Shivshakti Cycles

We have a shop called Shivshakti Cycles over at Shankaracharya Sankul on Gangapur Road. It’s a good spot because there are always people cycling by on their way to work or school. Our place is full of wheels, frames, and rubber tires. The smell of grease and new rubber is pretty strong when you first walk in. We don't have a big fancy showroom with bright lights. Instead, we have bikes hanging from the ceiling and leaning against the walls. It’s a bit crowded, so you have to be careful not to knock anything over. I spend most of my time at the back with a wrench in my hand. People bring in their old cycles that have been sitting in a shed for years, and I try to get them rolling again. It’s a lot of dirty work, and my fingernails are always black from the chain oil. We don't use any high-tech systems to track things. We just write everything down in a big blue notebook. Sometimes the kids from the neighborhood come by just to pump up their tires. We don't mind. It’s a steady life and we like being part of the street. Gangapur Road gets very busy in the evenings, so that’s usually when we have the most people dropping in. We stay open until the street lights come on and then we lock up the chains and go home.