A day at Ferdinand Rodricks’ workshop

A passion for tinkering with cars led a young mechanical engineer to come up with an invention that would change the lives of over 1,000 differently-abled drivers. That was 20 years ago, and Ferdinand Rodricks hasn't stopped since

Sitting in his air-conditioned office, 50 year-old Ferdinand Rodricks seems like any other CEO at the helm of a well-established automotive services firm.

But if you look around his Dadar office carefully, you will find a wheelchair in one corner and framed photographs of smiling people, standing next to assorted car parts, hanging on a wall nearby. All of them, differently-abled.

1] Rodricks' latest assignment was to modify the Maruti Eeco of 63 year-
old Chembur resident Pratap Singh, whose right leg is polio-affected.
The first thing he needed to do was make a lever that would be attached
to the brake andu00a0 another to the accelerator. Here, Rodricks bends an
aluminum tube to make a lever

Rodricks began experimenting with automobile parts from a young age. While studying Mechanical Engineering in 1982, he modified a Fiat Padmini owned by a friend afflicted with polio, making it possible for him to drive the car without using his feet. "I wanted to modify my friend's Fiat in a way that he could drive it comfortably, using just his hands," Rodricks says.

Two years later, after obtaining his degree, Rodricks opened an automobile workshop in the backyard of his Malad bungalow and began modifying cars for differently-abled persons.

Rodricks drills a hole into the tube, which will be attached to the brake
and accelerator that are on the driver's right hand side. Pratap has a right
-sided disability and Rodricks is modifying the car to enable him to
operate the brake and accelerator without using his right leg.

In 1999, Rodricks opened a service centre for Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. in Dadar. He continued to modify cars for the disabled from a 400 sq feet workshop located at the back of his service centre.

But it wasn't easy. Rodricks faced cynicism. "Back then," he said, "owning a car itself was a big deal. So modifying it -- tinkering was unheard of."

"When I worked on my friend's car, people thought I was not in my senses," he recollects.

Over time however, word spread and people with various disabilities approached him. "Everyone had a different kind of disability, and unique specifications. Someone wanted a wheelchair fit in the car; others wanted their seats to rotate."

3] One lever is attached to the brake, and another to the accelerator.
Both levers are then fitted into a handlebar that Pratap can operate with
his left hand.

It's tough not to forge a bond with every client, Rodricks smiled. "You need to understand their problem and customise the car according to their needs. Sometimes, solutions aren't easy to come by and require continuous brainstorming."

Comfort and dignity, adds Rodricks, matter the most. "I ask the disabled person to be selfish, not think about what others in the family want or how the car looks. His comfort is of utmost importance. There have been cases where a car bought especially for a disabled person has been modified to fit 10 other people, making it uncomfortable for the disabled driver. I do not encourage this," he asserts.

4] The height of the levers and the handlebar depend on the height of
the car and the driver. They need to be made with exactitudeu00a0-- the
handlebar must not touch the dashboard when pushed, or come too
close to the steering wheel, when pulled. Pics/Prathik Panchamia

One of Rodricks' latest projects is a car for a 63 year-old retired businessman whose right leg is polio-affected.
Rodricks attached levers to the brake and accelerator of Chembur resident Pratap Singh's Maruti Eeco. Both levers are attached to a handlebar which when pushed forward towards the windshield, makes the car brake, and when pulled, makes it accelerate. Singh can now drive his car without using his right leg.

For people with a disability in their left leg, Rodricks modifies the gear stick -- with the press of a button on the stick, the clutch is automatically pushed down.u00a0u00a0

Rodricks has also received several calls from parents of children with cerebral palsy, to design special car seats.
"Getting them to sit in a position where they are comfortable and relaxed is very important. They become edgy if they are even slightly uncomfortable," he shares.

Rodricks insists on meeting the children to understand their requirements, which include tiny details like the height of the seat, and whether an additional belt would be necessary.

Only last year, Rodricks received a nod from the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), a co-operative industrial research association, that makes his modifications 'legal'.

"Till recently there was no system as far as approvals were concerned. Initially the RTOs would allow modified cars, since they were for disabled people. Later, they became strict and said that cars need to be either produced by a manufacturer or modified by an approved person."

Since modifications were specific and would change depending on individual requirements, his team drew out certain basic parameters for ARAI, on which modifications of cars were approved.

But that's not where the story ends for a disabled person -- to drive a modified car, they still need a special licence, which can be procured only after a lengthy process of obtaining a certificate of disability from All India Institute of Physical Medicine And Rehabilitation (AIIPMR), an RTO inspection, the Transport Commissioner's approval, a nod from the departments in Delhi... Rodricks trails off.

The process is supposed to take a month but it ends up taking longer. "Sometimes, the disabled are genuinely harassed. They cannot use public transport, they have to take a cab.. it's all expensive and troublesome. Such cases need to be handled in a more sensitive manner."

Perhaps, similar to the way in which Rodricks handles his cases -- the aim being to achieve mobility with dignity.

The client: Sanjay Joshi, 48
The delivery: Electronic hoist for wheelchair on Maruti Esteem
Sanjay Joshi became a wheelchair-user after he lost his legs in a train accident in February 1990. In 1999, he met a friend of Ferdinand Rodricks' at a Maruti showroom, where he had gone to purchase a car for his wife. His friend introduced him to Rodricks, who eventually went on to modify a Gypsy for Joshi that same year, complete with handlebars and levers for the accelerator, brake and clutch.

In 2004, Rodricks solved another problem -- that of getting into and out of a car. By now, Joshi had bought a Maruti Esteem, for which Rodricks created an electronic hoist placed on top of the car for Joshi's wheelchair. At the press of a button, the hoist would come down from the roof, and Joshi would hook the wheelchair on to it after getting into the car.

Joshi now lives in Borivali and drives down to his gas agency in Andheri everyday without taking help from anyone.