist, and then once the girl had calmed down and Shrishti explained where she was and all the brands she was seeing in front of her, she was once again scolded. It took a while but Shrishti understood the gist of what she was getting scolded for. The cycle brands in front of her were all the ones used for commute by office workers. They were not the ones one was supposed to use for competitive cycling or cycling as a hobby.

Vaishnavi ended up directing her to another specialist cycle shop where Shrishti managed to get a costlier option but it was lighter and had front suspension that smoothed out bumps and shocks while riding and front disk brake that assured stronger control and manoeuvrability. Overall, Shrishti was happy with her purchase and happily spent every evening since then riding her new cycle in her colony.

By the time weekend came, everyone in the society was used to seeing Shrishti cycling on the roads, with some younger kids joining her. She enjoyed cycling with kids although they were quite slow what with their kids' bikes but Shrishti did not mind. She was not yet that confident on her new cycle, so she preferred their slow speed. So every evening, she eagerly cycled alongside the kids.

On Saturday though, Shrishti had other plans. She knocked on her neighbour's door and when the door opened she beamed a smile at the person in front of her. 'Raghav! Please come and cycle with me!'

Raghav rapidly blinked. 'What?'

She turned and pointed to the cycle behind her. 'I got a new cycle. Lets go and cycle together.'

Raghav looked totally taken aback. He blinked rapidly again before frowning. 'You want me to cycle with you?'

She pouted. Was she speaking German? She nodded.

Raghav smiled uncertainly. 'I don't cycle much. Arpit rides it these days.'

Shrishti shook her head. 'But you taught me to cycle!'

'I taught yes, but he rides it more than me these days. Why don't you ask him to go with you?'

'But I want to go with you. Then why should I ask him?'

Raghav's jaw dropped open slightly just as Shrishti realised what she had said. Before she could retract her words though, Raghav nodded. 'Ok. Wait for me. I will change from my house wear and join you.'

He ducked his head and scurried away. She felt her cheeks burn and she whirled around and walked away to check on her bike. But once she was kneeling down looking at the cycle tire, she smiled bashfully.

After a while, Raghav came out, dressed in a track pant and a tee and soon both were on the roads inside the society riding their cycles together. Although, together was only in the sense of the word. They could not ride side by side as the roads were quiet narrow. Shrishti was disappointed. What was the fun in riding behind each other? That was when she hit upon an idea.

'Lets go out of the society.', she suggested as they made a turn. Raghav stopped cycling right away and looked at her. 'Huh?'

'Lets go out.'