Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Farewell and thanks for all the rides...

It was one of those perfect weekday mornings. I fell asleep watching the TV, in a rather traumatic posture, and woke up with a terrible headache in my knees. At the driving school I was told the car had a puncture and would not be back till 8. Which meant I would have to miss class once again. I yawned in disappointment and walked across the road to drench my worries in Sambar and Rava Dosa.

Ram Mahal is a rather non-descript south indian eating place. It has the routine Formica topped tables, mumbling old man who looks like he has way too much left over coconut chutney, and simple, rapid service. There is always the radio playing and a couple of newspapers for the customers. Today the radio was playing that old south indian favorite, Don't Phunk with my Heart y the Black-eyed Peas. I picked up the newspaper and sat at my usual spot in the corner where I don't get to see through the hole in the wall into the kitchen. (Like the Backstreet Boys, I don't care much for who my dosa is and where it is from.) When I came across the piece of news in the business section I was overwhelmed.

When I was a child one of the highlights of our annual trips to my village in Kerala was the thud-thud-wheeze of my uncle's Bajaj Chetak. And now this newspaper was telling me that Bajaj rolled out the last Chetak two days ago and was moving on. Tragically I wasn't ready to do that. That blue, sturdy and awesomely cute scooter just meant too much to me.

A Chetak was probably my uncle's first big buy after he started working for his bank. It was the regulation blue Chetak and like a gazillion other people he too waited for it for months before getting it. My uncle is the quiet, pillar of the family types. When, and only when, something could not be communicated through gestures of fingers, eyebrows and head and combinations thereof, did he speak. But every one in a while, and too rare nowadays now that all the kids have grown, he will sit on the armchair on the portico and regale us with stories of days gone by. Often they starred his reliable little Chetak. It was like a member of the family and when it was brought home I daresay it received a welcome as grand as any new-born. The Chetak was religiously parked in the firehouse (where they roasted coconuts into copra) and received a thorough washing down on the weekends, even during the monsoons.

When the taxi from the airport ploughed through the muddy kaccha road and climbed up the steep driveway I often exploded out of the car to climb all over the scooter. To this day I can feel the stiff rubbery feel of the buttons and the flip switches on the handlebars. And almost certainly I would fall off the scooter in some obscene fashion thus spending the rest of my one month vacation with a swollen lip or a skinned knee. The scooter was a novelty for us "persians" as our grandma used to call us. (For some reason that whole generation called us NRIs "persians".)

But more than memories of the scooter itself, there are so many sensations I remember. The smell of petrol when my uncle opened the tank between the seats, a pretty dexterous endeavor in itself. Or the thrill of wind in my face when he took us to church standing on the footboard in the front. In "persia" you never got the wind in your face. Pavlov would have been proud of us the way we salivated, every evening, when we heard the scooter shoot up the incline, loop around the courtyard and glide into the firehouse. For there was no doubt my uncle always carried a small packet of Lacto King, Eclairs or Five Star when he came from work. When I grew older and finally gave up trying to learn cricket or football, he would bring back copies of Sputnik magazine that would invariably be stained with some gravy from his lunchbox. After all there was only so much storage in a Chetak.

The Chetak set limits on the size of his lunch box, the amount of vegetables he could buy and how many people could go to Church with him on Sunday mornings. The house rules were simple: the best behaved kids got taken to the church on the scooter while the rest had to walk with grandma to church trying to explain that persia no longer existed. After Sunday mass there was a mad rush to reach the scooter as only then could you make it back in time to see Ramayan. (Which is pretty cool in a secular kind of way.) Being a non-athletic Sputnik reader kind of guy I often ended walking home and just catching the last scene, which thrilled my grandmother. She was not as secular as the rest of us and thought growing up in a Muslim country was corruption enough!

But the all time best memory ever was when on some special evenings my uncle took us all on high-speed rounds of the neighbourhood. All my grandfather's brothers lived in adjacent compounds and my uncle twisted and swooped through the houses and in between the trees. We screamed in joy and waved at all the uncles and aunts and domestic helps who jumped aside to avoid being hit by us. The noise a Chetak made when you shifted up gears was thoroughly satisfying and more than a little macho. We took good care of him too and for many years every scratch was well-mended and only original spare parts were ever used. Not one drop of adulterated petrol either.

But then the ambassador car came along and the scooter slowly got less and less attention. Well-loved but not attended to at all, like old Bryan Adams tapes. My rather enterprising cousin, who till then merely disassembled and put back together his bicycle, now got his evil fingers on the Chetak. The scooter had to be massively over-engineered, for every time he pulled out a few parts, he could only put back half of them or so. But the scooter still managed to run like normal. But middle of the night if you needed to get some Lacto-calamine lotion the Chetak was ever faithful and would start in a jiffy, albeit sometimes after a comical "tip and straighten" routine.
Then one year when we came home my uncle said he had sold it. No one was using it anymore and he couldn't bare to see it waste away. The lacto-calamine phase had passed as well. Now we all go to Church together and come back and we really don't think there is a point in trying to drive an Ambassador at any great pace over gardens and between coconut palms. And I am sure most of our elder relatives and domestic help wont be able to jump out of the way of a careening Ambassador without atleast a couple of days of notice. Sometimes my uncle still talks about his Chetak and of maybe buying a new one.

But then those heartless people at Bajaj wont let us do that anymore. Sob.

Bye dear Chetak my friend. May thou pass into that auto yard in the sky having lived a full and well-loved life. Farewell and thanks for all the rides.

36 comments:

Sankalp said...

I have simliar, not so rosy though, memories of our old old Vijay super.

Yes! I am the first one to post a comment!

Anonymous said...

This was a really sweet walk down your memory lane :D Mus be the only thing i've ever read abt a Bajaj Chetak :) It's funny how we attach memories to inanimate objects :) (does a chetak qualify as inanimate though?? it does move rite :D) Nice reading this.

Also liked the previous post on ur Hindi skills (or lack of them rather) Reminded me of my own disastrous attempt to learn the language for 10 years in school. Heheh but if it makes you feel any better.. I switched to French in 11th grade and although I was considerably better at it, the French too share the concept of giving sexuality (heheh i shud say gender, shudn't i? :D) to things.. :) So u wud have been fighting the same battles anyways :)

Through the Looking Glass said...

A befitting farewell to one of the most memorable and endearing automobiles of India!

You should definitely mail a copy of this to Rahul Bajaj! He might gift you (your uncle) the last Chetak ever made! :)

Anonymous said...

Bajaj had one great commercial flooding TV in the DD-only era:
Buland Bharat ki Buland Tasveer... Hamara Bajaj!

(Buland=Highly praised, Sturdy; Tasveer=Photograph, Image)

the Monk said...

Man, I have similar feelings about my 8 year old Hercules MTB Oversize 9000 bike...I even got it from home to NITT, where it is presently the object of much ridicule...let them say what they want, but all those shiny new Thrillers and Machs are no match for my faithful old steed...

Thanu said...

I have great memories of my dad parrot green Chetak. It has been repainted to Grey.

Shruthi said...

Excellent post! Very vivid descriptions. My dad had a sturdy big blue Bajaj Chetak too - it went long back, but yes, the memories are still strong.

Akshay said...

Couldn't agree more. The chetak is a part and parcel of the Indian society. So although my dad has a car, he still uses his 33 year old Chetak. And yes, it still works just fine.

Anonymous said...

Hv not read the 2 opening posts of the yr but felt must, at the outset, thank u for coming bk! guess can now return to read the posts, begin the day well n wish myself happy new yr all over again:) Thanks for the fish pal

freespirit said...

How on earth do you come up with these things!!!! How How how????!!!!!!! I miss my dad's rusty old Hero Majestic moped.... *sob sob*. I hate you for bringing back tragic memories!!!

:-) Ramya

Admin said...

R.I.P

Feel like crying.
But it was a Bajaj Super that we had. similar though?

Priya said...

Made me think of dad's "now rusting" Kawasaki... I still remember, how for year's together, it was my only intimation to switch of the tv, and go study, as the racket it made, was announcement enuf, that "dad was home!!!" ;)

Amit Pandey said...

Sid, you missed stating the fact that Chetak was probably the first vehicle which could intially be bought only againsts Foreign Currency. This being so as it was made primarly for the Export Market.

Nice Post but why am I having a hunch that you have exhausted your Quota of 2 New Post (in 3 Months) and heading for a siesta.. Prove me Wrong !!!

Anonymous said...

Back with a bang... Great post and gives a nostalgic feeling of the good old days before technology took us all over.. The long walks amongst the coconut trees, palm trees and banana trees to reach out to the neighbours.. The boat rides to the other bank of the back waters to reach out to the town... Kerala is beautiful but much more beautiful in those memories!!

A fello Malayalee..

the observer said...

Hi there!Was looking through your blog.Nice posts.Also came across an old one talking about you getting into IIM A.Talk about providence!I have just got six calls from the IIMs and would love to interact with someone about the interview/GD process.Although you may state that it has been a long time since you have been there,i could do with any help.so please,please,please help me out.My e-mail ID is pranavnarasimhan@gmail.com.My blog is up at http://pranavian.bogspot.com....looking forward to a response from you.Thanks!

the observer said...

Hi there!Was looking through your blog.Nice posts.Also came across an old one talking about you getting into IIM A.Talk about providence!I have just got six calls from the IIMs and would love to interact with someone about the interview/GD process.Although you may state that it has been a long time since you have been there,i could do with any help.so please,please,please help me out.My e-mail ID is pranavnarasimhan@gmail.com.My blog is up at http://pranavian.bogspot.com....looking forward to a response from you.Thanks!

Anonymous said...

LOL :)

Dude i second the other commenter..bajaj should present you with a Chetak for this post...

write more often man....we don't care how..but we need a fix of domain max more often..sleep less or soemthing.. :)

Ravi said...

We still have a Bajaj Chetak in our family. It was earlier lemon yellow. Its now Metallic Bottle green. Three years ago we got it rebored & it is running as good as new. This is one long lasting machine.

Naveen Roy said...

Yeah, the very first motorised two wheeler that I learn to drive was a lovingly maintained Bajaj scooter that my dad had. Though I never liked it then, I know how helpful it was at a time when we could not own anything more. RIP - Bajaj scooter.

Nice post dude!

Venkat Ramanan said...

Hey Sidin!
I came to know of your blog day b4 yesterday (though I had read your " South Indian men" article some months back.) For the past 2 days, I am hooked on your articles in the blog and one word I can say about them is "EXCELLENT". You have got this amazing talent of putting a small incident in right words mixed with sarcasm and humour! That is a great talent and I definitely hope to see a book from you and I am ready to pay any amount (less than Rs. 100 :)) ) for buying that book. Great going dude! And, whenever you get time, please write something :)
Cheers!
Venkat

Anonymous said...

if you like humor...try the link below....its deadly..
http://aashraya.blogspot.com/2005/11/vyasas-dissertation.html

Aqua said...

Good to read a new post after a long time. Happy new year sidin and keep those whacky post coming!

Anonymous said...

I used to ride my dad's white chetak during board exam holidays...its one heck of a scooter!..pity that it has not stood the test of time...
btw most of ur posts involve severe bouts of nostalgia!(or so i thought! :D)...dont u have anything else to write about?..like page 3 s*x scandals or something..:D :D lol...

Aqua said...

and yes....really .bajaj should present you with a chetak for this post....i bet even their marketing dept couldnt come up with a better article.

Automotivix said...

Me too...I own a piece of history of the Great Indian Bajaj. The only Bajaj model whose production lasted for one year (as far as my automotive knowledge goes) -- The 3 gear Bajaj Cub 1987 model!! It runs and works even today!! Starts in just two kicks with the "tilt and straighten" routine. Thanks for the emotional and patriotic post on the bajaj :-)

Alpha said...

This was a great piece..I am so awed by the way you write so effortlessly and highly hilarious at that.

The previous post was a riot!

Anonymous said...

6 out of 26 had/ have a bajaj scooter in the family - that’s almost 25% of this very random sample. tells us a lot abt the product. In the absolutely Indian dictionary where prepone means to advance, and surf and dettol are common nouns for detergent and antiseptic lotion respectively, Bajaj is a means a scooter.

My favourite “scooter treat” was to be allowed to ride pillion behind my father with me facing not his back but the other way! This way, in ones’ mind’s eye, the scooter would transmogrify into a car and the stepney would become the steering wheel and one could vroom across the city in this absolutely fabulous “wonder-car” that just had to be the fastest thing ever in reverse gear! And when one got bored with all that driving, it was great fun engaging in blink-n-miss conversations with the uncles and aunties on the road. They of course would mumble unmentionables at this whacked out kid making not-very cute faces at them! But then who cared – the point was not to entertain but to be entertained – and that one managed!

Anonymous said...

ditto....

uncle, bajaj chetak, "tip and straighten"..., rubbery switch, wind in the face...

except that it was to the boat race to get to the best vantage point early and not to church (which was close by anyway)

same old memories...this is like milan ka daaba..or was it milan ki daaba..? ;)

My ID not me said...

Good Post. My Dad still has the chetak booking papers (paid in Dollars) for which he always wanted to take refund as by the time his allotment was made he had again gone abroad.
Though the Chetak always remained a commuter and never became a cult, i was surprised to see too many emotions attached to it. Talk to some one having a 'YEZDI' or 'LAMBRETTA' and they will tell the EMOTIONAL attachement and what they feel when they have part with it or hear some happenings.
I feel the Bajajs could have reveived the Chetaks and Supers the way Siddharth Lal (Enfield/Eicher) did for Bullet and made it again a cult with a demand for new models among youngsters.
Scooters still sell I see the swanky Hondas on road.

If I tell ya, I'll have to kill ya said...

You have a gift! I loved both the posts. 2 in 2 days after a drought lasting gawd knows how long!!

I miss my mum's TVS Luna. Mother and daughter had plenty of adventures on it during the 4 yrs we were in Dehradun. We drove on Rajpur road at top speed. Mother and daughter. Sniff....

Write more often will ya.

Anonymous said...

Hey,first time on ur blog....had an interesting fwd some moths ago..."The Travails of Single South Indian men of conservative upbringing"...have had quite a few laughs on it along with friends....and somehow found your blog address...you write damn well..i guess its as good as telling ashwariya rai tat she is beautiful...u might have got tat compliment umpteen number of times...anyways..one more wont hurt..interesting read ...your blog ...will try to come back as much as possible...oh by the way ....im mallu tooo....completely agree with our situation..bye for now

Anonymous said...

hey obviously we're all attached to our belongings right?not all but some yes.that was a reminiscing post for me dad had a chetak n i cud say it was the first thing i ever rode-even if ppl thought it was ridiculous for a girl to ride it...bajaj must present u with one of those beauties...

Safari Al said...

Dude...good to see you back. hope ATK is treating you alright.

And hindi is terrible trust me. but i think in french too everything is either got nuts or no nuts. i am not too sure, i think i learnt it for four months. all i know is this speech i mugged up ,

some thing like

"Bonjour, je mapelle BLAH. je suis tres heure por doux raison..."

i have foprgoteen the rest.

VIVE la france.

Adi Oso-Groot Finch said...

my first time here... nice post to start off with :)

chetak... dad's first one is a faint blip.. the second one a memory for the lifetime... i got my first bicycle after he bought his scooter, thats how old it was... and he sold it after i left my bike at home when leaving 2 years back... thats how new it was :)

sad that its gone... happy for all the while it was there.

Anonymous said...

Reminded me of my own Bajaj scooter that I sold last year. Good writing.

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