Shrishti Reborn

Chapter 31. Cycling Race

Next day, Shrishti eagerly waited for her car to reach its destination. It was early morning and she was heading to the venue where the cycling races were being held. Shashi was going to take part and Shrishti was equally excited to see him and to see him race. She reached the area and was surprised by how frantic everything was. She was being pushed around as she tried to make sense on where to go. But first, she sent a message to her friend telling him where she was. Soon he arrived.

'Shashi!'

'Shrishti!'

Both hugged each other and then Shrishti was being dragged away while Shashi rambled excitedly. He led her to an elderly couple who turned out to be his adopted parents. She greeted them cheerfully and then she was introduced to Shashi's other cycling friends and some non-cycling ones from his college who were here just to support their participating friends. One of them named Kanika was a sweet girl who was here to cheer for her older sister who was taking part. The older sister was not in the group as she already left for her race. Shashi asked Kanika to take care of Shrishti once all the riders were called to report. Kanika took Shrishti all around the area. There were tents and stalls selling food and other paraphernalia. Shrishti saw some key chains being sold and she bit her lip. She went to look through and her eyes fell on miniature metal cycles hanging on the key rings. Her cheeks pinked as she bought two. She shyly put them in her bag. One day she would give one to Raghav, she decided and resisted the urge to hide her face in her hands.

Once they grabbed some food to take with them to the races, Kanika took Shrishti to the seating area. It was in front of a long track that vanished on both sides. Kanika explained in a quiet voice that the tracks were long and it took some five to eight minutes on an average to clear one lap. Shrishti was surprised by how long the tracks were. She was told that there were short races too. But Shashi raced for longer ones and today was the longer one. Next day was for the shorter ones. Shrishti won't be able to attend those even if she wanted to. Next day, she, her Pappa, Raghav, Arpit and Megha were going on a vacation.

Shrishti found Kanika to be a very quiet girl. This was the first time Shrishti met someone so quiet. Everyone in her life was loud and assertive. This girl was neither. Raghav was quiet too but he was assertive when needed. This girl was quiet and went along the flow. Shrishti said let eat, the girl said yes. Shrishti said, lets sit here, the girl said yes. Kanika seemed to have opinions but she would rather keep quiet than argue. Shrishti found her novel but also enjoyed her company. But it took her a while to understand the girl because she was used to assertive friends like Daljeet and Divya. Neither of them were shrinking violet and to meet a real wallflower type of character was an eye opener for Shrishti.

Once Shrishti got a grasp about the girl's nature, she began to ask Kanika about herself. Kanika was sweet and shy but she liked to ramble about races and Shrishti enjoyed to talking to her. Her sister was Vaishnavi who was participating in races. Kanika was two years younger than Vaishnavi and Vaishnavi was Shashi's senior by a year but as they raced together, they became friends. Vaishnavi was friends with Shashi's classmates too and hence, Shashi and his friends thought of Kanika as their baby sister and were quite fond of her. Shrishti was amused by how in awe Kanika was of her sister.

Soon the races began.

'Girls race first. LOOK! THERE! JIJI!'

Shrishti stared at the girl next to her with wide eyes. Gone was the shy and quiet girl. Kanika was now shouting at the top of her voice which waving her hands in the air from the stands. Her sister who was checking her cycle looked up and waved back, looking as happy as Kanika. Both sisters looked similar to the point that they looked like twins.

Once Vaishnavi went back to checking her cycle, Kanika sat down and explained, 'The first race is under 20, girls race. Jiji is participating in it.'

'Under 20?'