This story concerns ethical dilemmas related to unintended consequences of fieldwork. The setting in a small Indian village works as a prism that offers an opportunity to reflect upon our practice as anthropologists. One of the challenges of fieldwork in a setting with relatively little material wealth is that objects that to the anthropologist are simply a matter of convenience represent resources otherwise out of reach and might lead to competition among interlocutors and power struggles. The bicycle thus articulates the unequal relation between anthropologist and interlocutors