Vijays Cycle Company, Aurangabad

I am not sure if this is Vijay himself, - it could be Vijay's son - but I do know he is the boss. I didn't want to take his picture, but his son insisted I do it to humour the fellow. Of course I could show him the picture on the back of my camera. Indians are funny people. You've gotta love them. Well they are not all funny. But a lot are and I love 'em.

This young fellow, cute as he is, is not one of my favourites. He caused me to have a puncture by over inflating my tyre. He is the one I referred to once as more your average "smart arse" rather than smart. But there he is now truing my wheel and that he does know how to do properly.

This fellow I adore. He fixed my bike when it looked as though my bike trip might go on the rocks. I'd broken some spokes and it was no easy task to change them.

Incidentally, that woman in a bra makes for a pretty funny poster in the background. I mean this is India and no one gets around in a bikini, even at the beach. Looks like they are starting to use the "sex sells" method we had to put up with in the 70s.

This shop is called Malhotra. I believe it is quite a good cycle shop in Aurangabad too. Unfortunately they weren't as clever as my friend over at Vijay's. They worked on my bike for 45 minutes, to absolutely no avail. To their credit, they didn't charge me a paisa. In the end, I had to tell them to stop. They are obviously people who are not used to not getting their way with a bike. So for that, I give them a plug too, in case there is any other bike rider out there in need of some help in Aurangabad. But hopefully you won't. :-)