NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1081: Chetak Is Hear!
1689 passed eventfully, with the Bharatiya Empire growing strong and consistently like ever, and time came to 1690.
"Bye Maa!"
Balinder Shah waved his hand and drove away in his brand-new brown B-6. It might not be the best car, or even the best one in his collection, but being his first car, he loved it nonetheless. Looking both left and right and waiting until the traffic police motioned him to move, he drove onto the National Highway and set off to Cuttack.
Balinder was the pioneer of a new business idea, the supermarket. He bought goods directly from farmers and manufacturers, packed them himself, and sold everything in one place. From industrial products to food items, and even fresh fruits and vegetables straight from the farms, he completely removed the middlemen. Yet, despite cutting them out, he still sold all his products at regular market prices.
As for why? His idea was simple. He wanted to be ready for competition and aimed to accumulate as much wealth as possible. As for the fear that people might not support his business, he had none. Visiting one supermarket was far more convenient than going to ten or twenty different shops across the city, which gave him Confidence.
From the very beginning, he knew others might copy his business model, so he tried to patent the idea, but unfortunately, his request was rejected, and he was told it wasn't possible. Realising that expansion was the only way forward, he used his accumulated profits to grow his business into new cities. Three years later, his 'Shah Supermarket' chain was operating in twenty cities across two states. He is already a multimillionaire, and with a bank loan of seventy million, he is preparing to expand even further.
Balinder Shah recently got a new idea after finding out how the newspaper vendors and milk dairies do business using a subscription service. He wanted to do something similar to increase the attractiveness of his supermarkets. He wanted to see if people would be willing to pay a small amount of money to order products right from their homes and get delivery straight to their chosen location.
He ran a small experiment in Puri, and it worked extremely well, so he decided to try it on a larger scale. This time, he wouldn't limit the service to just one part of the city; he planned to implement it across the entire city. And not just any city, but Bhubaneswar, the cultural and educational capital of Gangapuri, and the only city in the state and the empire with more than three supermarkets, two of which were his own.
Balinder's journey to Cuttack this time was to secure a tricycle supplier he came into contact with, since, after all the calculations, he realised that only a tricycle could be the best means of transportation for the goods if he was going to implement his idea. It did not require fuel, it did not require fodder, and it was perfect for the urban environment.
Finally, after several hours of driving, Balinder finally entered Cuttack, the city surrounded by rivers and the political capital of the state of Gangapuri. Cuttack is one of the metropolitan cities of the empire, with sprawling urban construction influenced by Vedic architecture, with broad footpaths, people going about their business, and a busy urban road filled with carriages, cars, bicycles, and tricycles.
Balinder Shah drove right into the business district and parked his car at the nearest parking lot. He smiled and said hello to a few pedestrians who greeted him, and was about to enter the building, which was a small factory outlet of a bicycle company called Piyush, a small-time bicycle company that is famous in the local area for its affordable yet durable bicycles.
But just when Balinder Shah came around the corner, he was taken aback when a huge stage had been set up at the end of the street, and a huge crowd, huge as in tens of thousands of people, had gathered.
"What the hell is that?" He furrowed his eyebrows and asked himself.
He walked forward, and Asaduddin Chandrashekhar, the person of the Piyush Bicycle Company, he talked to, was actually at the entrance right at the footpath.
Balinder Shah greeted him and motioned towards the crowd, "Chandra, what's happening there?"
Chandrasekhar looked towards the crowd with curiosity. "Are you aware of the company called Parvati Iron and Steel?"
Balinder Shah did not know why Chandrashekhar was asking this question, but that name did indeed ring a bell: "Wasn't this the same company that claimed that it would bring Chetak in Her Majesty's book to reality?"
"Ya, it's that company," Chandrashekhar nodded, "Apparently, today is the unveiling of Chetak, and it is being done here."
"Newspaper reporters from all over the empire are here."
"Oh! No wonder," Balinder nodded in understanding, "Then shall we go take a look?"
Chandrasekhar agreed, but he hesitated. Would his business be stolen away?
Balinder seemed to understand what Chandrashekhar was thinking, so he immediately stepped forward and comforted in a soft tone, "I'm sure whatever Parvati Iron and Steel comes up with will be far more expensive than a simple tricycle. Let's go check it out first, and we can finish our deal after the event."
Chandrashekhar felt a wave of embarrassment, realising his thoughts had been seen through, but also a sense of relief. Together, they walked to the end of the street and stood among the crowd as a middle-aged man on the stage spoke endlessly about the history of the company.
Balinder felt annoyed by the long speech. He was a person who liked giving long speeches, not listening to one. Thankfully, the long speech of the person whom he presumed to be the chairman of Parvati Iron and Steel came to an end, and a man with a bookish temperament took the stage.
"Hello, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Raghu Deep Vardhan, the chief engineer of the Chetak Steam Bicycle Project, and I am proud to announce its completion."
Claps immediately broke out throughout the crowd, and Balinder Shah, as well as Asaduddin Chandrashekar, joined in.
Balinder Shah looked at the stage with interest as a blanket covered what he could only presume was a bicycle that had been moved to the centre stage.
"After a year of research and development, dear guests, I present to you the Chetak!"
"Oh!!" Looking at the cycle, Balinder Shah immediately exclaimed. Asaduddin Chandrashekhar was no different; his eyes widened, and his mouth was agape.
Being in the business circle, he had heard rumours that the top companies were manufacturing something secretively, but given that he was not in the manufacturing industry, he did not care about it much. But looking at the bicycle, which actually had what looked like a miniature steam power system, he was in disbelief.
And he was not the only one.
"So there is a smaller steam engine!"
"My God, did Parvati Iron and Steel research the steam engine by itself?"
"Quickly, quickly, memorise the image in your mind and draw up its sketch. We have to get its illustration in the newspaper tomorrow!"
The people in the media went berserk.
Raghu Deep Vardhan felt a little smug after getting such a reaction. Still, after vaguely hearing the reporters making up their own stories about Parvati Iron and Steel making its own steam engine, he became cautious and quickly started to introduce the powered cycle, lest the company get into an intellectual property dispute because of him.
"The official model name of the bicycle we now term the power cycle is called the Chetak 1690."
"It is a single-cylinder steam bicycle developed by Parvati Iron and Steel."
As Raghu Deep started to speak, the noise began to calm down, and even Balinder Shah regained his composure and stared back at the stage, but his eyes did not leave the cycle.
"As for its power unit, it is not indigenously developed in-house by our company but only assembled within the company. The original technology provider is, naturally, His Majesty's Mobility Labs, and the parts provider of the engine is various manufacturers and the Raya Power Company."
These words immediately erased the doubts of a lot of people, and Asaduddin Chandrashekhar, whose heart was beating out of his chest, slowly let out a sigh of relief. A company that had no experience in manufacturing bicycles not only made a bicycle but also a steam engine, which is considered the pearl of the empire's industrial technology, was too big a hit on his psyche.
"The Chetak has a peak power output of 1.2 horsepower, not any different from a horse, and its speed, also similar to that of a horse, is a maximum of 35 km per hour and a cruising speed of 22 to 25 km per hour."
"So it can be said that Chetak is no different from an actual horse, albeit instead of fodder, you have to feed it coal and water."
"Oh, if I continue to use the horse analogy," Raghu Deep opened up a chamber right on the frame of the bicycle, "this is its mouth."
A few chuckles were heard as Raghu Deep made an action of his stomach being full after filling up the chamber with coal.
"With a full tank of charcoal, it can reach 20 kilometres, and if it is coke, it can reach 25 or more kilometres. It consumes around 80 grammes of coal per kilometre and 400 millilitres of water per kilometre."
"You operate the power cycle just like a bicycle, but operating the steam engine needs a few steps, which will be explained when the order is placed."
"The vehicle weighs 90 kilogrammes, and it can carry a single person of up to 80 kilogrammes and maintain the parameters I just explained."
Raghu Deep Vardhan finally said goodbye to everyone and got down from the stage, while the fat man once again took the dais.
"The powered cycle has been certified by the Bharatiya Standards Organisation for its vehicular manufacturing, boiler certification, safety compliance, operator licence, and quality grade. But as this is a new vehicle pioneered by our company, the question of whether the user needs to have a licence to operate the vehicle is in question. But worry not, we have already procured the Provisional Authorisation from the Ministry of Standards so that people can still operate the vehicle until the standards are formulated."
"With that being said, we have 500 units in stock, all sold directly by our company at a price of 22,800 Varaha. Customers interested in our product can place an order by directly contacting us via the Arkha Drishti channel or by letter. Once the down payment is made, we will ship the vehicle directly to your residence."
"Now let's take some questions, you miss..."
Asaduddin Chandrashekhar, hearing the price, let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, with a price like this, not a lot of people could afford the powered cycle, so his business was still safe. However, thinking about the fact that private companies could now procure parts and assemble their own engines or even procure engines directly from private companies, thoughts began to run in his mind. 'Should I inform the boss about this?' He felt like his boss, with his entrepreneurial spirit, would definitely be interested.
As for Balinder Shah, his eyes lit up, and his hands were already itching. He had become a huge fan of vehicles powered by steam engines, be it cars, tractors, or locomotives. It was his life goal to collect all the steam-powered vehicles in the world. He had already collected a few cars and was hunting for more, but now he had a chance to own a one-of-a-kind power cycle, and he could not resist.
After the event, he met up with the chairman of Parvati Iron and Steel and placed an order directly with him with a down payment of 5,000 Varaha.
After the deal, he did complete the task of procuring tricycles for his supermarkets; however, he was still more excited for his power cycle to arrive than the tricycles.