As floodwaters swallowed homes, fields, and much more across parts of Punjab, one father's simple promise to his son was also washed away — a bicycle, promised after the paddy harvest.

“I had told my son that once we harvested this year’s crop, I would buy him a bicycle,” recalled Sukhdev Singh, a resident of Baupur Jadid, Kapurthala, his voice choked with emotion.

The marginal farmer's three acres of farmland were ravaged by the recent floods, and their home was damaged, forcing them to seek shelter elsewhere.

Sukhdeep Singh, a Class 4 student, would often go to school with his classmates as he didn't have any vehicle of his own. This year, he had only one wish — a cycle. But fate had other plans.

“I told my son, if God wills, your bicycle will come from whatever survives here,” he sa

See Full Page