Tuesday, 19 August 2025

The Vintage & Classic Car Collection at Udaipur

Spotted this beauty at the Udaipur Vintage Car Museum


From horse-driven carriages to gasoline-powered wraiths, from gasoline-powered wraiths to whisper-soft solar-powered miracles, you have them all at the Classic Vintage Car museum at Udaipur!


The Vintage Classic Car Museum is a feast for classic car aficionados. From horse-driven carriages to classic vintage cars, from classic vintage cars to solar-powered prototypes;  you have them all!

The Rolls-Royce car photographed above was awarded best of class vintage in the Cartier Travel Style Concourse, Mumbai in 2008 and the winner at the Lucious Beebe trophy at the Concourse d'Elegance in Pebble Beach USA in 2012.

The Fabricator, Mohanlal Lohar, is on the right.

A visit to Udaipur would be incomplete without a visit to the Vintage Car Museum in Udaipur, Rajasthan. It was a joy to take a peek at some of the classic cars of the past. The Rolls-Royce cars and Cadillacs were in pristine condition. Out of the 23 or so specimens, 19 were in running condition. I came across the fabricator and guide who not only took us through a guided tour, but also described his foray into solar-powered vehicles back in the early years of the century, specifically 2003.

Rolls-Royce Silver Phantom II 1934

One of the Rolls-Royce cars won a first prize in an international exhibition in the USA and one in Mumbai. I was especially thrilled to spot a Standard Herald car, a vehicle that I had spotted quite often in the 1980s. The Standard Herald had a bonnet that opened backwards. Precursors of the present-day Jeep, the Thar were present in the form of the Willys Jeep of the Second World War, made by Ford.



Opel had once made a foray into the Indian Market.


Morris Garages or MG was once a famous British brand of carmaker known for its exceptionally well-made cars. Seen above is an MG Roadster. Morris was a car manufacturer while MG or Morris Garage started as a sales and service centre for Morris cars. MG focused on building sports cars after the two companies parted ways and became distinct identities.

Apart from the Rolls-Royce cars there were a couple of Cadillac vehicles in the collection. The green Cadillac was driven by the Maharaja, while the black Cadillac was driven by the Maharani. The latter had partitions between the driver and the passenger and shades/curtains for privacy!

His

Hers

Mohan Lal Lohar, the fabricator cum guide, also showed us a few horse-driven carts, and guess what? Present on display was a cart drawn by a Black Buck! This cart was for the children of the Royal Family. The Black Buck was trained to draw the cart around the Palace Grounds. But then the Vintage museum has some distinct horse carriages that were used for the members of the Royal family of Udaipur.




However, long before the entry of EVs in India, a movement had started in Udaipur to experiment with solar-powered vehicles. At the forefront of this movement were none other than the Royal Family and Mohanlal Lohar. While the inspiration and funds came from the Royal Family,  Mohanlal used his experience and skills to create Electric vehicles that ran with the help of Solar Panels. A few parts had to be imported from abroad, such as brushless motors. Shared below are a few prototypes of Solar-powered cycles and tricycles. Although the prototypes ran successfully, they were never taken up for mass production.


Mohanlal Lohar with one of his solar-powered prototypes
 

Last but not least, one should not ignore the multi-purpose Jeep that helped turn the tide against the Axis powers. Today, the Thar and the Land Cruiser are built on the philosophy that made the Ford-manufactured Willys Jeep a great success. The museum in Udaipur has a couple of prime examples of the Willys Jeep.













Sunday, 17 August 2025

By the Ghats of Udaipur



By the Ghats of Udaipur 

Where the lakes converge and all mankind

Assembles, royalty emerges, and lights glow!


The air abates with expectancy,

Waiting for the sun to sink, even as the chants

Begin in the temples by the banks.


And on the banks, people watch 

The lights glow in the water, colours split

Into a myriad colours, shades, and hues.


A melange of cultures, languages, and

nationalities, assembled by the Ghats of Udaipur,

To watch the dancing lights in the waves!





Sunday, 10 August 2025

My Memories of a Regime Change in Ethiopia



My initial memories of the regime change in Ethiopia are filled with memories of events that happened after Emperor Haile Selassie was dethroned. My sister was born in 1975, and that year was exceptional. Children of compatriots, Indian Teachers in Arbaminch would scare each other, stating that if we did not behave, Tefari Banti would arrive with his cohorts to take us to task! Things changed, and schools were closed for a whole year. We all had a great time that year, although the uncertainties of life did creep in!

Everything changed post-1975.  The Dergue arrived, and they began to target all those who spoke against the revolution! There were stories of people who were targeted for speaking against the revolutionary government. Some of the stories about encounters with officials of the derge were funny enough because intellectuals talked about how they were given flying kicks, and they went flying into the air. Others were serious enough, stories about missing persons, knocks at 12:00 a.m., people going missing, and people being incarcerated in prison camps for training in the socialist ideology. All this while I was a little child getting into grips with the happenings.

And then came the Russian teachers and the Cuban veterinary doctors, and military advisors. My parents grew friendly with the Russian teachers, and my Dad and the Russian friends, Mr. Pastukh and his wife, became friends and went together to Lake Chamo to fish for Nile Perch. They sent the meat to the Russian Embassy in Addis Ababa, and the Russian Embassy rewarded them with Vodka and chocolates.

Post 1975, things happened very rapidly. Mengistu Hailemariam visited the Government school where I studied. Students were lined in rows, and we faced soldiers facing us with sten guns. He came nodding to us in his peak cap with the little red star, and I remember looking at a stern man gazing at us with a rather serious look. This was my first glimpse of a dictator who would rule the nation for a good fifteen years. I was a young child with an impressionable mind, and I wondered about what was going on in a country that was once a peaceful country.

Post 1975, classrooms had labels written large on the classroom walls, EPLF, EPRDF, and so on and I as a child did not know what they meant. Today as I look back at the past, I realise that these were organisations that were fighting against the Socialist Government. My parents finally decided that we had enough and so they decided to relocate to the capital city in 1982. My mother was appointed at the Ethiopia Tikdem school in Shola, Addis Ababa. The school had once been a palace of a minor member of the Royal Family.

My memories of life in Addis Ababa are mixed. However, I remember how my fellow students in grade twelve became despondent after they passed the grade 12 exam. I later learned that this was because they were forced to enrol in the military service. Many of them joined the military service, and they were sent to the battlefront to fight the rebels. They were cannon fodder, and many of them never returned. The military often pushed them into the warzone even as they hid behind tanks and artillery. They were no match for the fighters of the EPLF and the TPLF, who used guerrilla tactics that confounded the wisdom of the Russian advisors.

While in Addis Ababa, we finally reconnected with our Russian friends, Pastuckh and very, who were based in the town of Ambo. It was a joyful moment for my parents to meet with them while walking down the streets of Piassa. We welcomed Vera and Pastukh and housed them in our home in Piassa. At that time, we were staying on the topmost floor of the Mosvold building. Finally, in 1984, I shifted to India for my further studies.

In 1991, things changed dramatically. The rebels advanced into the capital city, and my parents were literally stranded in a country that was at war with itself. While cowering under the walls of the flat, they could hear the loud blast of the fuel dump being hit by explosives. The news was broadcast by major channels across the world. My brother and I were anxious about the well-being of our parents. We went to the airport, fed coins into the slot, just to have a few minutes of conversation with them. Finally, my parents decided to return to India, and that was it. We were all together!

Today, as I reflect on my past, I can only wonder about the experiences that I went through, and I think about how important it is for each one of us to treasure the freedom that we have. Regime changes take place across the world, but we need to appreciate the freedoms we have. Sometimes we become complacent about the privileges that we have without perhaps remembering the large number of young children whose aspirations and hopes were snuffed out, thanks to a dictator who had his own agenda. My takeaway from this post is that one should not take one's privileges and rights for granted. 


Sunday, 3 August 2025

A Much Awaited Confirmation Service at The Church of The Epiphany, Civil Lines, Gurgaon

A much-awaited confirmation service took place at the Church of the Epiphany in Gurgaon today, August 3, 2025. The Rt. Revd. Dr. Paul Swaroop (CNI-Diocese of Delhi) led the service, assisted by the Presbyter in Charge, Revd. Prateek Pillai and Revd. Vikas Mall, Presbyter in Charge of the Sadhu Sundersingh Church at Sohna. A total of thirteen girls and boys were confirmed on the occasion. The first lady of the Diocese, Mrs. Nina Swaroop, also graced the occasion.


The pews were occupied, and extra chairs had to be installed to accommodate a large number of the faithful who had turned up for the occasion. The Pastorate Committee, led by Mrs. Sabreena Benjamin, the Women's Fellowship, led by Ms. Shikha Karan, and the Youth Fellowship made a huge effort to make the occasion a resounding success.




















The children who were to be confirmed were rather awed by the incident, as it was an important moment in their lives, what with their affirmation to serve society as mature individuals with a responsibility put on their shoulders. All of us remembered our own confirmations, and we were all reminded of the promises we made as mature adults.






































The day ended with a fellowship lunch that everyone made a point to partake of. It was, indeed, an occasion to connect with each other.