Chandigarh: Under mounting fuel supply pressures, rising petrol and diesel prices linked to military tensions in West Asia and repeated calls by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for austerity and conservation, the humble bicycle has once again re-emerged – not merely as a frugal alternative, but as one of the most practical forms of transport available today.Filling a car or a two-wheeler tank is, in effect, increasingly becoming an exercise in financial self-punishment. Even short commutes now strain household budgets, while routine journeys increasingly demand the kind of calculation once reserved for major household expenses.Against this backdrop, the bicycle stands out as the default transportation choice – economical, environmentally sound, fitness-enhancing, and quietly therapeutic.And, unlike motorised vehicles, it demands a single, modest upfront payment to acquire – perhaps a bell or mudguards, or wireless odometer if one is feeling indulgent – after which the transaction is effectively concluded: Thereafter, there are no fuel bills, no insurance premiums, no parking charges, and certainly none of those breathless moments of staring in disbelief at the soaring price numbers on the petrol pump display as the nozzle disgorges fuel into your vehicle.Technically, the bicycle also remains gloriously primitive in the best possible sense. Compared with the latest hybrid and electric vehicles, it has no need for charging cables or software updates and no connectivity required beyond human effort. It is, in that sense, one of the few remaining modes of movement that is entirely self-contained.Then come the additional advantages.First, the question of traffic – that uniquely Indian form of daily warfare where horns, brakes, invectives, and road rage function as everyone’s weapon of choice, as vehicles dodge each other on over-congested and narrow roads, threaten pedestrians and careen dangerously past herds of cows, stray dogs, bullock and horse-drawn carts, and even the odd camel and elephant.In such conditions, the bicycle slips by almost unnoticed – agile, compact, and able to weave through congestion with the ease of a needle through cloth. Motorists, meanwhile, remain trapped in unmoving queues for hours, even as cyclists glide past with quiet satisfaction, often reaching their destinations long before even the stoplight changes.Then, of course, there is fitness, which cycling conveniently disguises as transport. It burns calories, strengthens muscles, and clears the mind, while offering a slow, observant passage through everyday life – markets, tea stalls, homes, and roadside vendors unfolding in real time, instead of a blur seen through a besieged vehicle windshield.Alongside this, the environmental case for cycling scarcely needs repeating in Indian cities, where pollution hangs like a pall in varying but choking degrees, obscuring even the sky itself. Every bicycle ride, in this context, becomes a small act of defiance against exhaust fumes and fossil fuel dependence – a reminder that not every journey necessitates tons of metal powered by a polluting combustion engine.A commuter carrying bags of empty plastic bottles passes by on a cycle on a hot summer day, in Chikkamagaluru, Karnataka, Friday, April 24, 2026. Photo: PTI.Cycling, of course, raises the familiar objections – India’s unrelenting heat and chaotic traffic.Yet both, paradoxically, strengthen the case for the bicycle rather than weaken it. The heat simply demands adaptation: earlier starts, evening commutes, lighter clothing, shaded routes, and a slower pace. After all, for multiple decades, tens of millions across Indian cities, towns and villages cycled precisely under such conditions long before the advent of air-conditioned mobility, which we now take for granted. Consequently, the bicycle is not alien to the Indian climate; it simply adapted itself around it for aeons.The hazards of chaotic traffic, admittedly, are harder to dismiss.Modern Indian roads are in no way designed with cyclists in mind, and riding through dense traffic requires alertness, patience, and above all, a great degree of courage. However, the very congestion that makes roads dangerous for bicycles also renders cars deeply impractical for short urban travel. In many cities, average vehicle speeds during peak hours collapse to little more than a 5-7 km crawl per hour, turning even modest round-the-corner commutes into exhausting endeavours.Under such conditions, the bicycle regains a practical advantage. It takes up little space, avoids the endless stop-start rhythm of cars, and remains hugely viable for short- and medium-distance journeys compared to motor vehicles, which spend more time idling than moving. Traffic may slow down a cyclist, but it rarely stops movement altogether.Cars, by contrast, can remain stranded for long periods in jams caused by bottlenecks, accidents, breakdowns or poorly timed signals. Consequently, bicycle journeys – especially over short distances – are easier to plan and far less uncertain.No discussion on bicycles in India is complete without reference to politicians, who rediscover cycling with remarkable enthusiasm every election season, during environmentally themed events, or whenever calls for austerity are issued – often to display humility and public-spirited simplicity – like those recently invoked by Modi himself.Once this comes about, photographers materialise, politician kurtas flap dramatically in the wind as they wobble uncertainly down carefully cleared boulevards for token distances, before quietly returning to waiting SUVs, complete with air-conditioning and security convoys. Still, even these theatrical performances unintentionally acknowledge something important: the bicycle retains a symbolic power. It continues to represent thrift, simplicity, discipline, and a modest degree of independence in increasingly congested and over-mechanised cities.BJP ministers and legislators in Haryana were among the first to begin cycling to work in Chandigarh in response to Narendra Modi’s calls for austerity. “We are also citizens of this country, and it is our responsibility to act on what our PM has said. We will use public transport whenever possible,” Social Justice Minister Krishan Kumar Bedi told The New Indian Express on Monday after cycling 2 km from his residence to the secretariat.Bollywood has also long romanticised the bicycle, especially through Dev Anand, who in films like Paying Guest is portrayed riding through narrow lanes on a simple cycle, capturing a sense of effortless charm and youthful ease. This is further reflected in the song ‘Mana Janab Ne Pukara Nahin’ in the same film, composed by S. D. Burman and sung by Kishore Kumar, where the sound of the bicycle bell is woven into the rhythm, reinforcing the bicycle’s central presence.In the end, the bicycle is far more than mere transport. It is mobility without fuel, exercise without gym memberships, and movement without noise. In an age of rising prices, shrinking urban space, and the growing complexity of modern urban life and technology-dependent living, the bicycle remains one of the few inventions that still works perfectly, without reinvention – requiring only the willingness to pedal.As H. G. Wells, the English writer and futurist, once observed: “Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.” So here’s to the humble bicycle: eco-friendly companion, fitness instructor, and loyal childhood friend that never truly left us. May its tyres remain inflated, its chain unbroken, and its saddle forgiving.