I know this isn’t some great achievement for a 9-year-old, but we went to school alone on our cycles, negotiating the traffic and other obstacles along the way, and then cycled back. All by ourselves. And as Baba Bear, I am proud of her.
If you must know (because I know exactly what you’re thinking right now), the answer is no. Neither her mother nor I fretted and stressed, were tensed or worried, chewed our fingernails or paced about in concern through the day. We just saw her off and then went about our day, and when it was time for her to be back, decided to surprise her by being at the gate. It was simply another day at the Bear family. Tomorrow, we won’t even see her off or be there to welcome her. It’s all normal. As it ought to be.
Was I surprised at how cool I was? Not really. My Baba allowed and indeed encouraged us to be free and on our own since we were very young. I had no doubts I’d do the same for Kym. I remember him answering my (rhetorical, no doubt) question of ‘How will I ever pay you back?’ with, ‘No, you don’t. You pay it forward. Do what we did for you kids to your kids, and then go beyond. Pay back our debt by repaying your children. And teach them to pay it forward to theirs.’
I think I paid a small amount of that debt today.
P.S.: Of course, we will felicitate and thank Vikas (‘Vikash Kaka’ to Kym) this evening in a small function for taking the lead in ensuring that Kym learns and practices cycling, sometimes against bitter opposition from his student herself! He deserves most of the credit for this.
P.P.S.: Mumbai folks simply can’t understand this. I don’t blame them. If you have a Punekar or Bengalurian friend, ask them how normal this is. She’s, if anything, late. Her friends started doing this two years ago. I started doing it when I was 7, like all kids those days. But then, Mumbaikars don’t need to learn cycling, so they don’t understand cycling culture at all. I don’t blame them.
