Humara Bajaj - An end or a new beginning

Bajaj Auto announced this week, that it will exit the scooter market and stop producing its iconic Bajaj scooter. They plan to focus only on manufacturing motorbikes as they believe that the middle class symbol has changed from scooter to the bike. Bajaj Chetak and the jingle, 'humara bajaj' symbolized the Indian middle class of the 70s and 80s. The middle class has a come a long way since then and looks like the scooter brand could not catch up.

For me, Bajaj scooter is also a symbol of the license raj which did not permit the Indian households to own a luxury like a scooter or telephone or TV for a long time. Its also a symbol of the middle class wanting to break free from the shackles of the pseudo secular and pseudo social governments of the years post the independence. A look at the 'buland Bharat ki buland tasveer' may bring a lump in the throat of the generation that fought hard against the administration then, to realize their dreams. My father, being a part of that generation, to date considers owing a Bajaj Chetak then as one of his greatest achievements.

I see the end of Bajaj scooters as the beginning of a new era where the Indian middle class will hold the key to a better India tomorrow.