India is indeed a melting pot of cultures as exclaimed by its
first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. From Kashmir to kanyakumari India
is painted with different colours of culture, traditions, festivals and
languages. Sometimes even the same festivals celebrated in different parts of
the country may differ drastically. But there are some things in common among
us Indians and that is we are people with a huge heart and love to celebrate
life. We love everything in large quantity. May it be the amount of ghee in
food or number of people in a group on a pilgrimage; it’s always a large number
and Ambassador has been a symbol of this celebration and huge heartedness.
The shutting down of the ambassabor’s plant in Kolkata
symbolizes drawing curtains on an entire era. India, dominated basically by a
joint family system has undergone a lot of transition. Transition from a joint
family system to that of a nuclear one, from peaceful rural life to an
ambitious urban one, from green cities to concrete jungles and so on. And
Ambassador has been a silent witness to this transition.
Ambassador was a symbol of wealth,power,prosperity,large
heartedness and above all unity. It is this car that carried people beyond its
capacity during happy and sorry times. It was never suffocating to be stuffed
in among many others into this car as it was fun. Kids loved to sit on their elder’s
laps and play and sleep and do everything possible. And not to forget the
enormous amount of luggage it carried too from vegetables to newspapers to
animal feed and so on. This was a car that united people. I still remember
hiring a single taxi (which in early times meant only ambassador cars) for our
extended family of 10 and yet nobody complained of any inconvenience. Today
things have changed with the growing Indian economy. The numbers of cars have
increased, so has the number of nuclear families. We value our convenience and
privacy more than the family union. We hire a mini bus for our pilgrimages with
family. And if it is too crowded we call off the trip. This is the transition I
was talking about.
Ambassador was also the most powerful car of India. The one
that carried our politicians and bureaucrats. A car that many dreamt of as a
symbol of position and power. Often called as the lal bathi gaadi it
commanded respect and honor. Being a lal bathi leader increased ones
pride and prestige in society. Now times have changed, people are more
demanding . Government officials have bigger and better professional vehicles
and offcourse there are restrictions on the lal bathi aswell.
The end of Ambassador has a lesson for life: Evolve or
perish! Change is inevitable and the ambassador has failed to evolve with
respect to changing times. It stood where it started, still without any change
in machinery ,technology or even esthetics. Its primary competitor the maruthi
800 though initially took over as India’s family car evolved, modified and even
perished with a lifespan less than that of the ambassador. But the ambassador
refused to change. It ‘s numbers have diminished over the years being replaced
by other modern and economic cars. India has evolved over the years so has its
economy leaving behind the ambassador car.
Ambassador is sure not to go out of site. At least for
another couple of years it is going to ride the streets of India carrying
forward its legacy and finally end its long journey. Wait !it is not going to
be out of site, as it will be valued even more than before as part of a vintage
collection. And for our future generation? They might have a lesson on road
transport saying there existed a car that was so dearly loved by our forefathers
and it was called the Ambassador. A true ambassador of India life.
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