Nostalgic moments

While coming back from a party in a friend’s ‘WagonR’ a guest requested to give him a ride back to his place. Friend made him sit in the front seat left to him. Over the conversation I gathered that the guest, a Sikh gentleman, took voluntary retirement from Indian Navy at the age of 47 and is now the Captain of a ship and has come to Vizag for repair of the ship. Later he offered us hot cake and hot coffee on the ship. As we drove through the old part of the city where the street lights were scanty, the car suddenly bumped on the uneven road Mr. Guest quipped that ‘Wagon Rs’ hit on bumpy roads and added that he recently sold his ‘ Maruti ‘and bought SX 4 on demand of his children. He had been very comfortable driving Maruti which he bought 20 years ago when he used to get a paltry salary but still lived the life to the fullest (“Hamne bahut aish ki ji un dino). Needless to say Mr. Guest belongs to the generation for whom’ Maruti’ meant the tiny Maruti 800.I too belong to that generation. I remember I was a young school girl when Maruti 800 was launched way back in 1983.Delhi was a quiet town with big wide roads with very few cars on the road till then. The launch of M800 changed the life of Delhites. This car was too tiny as compared to Ambassadors, Fiats, 118 NE and Contessa. Though people said it was not strong enough but went out and bought a Maruti anyway. We could see people zooming out in their new cars with loud music .The reason for popularity of M800 was clear .It was cheap to buy and cheap to run. It showed resilience and spirit bumping on pot-holed roads with people and luggage without complaint. People could go for long drives to the outskirts of the city without much planning. Just check the air pressure, top up tank and go. This fuel efficient, tiny car could be parked outside modest DDA flats.
Though M800 is disappearing from the roads, this so called toy brought revolution in the life of Indian three decades ago. As Mr .Guest said we had limited resources but we found happiness in small things in life and never complained.