In A Bid To Market His Creation, G Rajendran Cycles From His Home In Villivakkam To Pattinapakkam And Marina Beach, Chennai. He Is Now Making Customised Cycles In Steel. Have You Spotted Him On The Roads Yet?
In the ocean of snarling visitors on the bustling Nungambakkam High Road, G Rajendran stands tall… or fairly rides tall. Seated atop a peculiar, giant contraption, he glides previous. His car of selection is a cycle with three wheels, no chain, weighs 220 kilograms, and measures seven-and-a half-feet in peak, barely taller than most SUVs on the street.
The 56-year-old from Villivakkam is a creator and a cycle fanatic. He has been designing and placing collectively cycles of varied shapes, sizes and kinds for the final 25 years. “I just had so many ideas that I decided to give them shape,” says Rajendran who works in a lathe store. “With the money I earn as salary, I buy metal waste and make these prototypes with them,” he says.
His wage is determined by the quantity of labor the small lathe manufacturing unit will get. “Sometimes it could be ₹1,500 a month, at other times marginally more or even less. It took years of savings, and some donations from helpful people, to create this three-wheeled cycle which cost me ₹63,000,” he provides.
A Vijay Sethupathi join
A few years in the past, actor Vijay Sethupathy occurred to see Rajendran on his three-wheel cycle close to Ega Theatre and apparently invited him to the units in YMCA Royapettah, the place he was taking pictures for a movie. “He asked me if I would like to act in the role of a father. I said the only thing I can do is create,” claims Rajendran, who has created three variations of this massive cycle purely out of curiosity. The different two have two wheels and measure four-and-a-half ft.
Made of iron, these cycles are heavy and that’s the reason they don’t have any takers, says Rajendran. He has acquired requests to make them lighter. His subsequent cycle might be manufactured from chrome steel. “I received an order for a three-feet cycle, from a client in Anna Nagar,” he says. While the smaller ones will be made in a few weeks’ time, the bigger ones took him 9 months to a yr and a half.
With folks experimenting with quirky dwelling and restaurant decors now, has he acquired orders to create his distinctive cycles as installations? “Not yet. But a few people do rent it out for photo shoots, especially for weddings at ₹2,000 per day,” says Rajendran.
Not many individuals know of his creations, he says. In an try and make his work identified, Rajendran cycles from Villivakkam to Pattinapakkam and Marina Beach after which again. “It’s great exercise,” he says, explaining how the pedal is linked to the wheel. And is it authorized on traffic-filled roads? “While as of now there are no such laws, I have often found cops looking at me. A few even stopped and wanted to see if the brakes work and seemed intrigued with the giant cycle,” he says.
