An umbrella for your bike? Two brothers from Mumbai created this detachable shield for India’s monsoon riders — now used by 20,000 people

Monsoon may bring relief from the summer heat, but for India’s two-wheeler commuters, the season often means navigating flooded roads, poor visibility and long rides in the rain.

For thousands of riders, however, a detachable canopy designed for Indian roads is offering a way to stay protected without switching to a car, according to The Better India.

The idea came from brothers Kashyap and Vidhey, an architect and an engineer from IIT Bombay, who noticed how riders continued to face the same problems every monsoon. They began exploring a simple question: could two-wheelers offer some of the protection of a car while remaining affordable and easy to use?

Their answer eventually took the shape of the SEPAL Shield, a detachable canopy and windshield system that can be fitted on scooters and motorcycles without drilling or professional assistance.

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Nearly three years of trial and error

Getting the idea from concept to a road-ready product was far from easy.

The brothers spent nearly three years developing and testing different prototypes. Wind resistance, water leakage and the practical challenges of riding in Indian weather repeatedly forced them to rethink their designs.

Instead of giving up, they continued testing the prototypes under real-world conditions and refining them until they arrived at a system designed specifically for Indian roads and weather.

The SEPAL Shield can be installed within minutes and is designed to protect riders from rain, wind and dust while maintaining stability during travel.

Why it matters during the monsoon

For many two-wheeler users, getting wet is more than just an inconvenience.

Delivery executives have to worry about keeping food and other orders dry. Students can reach schools and colleges drenched, while office workers and other commuters may lose time and productivity while travelling through heavy rain.

The problem can be even more significant for families whose incomes depend on two-wheelers. A difficult commute can directly affect their ability to work and earn during the rainy season.

The SEPAL Shield was developed around this everyday problem, with the aim of making two-wheeler travel more comfortable without taking away the accessibility that makes bikes and scooters so widely used.

From prototypes to 20,000 riders

What started as an attempt to make monsoon travel easier has now reached a much larger audience.

More than 20,000 riders across India are using the SEPAL Shield today, according to the information shared by The Better India.

The product's journey highlights a broader idea behind everyday innovation: solutions do not always have to involve complex technology. Sometimes, they begin with identifying a problem that people have learned to live with and finding a practical way around it.

For riders who spend hours on the road, the monsoon may still mean rain, traffic and waterlogged streets. But with innovations such as the SEPAL Shield, staying on the road does not necessarily have to mean getting drenched along the way.