By Ronald D’Costa
It’s remarkable that the beautiful, sleek Jaguar had its beginnings as the motorcycle sidecar. Almost 10 years after the Swallow Sidecar for motorcycles (Swallow Sidecar Company) evolved to the feline, athletic Jaguar under the ownership of S.S. Cars Limited, this beauty was born with the official name ‘Jaguar’. More than 20 years later in 1945 the company’s name changed from S.S. Cars to Jaguar because of the obvious connation with the (SS troops of Germany)
Two years later, in 1947, in England was manufactured a special car from the aristocratic Jaguar family. This was shipped on an exciting but dangerous and perilous journey of a few months over the seas to reach her adopted country India. From there she was brought with great care to a business family in Ranchi. Alok Ghosh from Bengal would shift to the summer capital 2500 feet above sea level for rest and recuperation.
50 years later Dinesh Parikh rescued this lady abandoned in an open garage in May 1993. He made a deal with the original owners and transported it to Jamshedpur in a truck.
With loving care it has been restored to its original beauty. We took this lady for a spin to meet some of her contemporaries in Jamshedpur.
Today, the four-cylinder engine roars to life at the press of a button at the beautiful home of Dinesh Parikh. The doors to the backseat open from the front allowing the passengers to just slide in and swing in their legs very comfortably. On the road, it purrs like a cat and moves at a comfortable pace on its three gears.
On our first stop, we introduced her to a Jamshedpur senior – United Club, established in 1913 as the Tata Institute. It has been a place to relax after a long day’s work. Membership was open to all and the monthly fees were on a sliding scale, depending on their salary.
It welcomed famous personalities including Mahatma Gandhi. For many years it was the only club that boasted of a swimming pool.
We then stopped to say hello to Bharucha (Regal) Mansion, built in 1939.
K.M. Bharucha built this mansion at the main intersection of Bistupur main road. It stood like a colossus facing the slope of the Sakchi Boulevard. Bharucha, the first accountant of TISCO conceived this place as a comfortable hostel for young Parsee boys who were employed by the company. Regal Mansion with a cinema house was happy to make acquaintance with this lovely lady in blue and sighed when she saw her go away.
The next stop was the Narbheram Hansraj School built in the thirties in memory of Narbheram Kamani. It has served the students of our city for more than 70 years. The Gujarati Sanatan Samaj was our last stop. Dinesh Parekh is the president of this Samaj and has played a big role in stabilizing this stately lady of the thirties. A quick hello and goodbye and we were back to the Parikh’s home.
Now our Jaguar lady is safe in the hands of Dinesh Parikh’s family who lovingly ensure that she remains in good health and happily purrs around with her occupants whenever she is asked to do so.
