Man on the Road: The Green Cyclist

Subhash the fruit seller/ Picture by Maitreyee B Chowdhury

By Maitreyee B Chowdhury

While out on my evening walk, I met an interesting man today, on the streets of Bangalore. What intrigued me at first sight was his cycle. A cyclist myself, have always had an affinity with fellow cyclists, but this cycle all decked in green leaves was something else. I stopped and curiously looked at the it while the owner, happily peed around.

It was of course like any other cycle but for the fact that it was covered from head to toe with leaves and seemed to carry a lot many things that made me curiously glance around. Seeing me pottering around, the owner stopped peeing and came over to explain. He shook my hands solemnly and introduced himself as Subhash the fruit seller (Guava to be precise) pedaling the streets of Bangalore.

I asked him, why his cycle was covered in leaves. He smiled broadly and said, he liked the greens, besides it also kept the fruit fresh. On further questioning, Subhash proceeded to give me a guided tour of his cycle.

The front part where the basket usually is has a small flat earthen pitcher. He says it has multiple uses. He serves customers fruit as well as water in it from time to time. It comes with a spoon too! The back portion of the cycle or the carrier has a rather large basket where the fruits are stacked within leaves. The leaves concealed a container of masala, salt, a small knife and a bottle of water for washing the fruit.

I noticed a rather nice looking sling bag hanging from the side, on which was his photograph with the cycle on display. When I asked him about it, he said that it was a photocopy of his license. I was a bit surprised; I didn’t know fruit sellers required a license!

Subhash explained to me patiently and enthusiastically, that he had obtained the license with a sum of Rs 2000. Which made him eligible to stand on any footpath or parking lot and sell Guavas! Of course the greater protection was from the ever bribe seeking police, always out to net vendors like him, he explained rather agitatedly.

Neat I thought and smiled at him. It had not escaped my eyes that the enterprising man also had a small hand toy that moves with the wind and a lotus on his handle bar, to decorate his cycle.

Such are the men who make the roads such an entertaining place. The next time I buy guavas, I shall remember this man and his green cycle, pedaling the streets of Bangalore..licensed to sell!

Maitreyee B Chowdhury is a Bangalore based creative writer and poet. Apart from being a professional web content writer, she is the author of two books on poetry and regional films in India. People watching is a compulsion for her. She is fascinated by ‘ The man on the road’.

The idea of writing about ‘The man on the road’ came naturally, says Maitreyee. “Some of the most compelling, beautiful and bizarre stories unfold on the road. The everyday man’s struggle for existence, his tenacity and the beauty of the stark is what is absolutely fascinating”, she says.

Maitreyee writes for us every month her column, The Man on the Road. She can be contacted at maitreyee@thesipoflife.com