Tribal boy revs up classic

VADODARA: Next time a modest three-wheeled carrier whizzes past you on the city roads, you could be sure to have witnessed the genius of Dinesh Bhagora.The 27-year-old tribal from Dahod has successfully converted his bicycle-driven carrier into a motorized carrier all by himself. The daily wage labourer recycled an old motorbike which has now become the most sought after carrier because of his speed advantage over the others.Bhagora dropped out of school after studying till class V to do various odd jobs to support his parents and younger brother. At the age of 17 he moved to the city seeking a job."I worked for two years and saved some money to buy the cycle-driven-carrier. On a cycle I was able to make only a few trips. During monsoons the potholed roads became very difficult to traverse," said Bhagora."I hardly used my motorbike. So, one day I just dismantled it, understood the bike's working and evolved an idea to put it to use on a cycle. It took me three days to get the engine working and build it from there," he added.Bhagora is a mechanical whiz according to one of his frequent employers, Arif Sheikh. "One day, he (Bhagora) came to my shop and asked if I could weld a few things for him. He brought me his cycle and handed me an iron plank. He told me to weld it strongly enough to sustain weight of an engine. It looked insane at first but his conviction was contagious. He kept guiding me as I kept fixing one part to another," Shaikh said.Apart from the engine fixed on the plank, the four-geared vehicle uses a plastic bottle as the tank fuel and has tubeless tyres to save him from wasting time on punctures. According to Bhagora, it has been three years and his daily income has risen from merely Rs 400 to Rs 1,500. "I get more jobs now and can also work throughout the year," he told TOI, adding that he is now making another one for his brother.