Bicycle diaries: New book by Prof. Anjaria captures Mumbai's vibrant commuters

Along with the usual barrage of cars impatient bikers and BEST buses hurtling past on Mumbairsquos busy roads itrsquos easy to miss the stray cyclist a food service worker on their way to deliver the noodles someonersquos just ordered to their office or if itrsquos early in the morning milkmen with cans of fresh milk to be dropped off at housewivesrsquo doorsteps Or the occasional schoolgirl or schoolboyAnd Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria hailing from the US who at one time might have been seen cycling through the city and stopping to speak to other such wheelers as part of the research process for his book Mumbai on Two Wheels Cycling Urban Space and Sustainable Mobility University of Washington Press which is slated for a June 2024 releaseHersquos been living in the city on and off since the year 2000 as his wife Ulkarsquos family is from Mumbai As a researcher and associate professor of anthropology at Brandeis University Massachusetts Anjaria noted the lack of literature on issues of urban space and infrastructure in Mumbai contrasted against the research available on New York city His previous works on the city have dealt with squatting hawkers and the rights to public spaces But it was something personal that spurred his interest in researching Mumbairsquos niche brand of cyclistsJonathan AnjarialdquoI had started cycling with my kids in the city after a 25year gap and that got me thinking about the importance of cycling as a mode of transportationrdquo Anjaria recalls ldquoWhen you talk about mobility in Mumbai for most people that means walking cycling or taking the trainrdquo He says that the city is cyclingfriendly in contrast to its perception as a motoristrsquos domain There are five types or genres as he likes to call it of cyclists The earlymorning cyclistsmdashthe bread egg and milk delivery men the appbased delivery workers the kirana store delivery workers people who commute to work by cycle and recreational cyclists and hobbyistsWhen you start cycling he says you experience the city in a completely different way Anjariarsquos research methodology took him pedalling along with the cityrsquos cyclists who took him through their daily routes This anthropological exploration he says revealed that they are much safer on its chaotic roads than they would be on the streets of New York for example Drivers expect chaos and all sorts of obstacles to their path so theyrsquore wary of cyclists This is in stark contrast to the accident rate for another kind of twowheelers aka motorbikes which accounted for 44 per cent of fatalities in the country last year as per a Ministry of Road Transport and Highways report Low travel speeds Anjaria says may account for the lower accident rate among bicyclistsWhat was interesting however to him was the stories that cyclists carried on their backs Anjariarsquos research took him through the lanes and streets of Chembur Bandra Juhu and Andheri West Taking the ferry over to Gorai and cycling to Uttan is his favourite route ldquoEvery cyclist has a story I met a man with a leather bag on the back of his bike He told me there was incense in his bag he was an incense seller who also made perfumes from scratchrdquo Anjaria recalls ldquoWe cycled together to his home and he showed me his workshop filled with raw incense sticks and scents He told me he could buy a bike but preferred to use a cycle which fit into the narrow lanes and streets where he did his businessrdquoAnother cyclist had a bag filled with teethmdashdentures to be more exactmdashand was on his way to deliver them to dentistsWhat urban policies and infrastructure planning misses therefore is viewing the city from the topdown approach of urban planning instead of the groundlevel approach One of the biggest concerns is the surface condition of the roads Those Anjaria spoke to told him that a lack of smooth roads potholes drains and missing paverblocks were responsible for most of the accidents they experienced Rather than focusing on rejigging existing roads and lanes to accommodate cycle tracks therefore improvement in road surface conditions is paramountFor each preordered book R415 will go towards buying free bicycles for women domestic workers in Juhu The distribution of cycles will be undertaken by the NGO Smart Commute Foundation under the campaign Me Cycle Rider helmed by Firoza Dadan the first bicycle mayor of Mumbai It is an ongoing campaign to donate 1200 bicycles to women from lowerincome groups in a bid to aid their mobility and cut down the waiting time lost in travelling through other means of transport mainly buses and thus alleviate their transport poverty This is an approach that urban policies need to target he says promoting cycling by actually giving citizens the means to cycle