Hamara Bajaj... Letting go is not easy

A whole generation grew up in the 60s, 70s and 80s, dreaming of owning it. Bajaj scooters, one of the aspirations of the Indian middle class for decades, will soon be part of history. There was a time when Bajaj scooters ruled the roost on Indian roads. Supers and Chetaks were the order of the day; Lambys had become unfashionable and Vespas tried to compete but just had to stay eating dust. And bikes with 100 km a litre had not captured the imagination of the masses.

If in those days one had to picture a quintessential middle class Indian family, it would be a snap of a Bajaj scooter with: the father driving, trying hard to concentrate on the task at hand - of herding his family safely to their destination; the younger kid, standing in the front, wind rushing through the hair, elation written on the face at this chance of discovering the world outside; the mother, sitting sideways, clucthing the stepney tire, with a rather vacant expression; and the elder kid sandwiched between both parents, twisting his head this side and the other, desperately trying not to miss the view on account of his position. Driving further this picture into the Indian psyche was the famous “Hamara Bajaj” advert; the idea behind which was clearly that a family isn’t complete (or middle enough) without a Bajaj.

And what a vehicle it was. Not particularly appealing to look at, it made up for the lack in the looks by its sheer versatility in usage, its durability on Indian roads and the fact that whatever the problem be it would probably be solved by tilting the vehicle for 30 seconds at an angle of thirty degrees. A popular joke - “The Indian rocket did not fire. What to do? Just tilt it for a second.” said the sardarji and it worked - only helped to reinforce the hold of this vehicle on the Indian mind.

After ruling the india scooter market over 50 years, Bajaj Auto, the company which developed a scooter market with its popular Hamara Bajaj campaign invoking trust and reliability, today said it is phasing out scooter production, keeping the focus on motorcycles. Accroding to report Bajaj phasing out the productiong of Bajaj Scooter to focus on its motorcycle production.