Rahul Bajaj rides into the sunset, as fabled Chetak lives on forever

Rahul Bajaj

The voice that gave India's manufacturing the hope to dream big, has forever fallen silent. For a generation of Indians, Bajaj Chetak embodied the dream of having arrived in life. It was a two-wheeler that truly all of India loved to own. In a way of speaking, Bajaj Chetak bound the nation together into a common consciousness.

The scooter was named after the fabled stallion of 16th century Rajput king Maharana Pratap. And it must have felt like royalty to most, for it also became a quintessential part of the dowry system. The stature of a wedding would go up a notch higher if a Chetak was gifted alongside. Bajaj launched the Chetak as an independent model with styling borrowed from the Vespa of Italy. Soon, it became a household name. In fact the humble Chetak once ran an exorbitantly high premium in the grey market. Chetak took Bajaj to a global playing field. And Rahul Bajaj even became the world's biggest manufacturer of scooters for a brief bit. Chetak continued to be rolled out even after the agreement with Vespa ended, in the late seventies.

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The runaway success of Chetak meant that Rahul Bajaj made a few enemies too. He faced challenges in procuring the license to expand manufacturing, despite being in Congress' good books then. His company was raided more than once, even during the Emergency. But he never wavered in his conviction to speak truth to power.

The India after liberalisation saw a lot of competition, as many manufacturing looked to set base here. He was brave enough to foray into making motorcycles, throwing the gauntlet to Japan's Honda Motors.

Today, the grief runs deep. All of India mourns the death of an icon who braved adversities to pursue his ambition.

"Rahul Bajaj was the one who put average Indians on two motorised wheels. In his passing away, we have lost a far sighted and outspoken business leader," tweeted P Chidambaram, a Member of Parliament from the Congress and a former finance minister. Noted banker Uday Kotak called him "bold and fearless. A rare businessman who spoke truth to power. A proud Indian. Built world class enterprise."