Pandu began to repair cycles from the age of seven at Variety Hall Road and he moved to Big Bazaar Street by the year 1947. The Premier Cycle Works managed by Pandu has a name board which states that it was founded in the year 1937. The cycle renting and repairing business is looked after by the octogenarian and his son Prakash. The day starts by about 8.30 am and work goes on till 8.30 pm. The old store is located within the vicinity of the ancient Kamakshi Amman Temple.
Long ago cycles were the cheapest and most convenient mode of transport. The townspeople used to go about on a cycle which was either owned by them or hired from shops like Premier Cycle Works. "Those days our business was brisk and we used to own over 25 cycles at one go. The cycles were hired from us for two annas an hour or six annas per day. However, we used to give it to people who were known to us and strangers were not welcome. A cycle used to cost Rs.45 those days and our cycles included popular brands like Philips and Apollo. Nowadays we charge Rs.20 per hour and still have more than half a dozen cycles but our revenues have touched a rock bottom ", states Pandu while trying to fix a cycle that had just arrived for service.
There was a time when the cycle renting and repairing business was yielding a revenue of Rs.200 per day and Pandu used to employ people in order to ensure quick service. The Premier Cycle Works was always the most important and popular store in the town area and thousands of people used to know the store and its hardworking boss for decades. All the leading jewellers and goldsmiths used to hire cycles from Pandu. A number of the hirers have become big names today. People like Devaraj and Mylswamy visit him everyday and spend time with him in spite of the fact that they belong to a younger generation. Both of them swear by his ability to assemble cycles even at this age.
The cycle store has some old posters given by cycle manufacturing companies. Pandu has framed them and given them a pride of place. One can get to hear old winding clocks announcing the time on an hourly basis at this ancient store which was named by one of the early customers.. Some of the tools used are several decades old and the floor is scarred due to constant usage. Pandu is extremely business like and hardworking. He continues to be popular with the people of the old town area and he remembers several of his clients very well. Its interesting to note that he continues to retain old pictures of Gandhi , Nehru and K.Kamaraj. " We used to charge two annas for setting right a puncture those days and only one anna for the second time. We work on our own because we cannot afford assistants" says an energetic Pandu while squatting down again with one more task.
An old metal savings hundial handed over by the National Savings Organisation continues to adorn his table. " We used the hundial for putting in the small change that was given to us by customers who checked and corrected the tyre pressure. The money became our savings. The hundial is made of metal and can be opened with aid of a key." added a busy Pandu .
The busybody lives at Ashok Nagar and has his lunch brought from home by his son. A nice old portrait of a jacket clad Pandu of the yonder era smiles at the visitors. The self taught cycle workshop owner continues to cherish a One Rupee coin that was given to him by a jeweller who lived decades ago. " Those were the times when the old jeweller P.A.Raju Chettiar gave new One Rupee coins to people in the bazaar at the time of Deepawali and I used to get a coin every year from him. I have retained one such One Rupee coin and it continues to be preserved in our household," said a smiling Pandu while picking a tool in order to set right cycle that had just arrived for service.
Coimbatore continues to thrive and grow as a self made city due to the presence and toil of hard working Karma Yogis like Pandu. Nowadays cycling is in once again for its eco friendly and also healthy. It does not cost money to commute on a cycle and its being prefered once again as a mode of transport by doctors like Dr.Dinesh Narasimhan in R.S.Puram. In fact his grandfather Dr.S.R.Srikantan used to cycle around the town area in order to visit his regular patients. A number of industrialists like the PSG Brothers, Rao Bahadur V.Gopal Naidu and V.Rangaswamy Naidu of Radhakrishna Mills used to travel by cycle to places like Avinashi and Erode on business over a hundred years ago, The cycle used to be an important mode of transport for it was hassle free and it will continue to be so during the times to come.
Lets hope that the city continues to support the likes of hard working men like Pandu of the famous Premier Cycle Works.