In Electric Dreams

 

- Rohin Nagrani

Saharanpur in UP has a dichotomy that seems to grab every small city in India by the scruff of its neck. Old traditions and ways of working are increasingly being threatened by modernisation. It’s a potpourri of the then, now and at times, the moffusil, as these cities struggle to retain an identity in an era where sameness has become the norm.

The soldiers at the gates of such cities are people like Anhad and his father, Kanwardeep Singh Jaura who are putting on a brave fight, in a quest to not only retain their city’s last vestiges of talent, but marry it with a unique identity that has appeal far beyond its borders. Saharanpur is known for its mangoes and furniture industry and the influence of the latter on the father-son duo and their creations can’t be understated.

AJ Motoarts, their brainchild, produces some of the most unique electric cars ever seen in this country. It all started with Kanwardeep, an ardent fan of all things antique and vintage. What started as a fascination at a young age, turned into an obsession as he began collecting coins, books, marble paintings, clocks, watches and old cameras from the early part of the last century. As his passion grew, he moved on to motorcycles, collecting scooters and twin motorcycles such as BSAs, AJS, Triumph, Ariel and Moto Guzzi, buying and even restoring them. Even that wasn’t enough, so he wanted to start collecting vintage cars as well. However, this time, the roadblock wasn’t the cars, but the size of his wallet.