Tyre puncture repair

Tyre puncture. I watched as the kid laboured to unscrew wheel and disconnect brake and chain, danced on wheel to retrieve tube, proudly displayed the sharp-tipped screw, and inflated tube and immersed in a basin of water to find the leak.

I stopped watching, trying to make this picture, while he patched the leak, tested, and again danced on the wheel to reinsert the tube. Then he had the unenviable task of putting the wheel back on the bike. Tightening the screws was especially calling on his little hands.

Fifteen rupees and half an hour. I’m no automobile enthusiast to understand the consequences, but I think tubeless or steel-belted radial tyres make sense for two wheelers. It’s simpler to use a better tyre than to fix the road.