That old, blue bike

There's an Archie story about the time that Mr.Lodge decides to sell his old car and Archie commiserates while Mr. Lodge gets all choked up - one of those rare moments when the two are in perfect accord over something.

This morning the BF sold his old bike and that's how come that particular comic came to mind. He said it felt like saying goodbye to an old friend as he watched the new owner ride off with that old bike. I felt nostalgic too- that bike had seen us through a lot.

It was 2008 when he got that bike and I remember us just staring and staring at it. We were really really broke, then, and his first salary, just over Rs.3000, was enough to make us feel immensely rich. He had few possessions, so getting that bike felt extra special. Before, we both used to scrimp and save so that he could take the bus to see me on weekdays, and a taxi on Sundays when there were no bus services. But he needed that bike because he lived right on the edge of town, and he had to attend classes on the opposite end, then come back to go to work where he had the evening shift. It was easier meeting up, but we still had to scrimp and save to pay off the loan on that bike and to buy petrol and stuff.

That bike had seen us through a lot. Like the time we went for a picnic without telling my parents, and we had to get home by 6. But we took the wrong road, and by 6, we were still an hour's drive away from home.    How that bike raced to get me home by 630 at least because I lied and told my parents that the university bus had broken down and I would be home by then. And how apprehensive the BF must've felt when he ran out of fuel halfway and he silently switched to reserve. And that time I sneaked out because my mom had said we were seeing too much of each other so we should cool off. We had nowhere to go to, so we rode aimlessly about under a gibbous moon until we got to a huge water tower and we climbed up and watched as the city lights went out one by one.

Those times he would pick me up from the university and we would sing out loud and off-key and unembarrassed because there was hardly anyone around on that fairly deserted stretch of road. The silent, sulky rides on that bike after a fight. Rain-drenched rides over muddy roads as we kept our eyes peeled for possible landslides. And everyone on my street could identify that bike.

It started to give out around last year. One time, the bike kept on bucking and I thought he was being fresh so I giggled but it turned out there was something wrong with the..something. Then it started making high pitched noises. And other sounds. And the self-starter refused to work, and the side glass cracked and parts of it got a bit rusty and there were too many scratches and the spring was shot or something. A lot of somethings went wrong with it, and the repair jobs that it needed kept piling up.

And he finally decided to trade it in for another one. So he placed an ad this morning, and a couple hours later, some guy turned up and rode off with that old blue bike. True, it had become an old bucket of bolts but God, what memories that bike left us with!

I'm starting to hate the new one he intends to get.

(Dammit, I intended posting a pic to go along with the er..post., but the one I had in mind has another couple in it besides us, and that couple would not appreciate old pics resurfacing because they're both with other people now. Damn)

Lazy eye/ Why I Can Never Ever Watch 3D Movies wah

Read blogger Aduhi Chawngthu's latest blogpost about how she watched Spiderman in 3D and how it felt like the flying things were going to hit her at one point. And I am forcibly reminded again of how I can never get to experience what 3D movies look like (Squirm with guilt, Aduh)

I have Amblyopia, or Lazy Eye (I prefer the latter term, sounds kinda cooler), a condition in which one eye loses the ability to see things clearly. I can only barely distinguish shapes and colours with my left eye, and when I try on 3D glasses, all I see is a red image with a hazy blue blur somewhere in the corner of my left vision.

Apparently, when I was a child, I had a fever. My hands didn't feel just like two balloons but I got severely cross-eyed. Some doctor managed to cure me of it, but my sisters still like to talk about the fact that at one time, my identification mark was, "left eye on the right side". Still crops up occasionally when my eyes are tired and my friends like to point out, "Awi, kha a kalh, a kalh leh lo! A kalh leh chiah!"

Anyhoo, my parents and I thought all was fine and dandy until the time I complained of severe headaches when I was in class 5 and we went for an eye check-up. The doctor revealed the fact that I could only see clearly through one eye, which startled everyone, most of all me, because I had been having very clear vision. But it seemed that while my left eye is lazy as shit, my right eye has been over compensating like mad, hence the headaches.

"Your daughter will become blind within three years", proclaimed the eye doctor, "unless she wears an eye-patch for seven years and force the unseeing eye to see!" So I wore an eye patch. Like so. Unfortunately I wasn't as cute as the little girl there. And trying to navigate the world and especially school seeing just hazy outlines and colours was pretty harrowing for me. For one thing, I'm naturally clumsy, and the patch made me lose my depth perception, so I kept on falling down stairs, tripping and bumping into things. Also I fell way behind on my school work since I couldn't read anything. And I looked like a dork. So I gave up the eye patch, and nothing my parents said, not even the threat of blindness could make me take it back. And Lazy Eye is curable only with patching.



The doctor was wrong, though. It's been many many years since her prediction but my vision is still the same- left eye lazy, right eye workaholic. Also, since I've  never known what it's like to see the world through two functioning eyes, I've never felt deprived or anything.

And then they had to invent 3D. So now I feel a little bit miffed. And I also have a tiny headache too because I've been straining my eyes a lot lately.

So damn you, you prejudiced-against-visually-challenged- people-3D inventor!

Nah, not really. I still have my books, my 2D movies and the ability to see the funny side of most things, so I'm pretty good. And thankful. And to everyone with two functioning eyes, go watch the 3D version, Aduhi makes it sound pretty awesome. Ta!