“Jo gareeb hai who hamare paas aate hai. Jinke pas paisa hai wo naya gloves khareed lete hai,” says Laluram. He is aware of the fact that easy availability of readymade gloves has hampered his business. Only those who cannot afford to buy readymade gloves on a regular basis come to him to repair the old ones. The rest fill the coffers of the corporate. The sad story of glove-repairing business is much similar to the declining business of the Kashmir willow to its big-moneyed English counterpart.
Commuting four hours daily from Kalwe to reach Cross Maidan, Laluram remains the best in the diminishing business of repairing cricket gloves in Mumbai. With thousand of youngsters training in the maidans of the city to achieve their dreams of playing cricket professionally, Laluram has been their go-to man to repair their gloves for nearly two decades. Also Read: ‘Mumbai Maidan cricket has lost its charm’
“I got into the business because of my uncle. He used to repair gloves at Shivaji Park in Dadar earlier.” However, business took a toll as alcohol came to destroy their lives. “Sharaab ne sab barbad kar diya. Unhone kaam karna chod diya aur mein ne ye akela sambhala.”(Alcohol destroyed everything. My uncle stopped working and I had to take over from him.)
He repairs four gloves a day, charging INR 280 for each. He works till natural lights permit. During monsoon, when there is no outdoor cricket (barring Kanga League), he heads back to his village in Uttar Pradesh to relax. He is one of the few in the city, and definitely the best in his art. Some come from as far as Pune to get their gloves stitched from him. But Laluram isn’t too happy with his job. “I don’t want my son to get into this business. It has no future.”
It does not matter to him that he is helping hundreds of kids every year realise their dreams. In fact, nothing about cricket amuses him. He does not get much time from his 7-AM-to-7-PM job to indulge in a game that hasn’t fascinated him all his life.
The leather ball continues to roll towards every now and then, hurting him at times. But he doesn’t flinch. He gives a momentary reaction and gets back to his job. “This is just one of the minor basic hazards of my profession.”
(Aayush Puthran is currently a reporter with India.com. He has previously worked as a cricket journalist with CricketCountry and as an Associate Producer with Sony Six. Mercurially jovial, pseudo pompous, perpetually curious and occasionally confused, he is always up for a light-hearted chat over a few cups of filter kaapi!)
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