the cobbler

1 A. Webb & B. Chan April 2008

INTRODUCTION

Mumbai is a polar city. While being the financial capital of India, Mumbai is also the poster

child of informal settlements, or “slums“. With an estimated population of 14 million people, Mum-

bai is the second most populous city in the world, 50% of whom are living in poverty. And while the

global eye is fixed on the financial rise of India and its formal economy, it is the established and neces-

sary informal economy which runs the lives of the majority of Mumbai.

The informal sector in Mumbai, which has a long historical presence in the city, accounts

for 68% of the total employment in the city.1 It provides direct employment for over three thousand

people, in addition to indirectly employing hundreds of thousands more.2 The informal sector is not

only a source of employment but also provides ‘affordable’ and essential services and products to the

majority of the urban population.

The informal sector of Mumbai is most

obviously observed in the street hawkers and

pavement vendors. In a city with a growing pop-

ulation expected to hit 23 million in 2015, and no

more buildable space in the city proper, afford-

able and ideal commercial space is difficult to

obtain for those in the informal economy. Thus,

these industries – food stalls, vegetable vendors,

cobblers, tourist souvenir merchants, etc. - take

to the streets and sidewalks, occupying the only

1 UNCHS (Habitat’s) Global Urban Observatory2 Bhowmik, Sharit K (2003): ‘National Policy for Street Vendors’, Economic and Political Weekly, April 19, 1543-46.

मोची moci/cobblera story of informal economy in Mumbai

Ashely Webb & Bruce ChanBall State University / CAP Asia V

April 2008

Mumbai has a large recyling industry, part of the informal economy of the city. Carts of plastic, cans, newspaper, and other recyclables are transported around the city. Photo: Ashley Webb


true “public space” in Mumbai. They take the form of impermanent shacks, wheeled stalls, or simply

products placed on a tarp. A recent survey showed that two-thirds of the city’s footpaths are unusable

for pedestrians, in large part due to the presence of these street vendors. Besides the unavailability of

space, the inherent nature of the services provided by these street hawkers is only viable along pedes-

trian and heavily trafficked sidewalks and streets, not inside commercial malls.

Because these informal businesses play such an integral role in a city with no formal space

for them, we wanted to study both the physical architecture of their ‘space’ and the role this informal

space on the sidewalk plays in the urban context of the neighborhood. Through our investigation, we

hope to better understand the functioning of the “public realm” in Mumbai.

CONTEXT

We chose to study a small wooden

cobbler shop operated by a gentleman

named Shasikant Shinde. His cobbler stand

is located on Hanuman Road, a secondary

street in Vile Parle East, Mumbai. Vile Parle

is a suburb in West Mumbai. It is divided into

West and East by the vital vein of Mumbai, the

Western Railway Line, which has a station in

Vile Parle.

Hanuman Road runs East-West. It is a

2-way vehicular street with 4 lanes for traffic;

2 lanes for one direction and 2 for the other.

The 2 outermost lanes are not used solely for

traffic; residents and patrons of the commer-

cial street use it for parking. In most of the

cases observed, this ‘extra’ lane was used as

an extension of the sidewalk by pedestrians. Seldom do actual taxi cars venture on this road; smaller

rickshaws, personal cars, and public busses are the norm. Hanuman Road consists of mostly small

Hanuman Road is bordered on the west by the Western Railway Line and on the east by the ever-expanding Western Express Highway. The cobbler stall stands in the middle of this area called Vile Parle East. Photo: GoogleMaps

The cobbler stall lies on a small commercial street, with mid-rise apartment and residential blocks linking off of Hanuman Road. Photo: GoogleMaps


industry shops ranging from small restaurants / cafes, appliance, stationary, computer, pharmacy,

tailors, and washers; only a few mid-rise urban residential blocks make their way into this mostly com-

mercial street. The smaller tree-line streets which link off of Hanuman Road are primarily residential

blocks for middle-class working families. Hanuman Road is bounded on the West by the main avenue

of Mahatma Gandhi Road and the Western Railway Line, and on the East by the Western Express

Highway. Thus, Hanuman Road acts as a bustling linking thoroughfare for pedestrians and residents

walking between these two vital avenues for Mumbai. It is due to this site condition that we chose to

study this particular cobbler stall in the mist of the urban traffic.

One of the main methods to our study was surveillance and observation of the cobbler stand

during business hours. In doing so, we hoped to see first-hand the role of the cobbler stand in re-

lationship to Hanuman Road and the neighborhood. Our study also utilized interviews and informal

conversations conducted with the owner, cobbler himself. With the help of a translator, we casually

administered some pre-determined questions regarding the physical structure and the logistics of his

business. Photography and sketches were used as a tool to help document the patronage and busi-

ness, as well as the physical details and structure of the shop.

OBSERVATIONS

Formal observation was conducted on March 11, 2008

(8:15 am to 10:00 am) and March 13, 2008 (11:00 am to 1:00

pm and at 8:30 pm). On both occasions, observations were

made directly across the street from the shop, under a tree,

and always by a red car. This was deliberate as it was in close

enough proximity to observe in detail, yet distanced enough

not to disturb business with loitering. Our goal of observing

the stand was to study both the operations and the physical

structure first-hand.

Site

The cobbler stall is located on a pedestrian

sidewalk on the North side of Hanuman Road. The Shasikant Shinde in his cobbler stand. Photo: Bruce Chan


building which the stall is in front of is a bank on the ground floor with housing above. The

space between the end of the sidewalk (designated by a spiked iron fence) and the start of

the bank entrance was probably intended to be private space. However, that space is used by

both Shinde to store his poles and tarp of his canopy and the flower shop to store their col-

lection bins for clippings. There was no evidence that this is a contested space by anyone, as

Shinde assumed permanent storage there.

Across the vehicular street from the stall are more gated mid-rise apartment buildings,

complete with monitoring guards, and a newspaper stand that sells sundries.

Business

The following are taken from notes documenting the events of March 11, 2008:

8:36 am Shasikant Shinde arrives; sweeps front sidewalk space of stand.

8:43 am Unlocks – first door.

8:46 am First drop-off of shoes by customer.

Shinde’s stand takes up the most of the pedestrial sidewalk. It is up against the wall which borders the bank building to the street. Photo: Bruce Chan

The space behind the wall, though spacially ‘private’, is used by Shinde and the flower shop as storage as night. Photo: Bruce Chan


8:47 am Changes trousers.

8:49 am Second door opens and phone is placed outside.

8:54 am Empties out store: sweeps and dusts. Everything set up.

8:59 am Dusts every sandal, places them on rack on door to sell.

9:05 am Sets up phone line.

9:06 am Blue box comes out.

9:09 am Sets up overhead tarp.

9:12 am poles up. Tarp awning complete.

9:13 am Shop transformation complete.

9:15 am First phone customer.

9:19 am Fixing shoes.

9:21 am Second customer sits down in shack with him.

9:33 am First customer leaves.

When closed and locked up with 3 locks, the stand occupies roughly a 10 sq.ft. footprint on the sidewalk. When opened, the overhead tarp, wooden pallet, swung open doors, and customers on the side walk oc-cupy much more space. Sketch: Bruce Chan


9:44 am Slow down – wash face.

9:50 am puts up second tarp / cloth in front of phone.

10:01 am New couple of customers.

Observation ends.

The following are taken from notes documenting the events of March 13, 2008:

11:09 am Bag fix.

11:22 am Break time; leaves shop.

11:28 am Boy comes to drop off something. Drinks water. Leaves with bag.

11:30 am Shinde returns.

11:39 am Man buys shoes. Chats it up with 2 boys next door form the flower shop.

11:56 am Break time.

12:09 pm Still no more customers. But people use the phone.

Observation ends.

Through our observations, we noted that most customers stick around and wait for

their repairs, often times chatting with Shinde as he works. Not many customers drop off their

shoes and come back later, unless the job is large. Shinde always takes off his shoes before

stepping into the stall. He sits and works on a portable wooden pallet which he brings out from

inside of his stall. With any down time, he dusts.

Most customers come on foot and that was clearly Shinde’s “secret of success”; his

shop is located at a street corner that has thousands of people pass by a day. The shop is

within walking distance to the Vile Parle train station, Parleshwar Mandir Hindu Temple and

Shah Hospital to the west, and the Western Express Highway to the east. Only one person

we observed came by auto (AKA three-wheeler, tuk-tuk or auto rickshaw), while several autos


came by for the next door flower shop. It was inter-

esting to observe that no autos parked directly in

front of the shop, as if the drivers were trying to be

courteous.

Structure

The main structure is roughly 3 feet by 3

feet, and 10’ tall, with the ground lifted a couple of

inches off of the concrete sidewalk floor. It is made

of a wooden frame with pounded metal sheets

(~8” X 8”) nailed to the sides. The roof is made

of corrugated asbestos screwed to wooden slats

and further supported by a wooden box structure

that has the name of the store on the front. Com-

ing from various points near the top front of the

structure, thin slats of wood protrude to the sides

and are used to keep the doors of the shop open;

the doors are affixed by thin rope to the thin slats.

Another short board protrudes from the front of the

sign and is used to hang a florescent tube light. On

the inside of the doors and inside part of the shop,

there is laminated plywood/particleboard with holes

drilled at regular intervals uniformly all over the

board; the holes are used to hang shoes to display

for sale. The shoes are hung in the holes by a nail

driven into the soles.

The construction of the shop is very special-

ized to its location and piecemeal; it is definitely

built on site as no pre-fabrication looks to be in-

volved. Many nearby shops sell materials like those

Roof, sign, and fluorescent light detail. Photo: Bruce Chan

Interior scene. Premade sandals for sale. Photo: Bruce Chan

Informal adjustment. Photo: Bruce Chan


found in Shinde’s shop construction. Some found materials are probably used as studied in

other informal shops. There is a slight grade noted on the sidewalk (<1 degree) and adjust-

ments were made by adding wooden blocks to the legs of the structure. If any piece of the

structure was too short in construction, a new piece was not acquired, rather more pieces were

simply added.

From opening until the sun is no more a threat, Shinde shades his customers and him-

self with a blue tarp. A bamboo pole is strung through the front of the tarp. Two other bamboo

poles support the canopy; the support poles have permanently attached leather loops on end,

through which the canopy pole is strung. The tarp canopy relies on tension for support. A

secondary canopy is made with a cloth sheet and shields customers using the ICO phone from

sun and public view; the cloth is attached with rope to the tarp and further secured to the rod

iron fence that defines the flower shop. It was also interesting to see that the shop relied on the

iron fence behind it to tie part of the tarp canopy back. Once the sun falls behind buildings later

in the day, Shinde puts away the tarp and cloth. The florescent tube light is turned on.

PERSONAL INTERVIEW

While Shinde was informed about this project and permission was granted to make observa-

tions, he expressed great hesitation to answer any questions when we approached him for a personal

interview. As he explained, while he is licensed, the license is under his mother’s name and he was

For protection from the brutal Mumbai sun, Shinde puts up a blue tarp overhang in the front of his stall with the aid of wooden poles and leather straps, detailed here. The man is using the ICO phone, shaded by the hanging cloth. Photo: Bruce Chan


not sure that we were not going to report him in any way to the government. Also, as noted above,

his shop is adjacent to and has a symbiotic relationship with an illegal flower shop. The interview was

almost called off. We showed him our student identification cards in attempt to ease his worries, and

after five minutes of our translator’s assurance, Shinde reluctantly agreed to interview. Questions were

asked hastily as our translator directed and nothing was written down in front of Shinde; Gaurab, our

translator, was confident that Shinde’s confidence was fading by the minute as every passing minute

meant more undesired general attention. Shinde had no desire to know our names or anything about

us.

Before the interview, we reviewed the questions with Gaurab, our translator, to make sure the

meaning behind the questions were understood and not lost to whatever idiomatic phrasing originally

was used. This helped later when we chose to put the notebook away to ease Shinde’s worries and

had to recall them from memory. The following are questions that were prepared:

Why did you start the business? How/why did you get this space? Do you pay rent?1.

What are your operating hours? Are you open during monsoon?2.

What is the best and worst part of your job? 3.

Where do you get your stock of new shoes? Other supplies? What tools do you use everyday? 4.

What training did you take?

How is your pricing structure?5.

How does your ICO phone work?6.

What are your “secrets of success” in business?7.

Do you have returning customers? What do talk about with returning customers? Who else 8.

visits (other than customers)?

How is it helpful to have the flower shop next door? Do people often buy shoes and flowers at 9.

the same time? How long has the flower shop been next door?

Do you make repairs on the shop yourself?10.


What has changed in Ville Parle since the shop has opened?11.

Shinde did not hesitate to answer personal or general questions, but noting his hesitation, ques-

tions pertaining to licensing or utility service were avoided. The whole time the interview was under-

way, the two men that run the flower shop seemed to mediate the interview; they oversaw everything

that went on and also offered some translation and support of both parties.

The following is an abbreviated recount and summary of some of the information acquired from

the interview:

Shasikant Shinde has operated from his current location since 1973. He received his train-

ing from his father who learned from his father; the family comes from the ‘mochi’ or cobbler caste.

Though the services he provides consist mostly of repairing shoes, Shinde also has the knowledge

and tools to repair belts, bags, and other such leather and thicker materials. He also sells new wom-

en’s and men’s leather sandals. Attached to his shack is a wireless phone operated by him that can

be used for only local calls by customers.

Pricing is not fixed and varies based upon difficulty of the job. Bruce bought a new pair of

sandals for 125. The price floor is 2 Rs. The ICO phone costs 1 Rs per minute and is based on a bona

fide basis; customers just pay him when they are done. Shinde has roughly 3-4 shoe related custom-

ers per hour observed and 2-3 ICO phone customers per hour observed. In regards to demand, one

customer was observed waiting outside of Shinde’s shop before he had opened. Related to income

and demand is overhead cost. Shinde pays 3000 Rs per year in rent to Mumbai Metropolitan.

On a train on the Western Line in Mumbai, an advertisement was found for a similar wireless

phone system that Shinde used for his ICO phone; the entire system and installation could be pur-

chased for 2525 Rs. In addition to the ICO phone, he had a phone inside of his shop which may have

been for personal use or may have been not functioning; he also had a cell phone he used during the

day. Besides licensing, the shop required electrical service and had a meter. The rate is not known.

The flower shop had a light used at night that may have run on the same meter or used a separate pi-

rated power source, acquired by a similar method to el Gatos of favelas in Rio de Janeiro as observed

in Neuwirth’s Shadow Cities.


The shop is open from 9 AM to 9 PM every day of the week, all year round. That being said,

however, an attempt to make observations of Shinde closing his shop was made at 8:30 PM on March

13th; however the shop was already in the final measures for closing. Shinde operates even during the

monsoon and has no other job. During the monsoon, Shinde keeps his tarp canopy extended during

all business hours.

In our interview with Shinde, it was asked what the best and worst parts of his job were, likes

and dislikes. Shinde chortled and replied that there are no likes or dislikes to his job; it is his job and

livelihood, simply put.

Shinde designed and, with the help of a carpenter, built the shop himself. Any repairs to the

shop necessary are performed by a carpenter.

Shinde noted that only some of his customers are return clients, or regulars. Other customers

are those who, while walking, experience some problem with their shoes / sandals – a broken strap,

a loose stitching, a worn away sole. Thus, these customers often seek out the most convenient and

most accessible cobbler in the area. And due to his ideal location, Shinde receives many of his clients

this way.

Shinde has been in Vile Parle for 35 years at his current location as a mochi. When asked what

changes he witnessed, he said he had seen buildings erected and streets made. He also noted that

the people have changed; he said he preferred the customers in Vile Parle of the past and now he did

not like the people so much. He did not describe what was different particularly, but he said it had to

do with new development and the kind of people it brought.

Shinde as a person is soft-spoken. He has lived in Mumbai his entire life and currently lives 15

minutes away from his shop, which he walks to everyday. He is married, but has no kids, which may

explain part of his special relationship with the flower shop.

The flower shop next door is of particular importance. Shinde’s shop and the flower shop have

shared the sidewalk for 10 years. The flower shop is run by two young brothers, aged 18 and 23.

The shop belongs to their family. The flower shop and Shinde’s shop share a symbiotic relationship.

The flower shop attendants mind Shinde’s shop whenever he steps away. The three of them social-

ize throughout the day. It was not asked whether the other really helped each other’s business, but it


might help the flower shop—operating illegally—to be in the shade of a licensed business.

REFLECTIONS

Under more ideal conditions, we would have liked to ask more personal questions to see how

Shinde sees his own role in the urban context of Mumbai:

Where does the name of the shop come from? •

Do you feel that you compete with other mochi?•

How much did your shop cost to build? How did you finance the construction?•

Where do you see yourself and your shop in 5 years? 10 years? 20 years?•

After our field research, we had a discussion as a team and we made some general observations.

First, Shinde is a clever business person; he is very aware of the market he caters to, people who

casually walk by. In addition to his mochi services, he has a state-of-the-art wireless phone system

to stop people that would have not of otherwise stopped. Also, there are two other cobblers within a

block along Hanuman Road who do not have an ICO phone, which may differentiate his shop from

others.

Second, as informal as Shinde’s stand might seem, it has provided an income and livelihood not

only for himself, but also for his father, and his father before him. In addition, his little stall is in fact not

informal at all. Shinde possesses both a license and a power meter connected to the main power grid

of the city. Thus, though to a simple passerby on the street his stand might seem ad-hoc and unoffi-

cial, his business is in fact authorized, lawful, and apparently profitable enough to sustain the business

throughout these past decades.

If this is so, then one begins to question why Shinde doesn’t create a more permanent – both

structurally and aesthetically – stall for his time-tested business. If his business seems more perma-

nent and legal to the common passerby, would that elicit more business from the community? Some

possible answers are that people just do not put an emphasize on the outward aesthetic of a stall over

the quality of services provided. Possibly, as a stand-alone building unprotected from the elements

and monsoon, the reason why the informal architecture is built that way is because in such a harsh cli-


mactic and urban environment, structures will always need repair. Why use such expensive aesthetic

building materials which will just need to be replaced after a certain amount of time?

After the interview, Gaurab offered general insight about the mochi caste. The mochi caste, or cob-

blers, belongs to one of the lowest castes in India because of their handling of leather, which might

explain why Shinde did not express an opinion of his job; it is the only job he has and he is thankful to

be employed.

Gaurab also informed us that in India, police make rounds checking licenses to try to catch illegal

businesses, like the flower shop. Some police do it to enforce the licensing and penalize those who do

not have a license. Other police officers operate like a mafia and check licenses just to make money

by collecting bribes. In this case, Shinde would have trepidations about encountering police since his

license is under his mother’s name. But how would this make a difference in the eyes of the govern-

ment? In a city where such a high percent of the employed is in the informal, and thus illegal, sector,

would the government deprive employment to this large portion of the population just so the state can

have control and regulation on these businesses? In a city with such a long history of the informal

economy at play, we don’t believe so.

Although India seems to be growing financially as a whole in the global market with Mumbai as

its shimmering gem, the city itself, which runs on the same informal economy being criticized as the

obstacle preventing Mumbai from becoming a world-class city, has little hostile sentiments towards the

street vendors compare to its Western counterparts. Middle and low-class mumbaikers are aware of

the benefits financially of having affordable and accessible goods in an ever-growing expensive city.

Thus, it seems that, for now, Shasikant Shinde and his neighboring flower shop duo will be in business

for a while.

Note: Thank you to K.C. Gaurab for his professional translating. Also, thank you to Nihal, Wes, and Olon.

14 Appendix A. Webb & B. Chan April 2008

08:00 March 11, 2008

11:00 March 11, 2008

18:00 March 11, 2008

23:00 March 11, 2008

Photos by: Bruce Chan

the cobbler

Documents

informal space

informal sector of mumbai

west mumbai

majority of mumbai

introduction mumbai

informal businesses

street vendors

city proper