LEGACY OF HAMARA BAJAJ
What the Bajaj scooter did for mobility and how it dared the Indian middle class to dream is the enduring legacy of Rahul Bajaj. EPISODE #61
Dear Reader,
A very Happy Monday to you.
Little over a week ago Rahul Bajaj passed away. Bajaj, to refresh your memory, was the former chairman of Bajaj Auto and an outstanding member of one of India’s oldest business families. The feisty industrialist has left an enviable legacy.
Typical of the binary times we live in the light is being shined more on what Bajaj said (publicly calling out politicians in power) instead of what he did.
So this week I explore his bequest and argue that the Bajaj Chetak, launched in the early 1970s after he took over at the helm, stoked middle class aspirations in an India overwhelmed by poverty, corruption and chaos.
Yes, Maruti 800 (India’s first car for the masses), which hit the roads more than a decade later, taught us how to drive. But it was the Chetak that dared India’s middle class to dream. Personal mobility enabled self-belief and in turn taught the middle class to believe that tomorrow will be better than today, yesterday.
Read on and do share your feedback, especially your anecdotal stories/pictures of any intersections with the Chetak scooter. The cover picture this week is sourced from Unsplash and has been taken by Souradeep Biswas. Thank you.
A big shoutout to Gautam, Vandana, Mary and Aashish for your informed responses, kind appreciation and amplification for last week’s column. Gratitude also to all those who responded on Twitter and Linkedin. Reader participation and amplification is key to growing this newsletter community. And, many thanks to readers who hit the like button😊.
MIDDLE CLASS DREAMS
I was not even a teenager when I first spotted the Bajaj Chetak at its elaborate induction in our mohalla. Yet I was old enough to figure from the ritual that it was a prized family jewel: Neighbour’s envy, owner’s pride.
It was a status symbol. Looked smart and served as the family utility vehicle. Not just to transport the scores of ‘Hum do, Hamare do (teen)’ families. Remember this was the time when overloading was the rule and helmets a novelty; the objective was to reach your destination—the ends justified the means. It got the job done.
Personal mobility meant more than just death of distance. The bare bones state of public transport infrastructure was a disincentive for family outings and unsafe for women. The Chetak provided a bubble, liberating the middle class. Despite everything inclement around them, the scooter dared them to dream. It was the beginning of the democratising of mobility too.
Santosh Desai summed this up the best when he wrote a requiem for the Bajaj Chetak after Bajaj Auto, for reasons best known to them, decided to drive the iconic brand into the sunset.
“Nothing captured the complex reality of existence in Middle India better than this hybrid creature that offered mobility and convenience albeit grudgingly.
If the Indian middle class man were to be reborn as a product, chances are it would be as the Bajaj scooter. Squat, a belly going to pot, wearing a grey safari suit, undistinguished but resourceful. With a wife perched uncomfortably at the back, Gudiya squeezed between the two and Cheeku standing up front.
No product came close to capturing the essence of middle class India as well as the Bajaj scooter. For decades the scooter was both literally and metaphorically at the heart of the Indian middle class consciousness, imparting its own unique flavour to how we lived our lives.”
The Bajaj Brand
Last week I had teamed up with my usual partners—Debu Mishra and Srinath Sridharan—to do a Twitter Spaces (the social platform which like Clubhouse enables an audio conversation; think of it like a telephonic conference call) episode devoted to the idea of ‘Hamara Bajaj’. Among other things it helped clarify my thoughts on the legacy of Rahul Bajaj.
Sharing a youtube clip capturing how brand ‘Hamara Bajaj’ was positioned in a series of very compelling television advertisements.
Though it was put together on short notice we managed to grab some terrific insights into the Chetak product and the Bajaj brand. Unfortunately we forgot to click the record option; mercifully I took down some notes.
For instance, participating in the chat, Meeta Sengupta, a domain expert in education strategy, policy and a very active voice on Twitter, made a very insightful observation. She argued that amazingly the persona of the Chetak scooter and of Rahul Bajaj converged. In the sense both possessed the same characteristics: sturdy, reliable and knew how to get the job done.
“There was so much that in which the scooter and the man were reflections of each other. It is very rare for a brand and a person to represent almost identical values.”
Similarly, Avik Chattopadhyay, an experienced voice in the business of automobiles having started out and spent a long time at Maruti Suzuki (aka Maruti Udyog) and someone who understands more than just a thing or two on brands, took us through his personal experiences with Rahul Bajaj and also as to how the Chetak launched middle class dreams.
Asked whether the Chetak created the platform for Maruti to take middle class dreams to the next level, Chattopadhyay concurred. According to him the Maruti 800 stood for the same values as the Chetak—which preceded it by 12 years.
Asked whether Maruti would have hit its sweet spot so easily with the middle class if the Chetak had not dared them to dream, he said:
“Would the Maruti have been as successful if the Bajaj Chetak were not there, I don’t think so. Life is not ion isolation; where I am today is because of what I did yesterday. So, if I am buying the Maruti 800 it is obvious it is because I had a good experience with the Chetak for years. So now I want to move ahead in the world of mobility.”
Chattopadhyay is on the money. If we look at similar benchmarks—mobile phone, Internet broadband and so on—it is nothing but a timeline of India’s middle class trading up progressively.
In the final analysis it is clear that Rahul Bajaj left behind a terrific legacy. Indeed he is the rightful contributor to launching middle class dreams of Indians and effecting a fundamental makeover in mobility.
Indeed Hamara Bajaj. R.I.P.
Recommended Viewing
While writing and researching this episode I was consumed by how integral the Bajaj Chetak was to both mobility and middle class dreams. Especially since I lived through this transformative piece of the modern history of India.
The one way I relived the experience by looking and viewing the old ads. Sharing another below:
I also came across this fascinating first person account by a then very young Rahul da Cunha on the story behind these compelling advertisements. How it brought together some of the best talent in India for the project.
“The first campaign we created was in English. ‘The Great Indian Spirit’ was the headline that I wrote. The idea clearly was to occupy a space that fulfilled two strategic needs:
1. Inhabit the Indianess platform
2. Move the consumer away from the functional to an emotional appeal
Prashant and I and our immediate creative head, Kiran Khalap, created a visual palette that were vignettes from Indian life and traditions - a typical Parsi gentleman lovingly wiping down his scooter, a hero combing his hair in the small rear view mirror, a Bengali carrying his fish, images where the Bajaj Scooter, was merely a means of transport, to get the common man around while he finished his daily chores and customs.
The greatest story lies in the creation of the anthem/jingle – Hamara Bajaj.”
If you wish to read the piece please click this link.
Till we meet again next week. Stay safe.
Dear Anil,
An excellent article on a great buisness icon.Rahul Bajaj was bold , fearless and built a world class enterprise. He encouraged domestic competitiveness and was known for his commitment to corporate good governance. We all have grown up watching the Hamara Bajaj ads on TV!! Each one better than the last one .
A great loss to the nation and Indian buisness. The bright vibrant picture of Bajaj scooter is beautiful.
The passing away of Shri Rahul Bajaj, a pioneer of manufacturing two wheelers in India and also an outspoken individual, who did not hold back from sharing his views on government policy matters, is like a giant personality moving on. The upward movement of the middle class has been very well encapsuled in this write up, with excellent examples of products. The two wheeler industry is one of the rare areas where China has been pushed to second spot and India leads. Hats off to the legendary man. Very well written and a timely tribute to Shri Rahul Bajaj. Will eagerly await your next article on Monday.