PAPPU PAPA AND CYCLE

 One morning papa came, woke me up and said.

  " Pappu, I am going to teach you  how to ride a cycle today"

   Even the sun hadn't yet opened his eyes

    and I had slept late watching cartoons

So i said what any other child would have said

"Okay Papa".

The moment I stepped out, A brand-new cycle awaited me 

When I saw it, my innocent mind started jumping up and down

But as I noticed the absence of training wheels,

my excitement came to a standstill.

A fear arose in my pulse that my dad sensed,

so he said, "I'am right here,son"

So on the small seat of that small cycle,

 I placed my small bum

Pushed down on the peddles, the wheels started

turning and staggering, my cycle moved forward

I was happy but dad kept directing me,

"Keep the handle straight.."

"..Why is the cycle moving towards right???

  Don't stop peddling, be careful, you'll fall"

Ugh! Who makes someone do so much exercise

on the first day!?

But dad made me do this exercise daily,

then suddenly one day my cycle stopped staggering

Joyfully, I wanted to turn around and tell him,

"Look dad, I've learnt how to cycle."

But the moment I turned around,

I saw that my dad was standing far behind me

Seeing him so far away, scared me and the fear 

made my cycle swerve and stagger again

And for the very first time, 

I fell down.

And my bum which was earlier well placed on the seat,

was now flat on the ground.

My dad come running, gave me a smile,

picked me up and took me back home.

But somehow, from that day on,

A weird tradition of me falling down had started

Because the moment my

cycle stopped staggering, I...

But by the time my eyes were on the road again, 

I found my self lying on it.

Then one day I made a decision

that I will get over my fear

So I started riding my cycle at great speed,

my dad kept screaming from behind,

"Son, you are going too fast, slow down,

look, there is a pothole ahead of you..

"..You will crash into someone"

But all of my dad's advice, had somehow

vanished in the face of this speed

The still wind, had suddenly started kissing me,

I had started to fall in love with this speed

But then all of a sudden,

my feet slipped from the pedal

My cycle slipped and 

I came crashing down to the ground

And for the first time, I wept and my knees bled,

but what was really injured was my pride

Dad came running towards me, he picked me up,

without smiling this time

He took me home and said,

"Don't ride the cycle tomorrow."

But now I wanted 

to ride the cycle

Because untill yesterday, I was falling because of my fear

But today I fell because of my foolishness

And the one thing that 

I know was that

You can fight your fear but if you do not correct

your foolishness, repeating it becomes a habit

So the next morning I got up before the sun,

took my cycle off the stand, and rode it for miles

Took a turn and come back 

home, without falling

This morning I was the one who woke up dad,

narrated the story with a lot of happiness

And in the end, I said,

"Look dad, I have learnt cycling."

Dad smiled and said...

"Son, you've not only learnt cycling but

you've also learnt how to walk on the road of life."

He told me how the handle was our focus,

the pedal our hard work

This moving cycle was the success

which was moving on a road called life

He made me understand that,

Many a times I'll fall because of the speed of my pride

and the potholes of relationships

But I'll have to get up, 

make the cycle stand again

And continue my journey

until death comes my way