Mysuru, KARNATAKA :

People across the globe celebrate Jawa Day on the second Sunday of July every year, but for H. Ajay Kumar of Mahadevapura in Mysuru, who owns four Yezdi and a Jawa bike, everyday is a Jawa Day! One may wonder as to what makes him so unique when there are so many other people who own more Jawa bikes. What makes Ajay stand out is not just the motorcycles but the memorabilia of Ideal Jawa, the collectibles of Jawa factory and the info about the factory he has right on the tip of his tongue that shows his passion for the legacy that Ideal Jawa left behind. This Weekend’s Pictorial Star Supplement will take our readers on a nostalgic ride of the good-old Ideal Jawa days.

by B.N. Ramya

The Motorcycles…

Anyone studying physics in eighth standard would think of scoring high marks in exams or at the most of learning physics for the sake of good marks which counts a lot in CET to get an engineering or medical seat. But Ajay Kumar has a different story to tell.

Speaking about how his love grew for automobiles, he says, “It was when I was in eighth standard that I learnt about steam engine, internal combustion and then my curiosity to know about two-stroke and four-stroke engine arose. My dad had a Hero Puch then and with that I was introduced to Prasad uncle of Gururaja Automobiles on Ramanuja Road, the authorised dealers of Hero Puch. So anything I wanted to know about engines and machines, I was there at his shop satiating my hunger to know more about automobiles.”

It is a known fact that the words ‘automobiles’ and ‘Mysuru’ will no doubt make one think of Ideal Jawa, the second biggest Jawa motorcycle manufacturing factory in the world, next only to the original factory in Czechoslovakia. Ajay too was fascinated towards Jawa bikes like any other bike enthusiasts for its reliability and ruggedness.

About his first bike Ajay says: “As I told you my dad had a Hero Puch which I did not actually like much. I so very much wanted a bigger vehicle. When I once visited my grandma’s house on vacation, I saw a X standard boy riding bullet and I wanted to have one such bike. My father bought me Yezdi 175 CC when I was in X std. in 1999; that was my first BIG bike.”

“After that somewhere in 2002-03, I got to know about a Yezdi 60CC lying idol at a house of one of the Jawa employees, who had stopped using that vehicle after the factory had stopped production. I purchased that bike, which is now in a good condition after being given the required attention,” says Ajay adding: “then followed the purchase of Roadking from Vijayanagar; Joining some like-minded bike enthusiasts like Gavin and Azam, a Jawa Group was formed in 2007, which made way for the purchase of Jawa and then again Yezdi D250 Classic.”

“Initially I used to be an active member of the Jawa group, biking around and popularising the bikes. With passage of time and getting busy with family, though I fail to make more Jawa rides, I make sure that come what may, I attend the Jawa Day celebrations and go on rides,” says the bike enthusiast who added, his longest trip on bike was to Kodaikanal with friends and he keeps visiting Sakleshpura, where his in-laws reside, on bike enjoying the greenery en-route.

When asked where does he get his bikes repaired if they break down, Ajay says: “I alone can make repairs most of the time and if I need any major repair works, I approach Jawa mechanics Mohammed Dastagir and his son Shamshir Ahmed, who have a garage behind Dalvoy School. They are quite well-known among Jawa enthusiasts. People from Bengaluru, Chennai and Kerala too come there to get their bikes repaired.”

A native of Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh, Ajay is the son of H.V.G. Raju, a retired employee of Coffee Board and Yashoda and is married to Ashritha. Ajay, an alumnus of Sarada Vilas Educational Institutions in city, who has worked for various automobile showrooms, now runs a car driving school (The Search) in Vishweshwaranagar.

The Memorabilia…

Power bikes do not have speed and speed bikes do not have power. Jawa bikes are terrain bikes, says Ajay who is so much in love with the thundering sound of these yesteryear bikes.

Ajay, who can tell the exact date and year of the different models released by Ideal Jawa, laments about the decline of the Ideal Jawa, saying: “To demolish the factory completely, it took almost 5-6 months and I was there for almost five months everyday seeing the producer of the legendary bikes coming down. There I found some spare parts, bouchers, photographs and bulletins of Jawa factory, which speaks a lot of this giant bike producer.”

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / February 20th, 2016