Mastering the art of monkey style in bicycle riding is still considered a milestone in the life of the children in rural Andhra Pradesh. The children in the Krishna district still crave for it, for want of any modern entertainment. Literally, the curiosity to learn cycling begins among the children, both boys and girls, when they start attending the high school.
It is at this stage of their life, the humble two-wheeler attracts the school goers in particular, reminding them the greater need of mastering the monkey style, a basic style of cycling that also helps to earn command over the three styles of the cycling. The rider needs to balance the movements of the cycle by peddling it through the three-iron-framed-circle of the cycle (popularly known as monkey style) and hence one cannot escape from getting injured. Since the space within the circle is limited, persons after certain height and age cannot hold or balance the cycle.
Every person, irrespective of the age, with rural background has a memory of injury on his body, a sign of his first success in his life, which was received during the practice of monkey style of cycling. “Watching school boys riding bicycle in monkey style always reminds us our childhood.
Sad that the age will not permit us to ride the monkey style now,” said 39-year-old M. Nagesh Kumar. There is a common belief among rural people that one cannot learn cycling without receiving an injury. Learning cycling is the only arena of the childhood in which stage the parents encourage the children to go ahead with rigorous practice despite they receiving injuries.
