Friday, May 24, 2013

Focus On Life ~ Week 21 ~ Reminisce

Oh boy...I have really been slacking on these posts :(( And also in visiting other blogs :( Just have not been able to get down to it lately :( Sometimes I take a picture, but don't have time to write a post about it. Other times, I have an idea for a photo, but no time to go click.

But I do have a post for this week's prompt.

Last weekend I went car shopping. Had been planning on it for months now, finally went for a test drive last Saturday. I loved the car (of course!), but hated the start/stop button. I always thought it was so much fun to turn that key and bring the car to life. Pressing a button is just not the same.
And I realized, once I swap my baby (that would be my current car) for a new one, it might be the last time I turn a key to start a car! So had to click this! So that I could reminisce in the future :-)


But Sally has asked us to reminisce about the past. When I clicked this picture, I could almost hear the engines of the two very first cars ever to be made in India starting up.

These would be the Hindustan Ambassador and the Premier Padmini. They were both so distinct, I could tell which one was which just by listening to the engines start up without even looking out the window to see what it was. My dad has had a lot of cars (I think I can remember at least 12, I could have missed some), but the first ones were all Ambassadors...mammoth cars these were. We could (but thankfully did not!) fit in two whole families in there ;-)


It was the first car made in India...in 1958. It is still made, and looks pretty much the same!
Here's a link in case you want to buy one ;-) http://www.hmambassador.com/
We took a lot of road trips..my parents, four of us girls and the driver. Yup! We all fit in there! Not quite sure how! The earlier models did not have a cassette player, but when they started installing them, dad got it. And each long trip would start with one "bhajan" (religious music) tape and then Bollywood songs. With the four of us singing along. Allllll the way (or most of the way)
I am now wondering how the adults (my parents and our driver) tolerated us!!!


The other one...is one my eldest brother-in-law used to have...it was his first car. And I have such fond memories of late night long drives he used to take us on whenever we visited him and my sister. And he loves music, he always had the best music playing in his car. Always! I believe a road accident where the driver hit a buffalo totaled that car, but I may be wrong. Here's what it looks like...


My brother-in-law's car was more or less this same color, but it did not have the rack on top.

Hmmmmm..that was a gooood drive down the memory highway! Thanks Sally!

Now on to Sally's blog to see what memories everyone else has unearthed....
http://thestudiosublime.com/2013/05/24/week-21-reminisce/


34 comments:

  1. I agree, I don't like the buttons either!

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    1. Right? Its like a child's toy car!
      And another thing...the engine would just stop if I had my foot on the brake for some time...I guess they have a timer for 5 seconds or so. Do Not Like That!

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  2. Wondeful memories Kashmira. :)
    ~Ema
    http://www.emakdesigns.com/blog

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  3. Oh that first car makes me think of the Taxis we took while in India. I can remember that diesel engine purr to the car (or should I say rattle for some of them!) .... we also took that up the foothills from Dehradun to Mussoorie ... made the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up!!!!

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    1. Oh yeah! I think they still have them as taxis in lots of places. Your Sharma had the same one in white, I bet!

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  4. Those are some very cool looking cars!! Awesome shots! A buffalo? Yep, that would be one to remember!! And I'm glad you snapped a pic of your keys in the ingition of your current car - those push button ones will take all the fun out of the saying 'start your engines' won't they?!

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    1. Shel, yeah, a buffalo. My sister was in the car with her little son, they were fine. But those were days before cell phones and they had to track down her husband who came with the money to pay the buffalo owner (the buffalo had sadly died). It was a boy buffalo, so they did not have to pay as much as they would have to for a girl buffalo.

      Yeah, am quite upset about the buttons. Its not a toy car!

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  5. Great post and great memories! Thanks!

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  6. Another delightful way to go down memory lane - thank you for that. Congratulations on your new car. Enjoy it!

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    1. Thanks Patty! I still haven't bought a new on though. Still thinking....

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  7. What wonderful cars! And you are so right about the car key almost becoming a memory. We still have one car that uses a key and I always forget every time I drive it and end up digging around in my purse.

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    1. Yeah...they were the pride of their owners back in the day...when cars were not as affordable as they are now.

      Do you like the button?

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  8. What an awesome post! Two cars I've never heard of, and yet I would love to have an Ambassador. I'll never forget the cars my Dad has owned, as he is a car nut, too. He was just telling me yesterday, at age 81 this year, that he wants to buy the new Camero!

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    1. That's awesome! I hope to have that spirit if I am ever that old!

      I don't want to buy one, but I sure want to go see what the current models look like!

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  9. Wow - those cars are great! I agree with you, I don't think I would like a button to turn on the car - I want to be able to use a key and turn it over. Good luck on whatever car you decide to buy!

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    1. Thank you! I am so not looking forward to that button! And you don't even need to stick the key in, as long as its within a certain distance, its fine. That makes me very uncomfortable!

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  10. Enjoyed reading about your memories of cars in your life. My family took lots of road trips also. But we not so lucky in what we listened to on the car radio. It was always something that interested my parents and my brother and sister and I found boring.

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    1. My parents were always very accommodating about that :) MOm liked the religious stuff, so we played that first, and dad liked the bollywood music too, so all were happy. I am not sure what the driver thought about all this, lol :)

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  11. Kashmira that is an interesting story. You describing the different engine sounds brought back a memory for me. I lived across a field from the train tracks and at 2 or 3 I could tell the difference between a freight train and a passenger train.

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  12. What cool cars!! I'm so glad you have fond memories of road trips with your family!

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    1. They are, right? Yeah...vacationing was our thing...we lived to travel, lol

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  13. Wow, that was a good drive! I too don't know if I like the buttons....kinda anticlimactic.... I soo remember my first car...ahh those were the days. Thanks for memories!!!

    http://mypicturesonlife.blogspot.com/2013/05/focus-on-live-week-21-reminisce.html

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    1. Yeah, makes it feel like a toy car. Not! What was your first car?

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  14. Love your post Kashmira! What fun to see your cars of the past and to imagine what it must have been like taking road trips in India.Very fine times I am sure!

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    1. Yes, very fine times indeed! We used to have school uniforms to wear all year round, so the vacations were when all the fine clothes were used, we ate fancy food, stayed at fancy hotels, and traveled all over the country. India is very diverse in its culture from state to state...the food, the landscape, dressing, even people's appearances were sometimes different from state to state. Was so awesome soaking it all in!

      I miss it so bad now, since the hubby hates to leave the house :(

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  15. You are seriously needing another road trip, Kashmira! Love all the old cars and memories. Dad bought an old Citroen when we lived in France... bet he drove lots but unfortunately we were too young to remember. Just some old pics... somewhere...

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