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Automobile
What started as a love affair for Indian royalty is now the mainstay of Indian roads. Since Independence, the automobile has played an important role in India's industrial growth, as well as been the hero in many Bollywood movies. It has changed our cities and the way our houses and apartment blocks are configured, as well as transformed the countryside, connecting the remotest corners of our vast nation and providing jobs to millions. It has also empowered women in many parts of the nation, enabling them to attend schools and universities and commute to work and the marketplace. For thousands of Indians, the automobile has been, and remains, an object of pleasure, pride, status, excitement, emotion and passion.
In The Automobile , Gautam Sen has not only traced the history of the automobile in India and the way it has shaped society for over a century but has also delved into the fascination Indians have for all matters automotive, such as motor racing, bikes, road movies and historical vehicle shows.
A riveting story told in the most fascinating anecdotal tone, this book is filled with well-researched facts and beautiful pictures for lovers of automobiles.
In The Automobile , Gautam Sen has not only traced the history of the automobile in India and the way it has shaped society for over a century but has also delved into the fascination Indians have for all matters automotive, such as motor racing, bikes, road movies and historical vehicle shows.
A riveting story told in the most fascinating anecdotal tone, this book is filled with well-researched facts and beautiful pictures for lovers of automobiles.
270 pages, Hardcover
Published August 1, 2021
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July 4, 2021
Frankly this is not an Indian love affair with automobiles but more of an account of the hobby of rich aficionados’ collecting vintage cars.
It was the arrival of the Maruti 800 that really started the true love affair of Indians with the automobile – once quality, reasonably priced cars were easily available and the monopoly of “The Small Three” ended. The author goes on interminably in excruciating details about rare European vintage cars – that is his prerogative as it is his passion. For the hoi polloi this ‘love affair’ was cemented with the watered-down Indian version of the SUV.
There should have been a bit about the parsimony of Indians and their obsession with CNG and the phrase Kitna deti hai? Without the spreading network of Expressways (and the inevitable rise in accidents) driving for leisure rather than work has increased.
Finally, there was no mention of the iconic Enfield 200 aka Mini Bullet – the bike that was adorned with a dash of colour after the all-black Bullet, Yezdi and Rajdoot. It was this bike with the registration number DEW 717 that I used during College while courting my future wife!!
It was the arrival of the Maruti 800 that really started the true love affair of Indians with the automobile – once quality, reasonably priced cars were easily available and the monopoly of “The Small Three” ended. The author goes on interminably in excruciating details about rare European vintage cars – that is his prerogative as it is his passion. For the hoi polloi this ‘love affair’ was cemented with the watered-down Indian version of the SUV.
There should have been a bit about the parsimony of Indians and their obsession with CNG and the phrase Kitna deti hai? Without the spreading network of Expressways (and the inevitable rise in accidents) driving for leisure rather than work has increased.
Finally, there was no mention of the iconic Enfield 200 aka Mini Bullet – the bike that was adorned with a dash of colour after the all-black Bullet, Yezdi and Rajdoot. It was this bike with the registration number DEW 717 that I used during College while courting my future wife!!
Displaying 1 of 1 review