Ride and lunch

Brother Adda was coming to stay over for the weekend so I decided to keep the morning ride short. We planned to go for an offroad trail that's short enough to allow all of us to be back early. Even the other riders had morning commitments. But as luck had it, all of them dropped off for some reason or the other. I got up early, as planned and after much hesitation, decided to go solo - on a different track though. Generally I don't ride solo as I find it difficult to keep going alone for long. Just when I was contemplating cutting the short ride even shorter, I saw a couple of riders riding ahead of me. I pedaled harder and caught up. We were strangers to each other. But two bikers can never really be strangers in true sense. Even if we come across a rider who we have not met earlier, we're still bound together by an invisible bond. Thanks to their company, I actually rode longer than I initially planned. The morning was slightly cold and overcast - a perfect day for cycling. The weather cant get any more favorable for cycling in this part of the world. On the way back, we stopped at a shop for a quick bite. I have been to this shop earlier. The shopkeeper told that they've just opened and it will be a while before he can have anything hot and ready for us. I told him -
"I owe you some money from long time - months ago."
He smiled.
"Yes - a small Limca(a lemon flavoured carbonated drink)"
I smiled back.
"So you recognized me?"
Another smile...
"Yes. When the boy (helper at the shop) told me there're customers, I told him back that he owes us money for a Limca."
Wider smile...
I took out a ten rupee note and handed over to him. He gave me a rupee change back.
I asked - "Doesn't Limca cost 10?"
He replied, with smile - "Yes it does. But when you bought, months ago, it used to cost 9."
I smiled and couldn't help but appreciate the simplicity of the whole situation.

Back home, being an excellent cook that my brother is, he cooked one of the best chicken curries that I had in a long time. The process itself was quite elaborate and executed with a great degree of finesse. Though enough rice was cooked for three, all three of us were staring at the empty vessel at the end. A little bit more would've been better - it was a lunch worth hogging, to be followed by a a nice afternoon siesta.