Nek Chand's companion on lonely journeys to build Rock Garden

CHANDIGARH: Nek Chand is gone. Left behind is his longtime companion, whom he often credited as his equal partner behind Rock Garden's creation. It took him into the deep jungle where he worked. He ferried stones on it, went around town scouting for waste material. He called it his companion on otherwise lonely journeys to the making of Rock Garden.That was Nek Chand's bicycle.
When the bicycle was put on display some years ago, Nek Chand had shared, while interacting with media, how he would travel various kilometres on his bicycle collecting material for Rock Garden. He said his family was a lot harassed with the bicycle. "My wife didn't like the running around that I did on it. She hated it and never sat on it," he had said, bemusedly. But for Nek Chand, the bicycle was special. "It has been my true friend, stayed with me through what were mostly lonely journeys," he had said.
Canada-based translator Bhupinder Singh shares on his blog many a stories that he grew up on about Nek Chand and his bicycle. "Sometime in the early 1980s, he was honoured by then Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal and presented with a brand new Ambassador car. The next day, an English daily ran a headline carrying the story. Accompanying it was a picture of the new car with Nek Chand riding by on his bicycle. Perhaps he did not have the money for the fuel, or more likely did not know how to drive a car," writes Singh.
The bicycle now lies in a store at Rock Garden, dust-laden. The tyres are flat, the chain hangs loose. An SDO on duty at the site says Nek Chand would come to work on this bicycle for many decades, but was totally worn out by the end. "Last year, a leading cycle brand gifted him one," he says, but is not sure if he rode it. However, he knows that this old bicycle will always be special for people who saw Nek Chand ride in to Rock Garden on it, in rain, sun and fog.