HORSE BACK

An iconic name heralds Bajaj’s charge into the electric-scooter fray

- Kartik Ware

The very first time I got on a scooter, I rode it straight into a ditch full of thorny branches. The scooter in question was a beat-up Chetak, and upon the extraction of my severely punctured self from said ditch, I vowed never to have anything to do with a knee-knocker again. Not exactly how a two-wheeler should become part of one’s personal history, I’d say. However, one looks back fondly on even the worst incidents in the past provided enough time has gone by. It almost seems like that happened to someone else in another life — and that holds truest for the new Chetak.

Born a two-stroke, transformed into a four-stroke, and now back again with an electric motor and a battery, the Chetak could probably hold its own against the Dalai Lama on the topic of reincarnation. But this time around, will the Chetak win hearts and minds like it did in the past? Well, if its appearance is anything to go by, it’s off to a great start. And to those who may flap their mouths on the topic — of course it looks Vespa-ish; that’s its legacy, just as the Mahindra Thar looks like a Jeep. After all, children can’t stop looking like their parents, even if the latter got divorced a long time ago.