The last few: One of the last surviving ‘common man’s stores’ has come full cycle

(An occasional series on how what was once commonplace is vanishing as Mumbai changes)

(An occasional series on how what was once commonplace is vanishing as Mumbai changes)

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MUMBAI : Lucky Cycle store, off Duncan Road, has been renting Atlas cycles to Mumbaiites who cannot afford a taxi, or to a shop owner to make home-deliveries. It’s the common man’s rent-a-cycle and it is on the brink of extinction.

“Ours is one of the last surviving rent-a-cycle stores in Mumbai,” says Abdul Rashid of the store his father started 70 years ago.

The docks and spinning mills made central and southcentral Mumbai thriving business centres — the big trading houses were at Mazagaon, Masjid and Cotton Green, but the smaller ones were nestled around Kamathipura and Mumbai Central. The areas surrounding Kamathipura had middle and lower-middle class dwellings, precariously placed between shady drinking joints and brothels. On its fringes were Kazipura, Bharat Bazaar, Sonapur and Chor Bazaar where thousands of labourers worked.

The labourers could not afford taxis that charged Rs2 for the first 2km. Abdul Wahab saw a business opportunity. He charged 50 paisa for half-an-hour. It was an instant hit. “Carrying a parcel to Crawford market 3km away would cost just 50 paise. Hiring a taxi cost Rs8. It obviously worked our way. Our average daily income was never less than Rs50,” Rashid said, as he remembers constant queues outside his shop.

In the ’90s, when private businesses opened up and more people got jobs, the concept lost favour. Today, Rashid’s store has just 12 cycles, most of which stay parked all day. “The cycles require constant maintenance. With a meagre income, the business is becoming increasingly difficult to run.”