The cycle
1.
Sabbu used to work at a tea stall. He used to carry tea in a 12 cup heavy, cup holder, twice a day. He used to sit with his brother in their vegetable stall in the local market on the evenings. Like all the other poor kids, he too had a life of never ending misery and pain. Unfortunately he was never interested in studies and school life. He was a jovial character and preferred fooling around with his mates. His father Sundar Kumar, a great contrast to Sabbu was a farmer, a person who would work terribly hard for the welfare of his family. Sabbu’s brother Ajay was more close to his father, naturally as he too was a hardworking chap. Sabbu was one of those insincere fellows, who preferred to roam around and find peace all day. It was a regular routine for Sabbu to get a harsh scolding from his mother when he would return home. His mother was never tired scolding him, knowing the fact that it all fell on deaf ears. Hence, Sabbu sometimes preferred not to go home at night and would sleep with his friends on the footpath instead.
It was one of those nights when Sabbu decided to sleep with his friends near the Vinayak Temple. It was late 11 ‘o’ clock when he was on his way to the temple. On his way he found a cycle leaning on an electric post a few feet away from the temple. It was a brand new cycle, with red paint on in. The finishing was superb, and had a small sack in its carrier. The owner was nowhere to be seen. It was a teaser, Sabbu wanted to have a ride but the fact that it might be one of the police hawaldar’s bike, stopped him from going even near it. Then he realized that how can he steal in front of god, in front of the Vinayak temple. He turned his back towards the cycle and strolled down to the temple steps where his friends were already asleep. He too decided to retire but the thought of the cycle kept him awake almost all night.
2.
The sun rose and the temple purohit woke the boys up and even gave them some morning Prasad. Sabbu washed his face and took his fifth yawn when he suddenly remembered that there was a cycle near the temple. He sprinted towards the post with excitement but then he found the cycle disappeared. His face went down and he was disappointed and upset. He said himself “it was just a dream I guess”.
After that Sabbu went to perform his usual schedule, he reached the tea stall and anticipated his next run, when suddenly he saw the same cycle leaning on the dirty post office wall. Now he was more than sure that somebody has stolen the cycle. He plotted a plan to get it. He started brisk walking towards the cycle shouting “oh, there’s my cycle, oh my god I’ve searched it for so long. I’ll break his leg who’s stolen my precious cycle! “ he was almost about to grab the handle when a gigantic man with a bushy beard came in front of him and yelled “who told you this is your cycle eh?” Sabbu understood that he was on the edge of the cliff and he decided to pull off the idea and apologized to the big man and tagged those phrases as just a joke. The big man looked at him with one eye and warned him not to do that kind of joking anymore. Sabbu took a gulp of saliva and felt like a complete fool. He cursed himself for creating the whole scene, in front of so many people. Sabbu completed his usual schedule and after the second run he was on his way to the local bazaar. All his way he thought of the cycle and the big man, he wondered that the whether the massive guy was actually the owner of the cycle or not. He recalled that he had never seen the man in the area. He wondered who was he, and where did he stay. “He is surely a Muslim” he thought picturing that entire beard and the small white cap he was wearing. Thinking all these he finally reached the local market at the prime time. The market was very crowdie and full of cycles, carts, cows and dirt.
“Oye Sabbu!!” came a shout from his brother, who was busy with his vegetable shop. Sabbu waved him back and started walking towards him with his eyes fixed on the bicycles Stand. He was browsing through the tempting vehicles, being nostalgic about the bicycle he lost a ride on. He was shuffling through all of them one by one when his eyes stopped at the one he was thinking of. It was the same bicycle again, now in the parking stand. The same cycle with red paint and fine finishing, one rear view mirror and small sack in its carrier. He stopped and rubbed his eyes, he couldn’t believe what he just saw. He smile d and thought that how can this be such a coincidence. “It’s all mine now” he said himself. He ran towards it, grabbed it and off he went. He drove carefully out of the bazaar and then went in full throttle. Suddenly he found two men chasing him, in the rear view mirror, where one of them was the big Muslim guy. He realized that if he stops he would get a massive battery, so he decided to cycle even faster to get rid of them. He cycled really hard, two blocks, three blocks, and four blocks then finally he reached the park near the riverside. The park was empty, out of the main road and locality. He turned back but the strangers were nowhere to be seen. He jumped out of the cycle and started laughing. A dash of joy covered his face and he started jumping around. It was the most adventurous moment of his life. He felt the wind cutting his nose, and the sweet sound of river flowing made his celebration complete.
Suddenly there was a big blast which threw Sabbu a few yards away. It was the cycle. Sabbu was left silent. His elbows and back were only a little bruised because he was on the other side of the park. He was confused, people rushed into the park from their houses to rescue the boy. The noise of the blast deaf his ears for a few minutes. He felt like running home as he was totally shocked.
The next day one the city newspapers read:
A POOR BOY SAVES THE TOWN
TOI CORRESPONDENT, 29TH APRIL, 4:30 p.m, CHAMAN GHAT PARK, VARANASI,
A boy named Sabbu Kumar, who works in a tea stall spotted a bomb fitted cycle in the busy Govind Market and immediately drove it away far to Chaman Ghat Park , to save hundreds of lives. “The park was empty and Sabbu ran after parking the cycle” as spotted by one of the local residents. Sabbu received some minor injuries and is admitted to the local hospital, but his story of valor doesn’t end here. He even identified two terrorist behind this act. The police are now searching every nook and corner for the indentified ones. The police even confirmed that the terrorists initially had a plan to blow up the Vinayak Temple at night which turned out to be unsuccessful. Sabbu proved to be a true Indian citizen, who saved at least a hundred, lives by risking his own.
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