Stitching it my way-a unique glove man from Mumbai to repair all the cricket accessories
i One of the main concerns of cricketers is to maintain the quality of their cricket gears for protection. It’s not just a bat but all the other accessories that are required to play the game smoothly. How often it happens that a high quality cricket equipment purchased at quite a costly price becomes improper to use. It happens due to frequent wear and tear. But a new one can’t be purchased easily due to the soaring prices. But now that trouble has been resolved by a unique glove man at Cross maidan. He is master in repairing such deteriorated cricket equipment. His forte is repairing of batting gloves. His name is Laluram.
Laluram, who is originally a resident of Uttar Pradesh, comes to Mumbai during cricket season. He has been doing this for past 15 years and now he has become a connoisseur in this area. “When people come to me with such gloves, I stitch it with leather from inner side. I make sure that the other area of gloves doesn’t get affected while I work on inner area. My stay here is for 6 months then I go back to my village in Uttar Pradesh. I work only for these 6 months and somehow manage to survive the whole year on the money which I earn in this time,” said Laluram.
He learnt this thing from his uncle who used to live in Mumbai. “My chacha had a shop at Fashion Street. He used to repair the shoes back then. Slowly cricket gloves also started coming at the shop for repairing and he used to stitch them, making them usable again. I learnt everything from him. He passed away 10 years ago and now I am looking after this. There no shop now I do my work at Cross maidan only, “said Laluram.
His daily routine is not that easy. He lives in Kalwa and everyday travels to Cross maidan for his work. “I start at 10 am in the morning and continue my work till the light is good. The work of stitching has to be done precisely and thus it takes around 2 hours to repair a single pair of gloves. So many gloves come to me during the season but I take time to prepare it to the perfection. If I try to hurry in order to get more money quickly then I would be negotiating with its quality. I want my customer to be happy. Agar acche se kam karunga to hi customer dubara aayega,” said Laluram.
Laluram talked about the prime reason of deterioration of these equipment. “Basically it happens because of sweat. The more you use it, the faster will be the rate of deterioration. I buy the leather from market and stitch it with my hands. After repairing the gloves once, ideally it should go for 6 months minimum. After all it depends on the usage. Talking about the players who play on daily basis, it should work fine for 6 months to one year.”
He also talked about how he manages the financial balance between his earnings and the equipment needed for stitching. “Till few years ago I used to charge 250 Rs per pair but now cost of leather has increased and hence I take 280 Rs. per pair. In a day I can complete up to 4 pairs of gloves. Considering all the equipment needed for repairing work, I earn 100 Rs. Per pair of gloves. So in a day I get 400 Rs for this work. Along with this I also repair shoes, pads, arm guards and helmets. “Mere se jitna ho sake utna kar raha hu ab dekhte hai aage kya hota hai ” So for all the cricketers out there, Laluram is the most efficient way of repairing the gloves and ensuring the quality as well in considerable amount. If you have to repair anything then rush to Cross maidan in Mumbai.
WATCH HIM IN ACTION – GIVING NEW LIFE TO CRICKET GLOVES