A ride in the Giant Wheel..

I have always known it as the Giant Wheel. Much before the theme parks, giant wheels were the attraction in the fairs. I have had the experience of riding one years ago. Varsha wanted to sit on the Ferris wheel (newly learnt word for giant wheel) which had been put up in a ground in our area. Last week we went for the fair as Varsha seemed very keen on it, she wanted to experience it. Varun did not show great enthusiasm. He has not been very fond of the Ferris wheel and even the smaller ones on the beach in Chennai were not his favourites. He would scream to get down and we had never pushed him into sitting on one.
When we reached the huge structure both of them seemed really excited and the tickets were bought. I was not keen but as their father did not show interest and I did not want them to go alone, I joined them.
As soon as we sat in one of the boxes.. I realised that there was no safety gates on the sides. I was uncomfortable with the sides being open. When I looked at the children sitting on the opposite side with excitement written on their faces, I suddenly realised that it had been a long time for me too :-) and I was supposed to manage myself and also keep an eye on them.
As the wheel started moving slowly.. stopping every minute to get more people in.. Varun was closing his eyes. I asked him if he was feeling scared and he nodded and said he was not sure if he had done the right thing. We talked about it and soon enough the wheel started moving faster. It seemed okay when it was going up but when it was coming down .... then I saw Varsha..she was screaming ''It is scary ..I am scared.. I want to get down''. I saw Varun, he had his eyes closed imagining that he was flying and he seemed to be managing. Varsha was moving her head from side to side. I was worried about her leaving her hold in fear. The wheel just kept moving and moving... I was starting to wonder if it would ever stop :-))
The wonderful part of the whole experience was that we all kept talking about what we were feeling. Where we were getting the feeling (in the stomach) and the more we spoke about it without resisting the feeling of fear, excitement, thrill we got comfortable.
When the wheel started slowing down Varsha kept saying,'I don't want to get down' and Varun was like,' I am feeling good, I managed'.
When we got down, children excitedly shared their experiences with their father. For me it was a relief to have my feet on the ground :-)