Mumbai: The man who winds the majestic clock tower at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) celebrated his birthday on Wednesday. B.K. Yadav who has been taking care of the majestic clock in the heritage building is set to retire next year and said he was grateful for the skill and honour to look after the clocks for 34 years.
Yadav said that he winds 22 clocks per day starting from 9 am to 10.30 am and the tower clock as well as mini-tower clock every eight days. “I joined the railway services back in 1979 and, in 1982, I was told to take my post as the assistant to the then in-charge. The work is not just limited to winding the clocks but I was taught how to open up the clock and identify the problem and then fix it,” he said.
Recalling how the main tower clock had stopped working forcing Yadav and another person to take shifts for 24-hours for a good two weeks, he said, “The escape wheel which keeps the timing and balance of the pendulum broke around four years ago. So we had to physically sit below the clock for 24 hours and keep checking if the clock is lagging behind. We did this because all people be it commuters or passers by, refer to this clock to keep time,” he further added.
The main tower clock has weights of about 170 kg that are wound by Yadav and his counterpart simultaneously for 10 minutes every eight days and added that he will be at a loss without his clocks on March 9 next year, when he is slated to retire.
