Just when you are tired of the drabness, travelling in rural Saurashtra, in Gujrat (India), a flurry of colour vrooms past you with a roar that reverberates in the dust-laden air!
It's a chhakda, a mechanized - work of ‘jugaad’ in psychedelic colours and a triumph of rural genius. The roofless, three-wheeled motorcycle rickshaw is the beast of the burden in the region, carrying people (nearly 18 lakh), milk and other goods from one village to another for Rs. 2-3 only. The late Jagjivan's inspiration when designing the chhakda was the maharaja of Jamnagar's golf car, a proud acquisition during the Raj. How cool is that!
This rugged multiple-use vehicle that requires negligible maintenance, has a high load-carrying capacity (it can carry up to 30 passengers) and a higher fuel efficiency of 35 km to a litre of diesel!
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