KOCHI: In Takaraparambu Road, Thiruvananthapuram, adjacent to the flyover which takes you to the railway station, you can find helmets stacked and a person sitting in a crouched posture in a shack. Meet V Vijayakumar, who is the only man to maintain and repair helmets in this capital city. The shack has no power and water and he opens it by 8.30 am closes it by 6.30 pm.
Vijayakumar hailing from Plamoodu, Pattom, is one among the eight siblings of late Velappan and Lakshmi. For three generations since his grandfather, they were into repairing bags, cushions and doing such jobs. When the number of two-wheelers increased in the city and the government rules to wear helmets became stringent, all of them had to resort to buying helmets.
Vijayakumar told Express, “Helmets have wear and tear as they are exposed to both sun and rain, and the winds which come from the opposite direction. This has compelled the owners to change the helmets once in two or three years.”Generally, the cloth inside the helmet turns smelly after constant contact with the head. Being a daily use product, the clothes will eventually get ruined. As it will cost around Rs 1,500 to buy a new helmet, here comes Vijayakumar to make a change. He replaces the old one with a new piece of clothing and thereby instils a freshness in it.
Vices of helmets need regular replacement, so does its strap. Vijayakumar says that most of his clients come to replace the vice and strap as they often break. Earlier people used to carry on with a torn strap which dangles around and gives an awkward feel to the driver as well as the onlookers. Similarly, when vices are broken or with dust sticking on to it, it demands a replacement. If Vijayakumar is not there, the only other option left is to buy a new helmet.
Rajesh George, an employee with private sector insurance company told Express, “I used to buy a helmet every year. After meeting him, I have retained the same helmet for the past ten years. I regularly change vice, strap and the inside cloth. Thanks to him, I don’t have to spend much on my helmet except the minor repairs.”
Vijayakumar who has his own home in the outskirts of the city at Puliyarakonam told with teary eyes that he had to spend everything he has earned, except his home, to treat his wife Rukmini, a cancer patient. “We treated her for five years but fate took her away from me,” he said. His mother Lakshmi is 85 years old and is living with his younger brother. He has two children, Manikantan, a firefighting engineer in Chennai and Remya, Class XI student. He added that he has been doing the job for the past fifteen years and it has given him strength to survive.