I did this project when I was exploring motion comics and had just incepted my first startup. This exercise made me realize that the simple things that we never notice or pay attention to are often the things we connect most with. The same would be true about people in our lives.​​​​​​​

Most people admire Steam engines, but it's the Diesel engines that appeal to me. Why do they appeal to me? Well, there is some nostalgia around these engines.

Going to my 'Nana-Nani's (maternal grandparent's) place during summer holidays in train is probably the most joyful memory of my childhood. The best part was the endless stream of vendors selling groundnuts, bananas, Chana-jor-Garam, and cold drinks. 

There was one more thing that always made me excited when going on those trips. Those were the moments when I would walk up to the engine with my dad to look at it. As a child, those diesel engines were the most sci-fi thing for me. 

Somehow these diesel engines were my childhood heroes and favorite toys. Now don't think that I had a lot of train sets and all. In those times, streets were not flooded with cheap Chinese toys, and such toys were a luxury. I had to be a little imaginative then. 

Oh no, don't think that I actually made any engine or train from cardboard or something. I simply started playing with dead pencil batteries (AA-size batteries), imagining the red 'Eveready' ones as engines and blue  'Nippo' ones as coaches. Well, most diesel engines were red in color, and the coaches were definitely blue in color. 

That's what my childhood brain processed. I kept playing with them for hours. Now I laugh at myself when I remember that the lines and patterns on my bedsheets were tracks and platforms for me. I would keep bugging my mother for certain bedsheets. She had no clue why I was so fond of those not-so-good-looking ones.

Growing up, I kept seeing diesel engines getting decommissioned and replaced by younger electric ones. I never got connected with the electric ones. 
So when I was fiddling with my first startup in motion comics, I started doing this project as a stress buster and fun.

Though these look like 2D illustrations, I did not sketch them as 2d drawings. 

I am sure this must have brought some nostalgia from your own childhood. If so, do share with me.