A bicycle in Delhi, a dream from Kabul

Once upon a time, in the city of Kabul, there was a girl named Laila who had a dream. This dream was to ride a bicycle. The story goes that she once watched other girls, particularly those aged 14 and 15, riding bicycles to school. They wore neat uniforms and their hair was pulled back in ponytails. Laila yearned to try riding a bicycle herself, yet she lacked the courage to ask.

After the Taliban regained control of Kabul, Laila's grandmother Bibi Jan shared the story of the bicycle with her granddaughter, Laila. Bibi Jan remembered telling Laila about her own dream of riding a bicycle when she was a girl living in Shiwaki. She would walk to school daily, as there was no high school in her village. Many girls at the school came on bicycles, riding neat uniforms with their hair in ponytails.

Laila realized that Bibi Jan was entrusting her own unfinished dream to her. Despite not having learned to ride a bicycle as a child, Laila decided to embark on this journey at the age of 34 in Delhi, living in a city where the temperature often reached nearly 45 degrees Celsius. With the help of a 14-year-old Afghan boy named Mehran, who had also fled Kabul, Laila began to learn how to ride a bicycle.

Initially, she was anxious and felt watched by passersby, fearing the judgment of others more than the pain of falling. However, with Mehran's support and encouragement, Laila persevered. Now, five years after the Taliban's return, Laila continues to cycle every morning, understanding that the pain of falling is never as heavy as the regret of not trying.