IIT-Bombay geeks
MUMBAI: Before zooming off to Silicon Valley, IIT-Bombay geeks, in what is virtually a tradition, leave behind one last sign of their presence, the bicycles that took them from the halls of residence to their classrooms every morning. Stacked up at the main gate, hundreds of them glinting in the sunlight, they are a familiar sight for visitors to the verdant 550-acre Powai campus.
Lately, the familiar sight has given way to an empty stretch, only to ring in hope elsewhere. Close to 500 bikes were given away by the institute to the Bicycle Project, an altruistic endeavour under which old bicycles are knocked back into shape and gifted to school students who walk five to ten kilometres to get to school in Maharashtra’s hinterland.
“These bicycles have been lying unused for yearsmost students leave them behind when they graduate,’’ says IIT-B public relations officer Jaya Joshi, adding that a scooter and a 40-year-old car are still parked on the campus.
In 2007, the institute’s security officer Vijay Kumar came up with the idea of auctioning the bikes to campus residents and putting the proceeds in the staff welfare fund. Around 150 bicycles then went under the hammer, though there were many more that had to go back to the parking lot near the main gate. But now that IIT-B has heard about the Bicycle Project, there’s no looking back. “Henceforth, all bicycles will be donated to the project,’’ says dean (planning) K V K Rao. Indeed, students will now be actively encouraged to leave behind their set of wheels.
Three weeks ago, after taking charge of the bikes, Hemant Chhabra and his small team of do-it-yourself heroes who run the Bicycle Project, assessed this as the “largest lot ever received’’. “Close to 200 bikes had to be scrapped but the rest will be jazzed up once financial resources are raised,’’ says Chhabra. “In fact the money from the scrap sale was used to refurbish 118 bikes earlier procured from various donors.’’ Chhabra now needs to raise about Rs 2 lakh for the makeover of the IIT bikes.
At the project’s cycle workshop at Jhadpoli, 120 km from Mumbai, tubes, tyres and seats are replaced, and bruised and battered frames are worked on till they shine as good as new. Italian artist Diana Linda, who joined the project recently, gives them an aesthetic finishing touch with exuberant colours.
To date, 300 bicycles have been given to children studying in schools in Wada, Alonde and Dahanu under the project that began in 2008. And most students have stopped missing school thanks to their new vehicles. Old boys of IIT-B used to write bicycle diaries on their expeditions around the then undeveloped Powai. Soon the new owners of the same bikes will have their own tales to tell.
BICYCLE DIARIES: The project is an endeavour under which old bicycles are knocked back into shape and gifted to students who walk 5 to 10km to get to school in Maharashtra’s hinterland
ET
MUMBAI: Before zooming off to Silicon Valley, IIT-Bombay geeks, in what is virtually a tradition, leave behind one last sign of their presence, the bicycles that took them from the halls of residence to their classrooms every morning. Stacked up at the main gate, hundreds of them glinting in the sunlight, they are a familiar sight for visitors to the verdant 550-acre Powai campus.
Lately, the familiar sight has given way to an empty stretch, only to ring in hope elsewhere. Close to 500 bikes were given away by the institute to the Bicycle Project, an altruistic endeavour under which old bicycles are knocked back into shape and gifted to school students who walk five to ten kilometres to get to school in Maharashtra’s hinterland.
“These bicycles have been lying unused for yearsmost students leave them behind when they graduate,’’ says IIT-B public relations officer Jaya Joshi, adding that a scooter and a 40-year-old car are still parked on the campus.
In 2007, the institute’s security officer Vijay Kumar came up with the idea of auctioning the bikes to campus residents and putting the proceeds in the staff welfare fund. Around 150 bicycles then went under the hammer, though there were many more that had to go back to the parking lot near the main gate. But now that IIT-B has heard about the Bicycle Project, there’s no looking back. “Henceforth, all bicycles will be donated to the project,’’ says dean (planning) K V K Rao. Indeed, students will now be actively encouraged to leave behind their set of wheels.
Three weeks ago, after taking charge of the bikes, Hemant Chhabra and his small team of do-it-yourself heroes who run the Bicycle Project, assessed this as the “largest lot ever received’’. “Close to 200 bikes had to be scrapped but the rest will be jazzed up once financial resources are raised,’’ says Chhabra. “In fact the money from the scrap sale was used to refurbish 118 bikes earlier procured from various donors.’’ Chhabra now needs to raise about Rs 2 lakh for the makeover of the IIT bikes.
At the project’s cycle workshop at Jhadpoli, 120 km from Mumbai, tubes, tyres and seats are replaced, and bruised and battered frames are worked on till they shine as good as new. Italian artist Diana Linda, who joined the project recently, gives them an aesthetic finishing touch with exuberant colours.
To date, 300 bicycles have been given to children studying in schools in Wada, Alonde and Dahanu under the project that began in 2008. And most students have stopped missing school thanks to their new vehicles. Old boys of IIT-B used to write bicycle diaries on their expeditions around the then undeveloped Powai. Soon the new owners of the same bikes will have their own tales to tell.
BICYCLE DIARIES: The project is an endeavour under which old bicycles are knocked back into shape and gifted to students who walk 5 to 10km to get to school in Maharashtra’s hinterland
ET
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