ADJ 1650. The first image I saw were the numbers on the license plate of our scooter, shining in the darkness. Instantly, I felt the firm hands of my father pulling me up. I saw my mother checking on my brother. It looked like we were alive. A minute back, my father accidentally drove our scooter into a ditch that he completely missed in a dark bylane.
‘You know, when we fell into that ditch, we all somehow landed on the scooter. We did not get a scratch even. God’s grace. But Chetak saved us’ - my father would reminisce many years later.
In 2002, I was posted in my hometown as the Sales Head. I preferred to commute to work in the car and rarely used my scooter. Or so I thought. Until one day a team mate said: ‘I’ve seen that you bring the Chetak on all sales closing days’
Bajaj Chetak was like the other important son in most of the 80’s middle class Indian families. Carefully parked in the verandah after a hard days work. Reliable. Trusted. Would never fail.
Every family had a Chetak story. Rahul Bajaj knew this better than anyone. He got Alyque Padamsee and the Lintas team fired up to capture a montage of the Chetak stories. On the lines of Chevrolet’s famous ‘Heartbeat of America’ campaign.
When the ‘Hamara Bajaj’ campaign aired in 1989, the nation stopped, watched and sang along. The jingle became the defacto anthem.
The Chetak has moved on. But the song, lyrics and the film continue to remind us of an India we always yearn.
Greeat brand stories live on!
Happy Independence Day!
'Buland Bharat ka..Buland tasveer'
Sources: The Business Standard The Medium Blog by Pranshu Sharma The Hindu
for the next few days this jingle will ring in my head.. 😀