Other modes of Transport

It is not as if my obsession with steam engines blinded me to the other modes of transportation now available to every one of us. As usual, I experimented with different materials so that I could have a variety of models, but I didn’t stray from the staple—wood. Quite early, I chose bamboo and produced two prototypes of the now increasingly popular F1 racing cars. I used nylon bushes for the wheels and a bit of aluminum foil for the engine air-vents. I think my two versions are cute, to say the least.

Next, I turned my attention to individual transport and came up with a scooter, fitted with a helmet box. It may look a bit wobbly, but it also comes with the manufacturer’s warranty. I remember making a macho-looking motorcycle, but I can’t remember the person I presented it to.

Since they still insist that the real India is to be discovered only in her villages, I undertook the putting together of a number of carts. By the looks of them, you may agree that they are suitable to be pulled by oxen, but, try as much as I could, I couldn’t find the right kind of livestock for the carts. They look lost, just like the real ones do, for in our mad rush to mechanize everything, we may even have lost the rhythm of the earth—painstaking, peaceful, perhaps deliberately plodding, so that we may have the chance to return to our roots.

Load-bearing trucks have fascinated me and while I may have sold a number of them, I still turn out a few. The one I feature here was supposed to be a gift for a bonny baby boy, but since import restrictions are in place everywhere, my lumber-truck did not reach its intended destination. This time around I used regular pieces of wood, cutting them to the appropriate size before mounting them onto my timber-lugger.

What good is any piece of sophisticated equipment—like cars, or trucks, or even bullock-carts—if it doesn’t provide us with a not-too-bumpy ride. That’s when I decided to make a road-roller. For the ponderous rear wheels, I was fortunate to find two rounded granite pieces that had come from a discarded wet grinder. It looks pretty efficient, but what makes it really appealing is the miniature I made—a kind of mother-and-child reunion.

Living in a Cantonment area, there are bound to be different kinds of military hardware. I first engineered a battle-tank, complete with stealth looks, and then went on to manufacture my two MTB’s, or, as I call them, Mobile Tank Busters. I ravaged a whole box of pencils, but I’m sure you will agree that the end justifies the means. In fact, one of the MTBs is adapted for action in a desert scenario, whereas the other is more conventional. Don’t you agree? And, what is military hardware without a battle-tank? I think my rendition came out very well.

As I said in my last blog, you just need something to trigger your imagination. I could be anything—words, artifacts, whatever. Let your mind take over and soon you will be on a wonderful journey of discovery. Who knows, you may even discover yourself.

Take that leap of faith, dear Reader. You could even find that pot of gold waiting for you (at the end of your rainbow). All the very best.