An Ambassador epitaph?

Shubhadeep Choudhury in Kolkata

Umeed pe duniya kayam hai (hope sustains life).” That’s what you hear frequently at the decaying Hindustan Motors factory at Uttarpara, near Kolkata. Wild vegetation is threatening to swallow the factory that had once turned out India’s dream car, the Ambassador. Workers, who have not yet left despite the suspension of work in the factory three years back in 2014, still hope that production will resume.

“If the management wants, the compound can be back in tiptop shape in no time”, says Rajkumar Sahu, a worker. Babloo Sharma, another worker, says if the management wanted to shut the factory for good, they would have given a lockout notice. The notice said that work was being suspended. 

“The entire Ambassador car was built here; every nut and bolt was manufactured here. The machines are still there”, says Shyambadan Prasad.

Talking to the factory workers under a large tree seems an uninterrupted interlude: no cellphone rings; because charging the battery is a problem. Electricity connection to workers’ quarters was cut three years back, the day work came to a halt. Water supply to the workers’ residences too was cut off three years back. In Krishnamurari Yadav’s humble two-room residence, water containers of various shapes and sizes occupy quite a bit of space. They have to cycle about 3km to carry water. Yadav was a mechanic at ‘body shop’ at the main jig of the factory and earned Rs 14,000 a month. He now works as a security guard at Uttarpara and gets Rs 6,000 for 12-hour work. “We have to earn to eat”, Yadav explains his helplessness. Women have been hit the hardest. You must do something for us, bhaiya”, says one of them. 

In its heyday, the sprawling Hindustan Motors manufacturing facility employed over 20,000 staff. Today, hardly 200 workers are left on the campus. These workers did not take voluntary retirement offered by the company because the money was so little that they thought it was better to stay in the decaying residences and eke out a living by doing odd jobs. “At night the residential area looks like a ghost town. There is no electricity and most residences are empty. We feel so scared”, says Meena Singh, wife of a worker.

A different story

Over to Rathna Nadar. He fits in the Ambassador story from a vastly different angle. While many HM workers are second or third generation employees, Nadar, a Chennai-based businessman, is a third generation owner of Ambassador. In fact, he has six of them, including the Avigo. Launched in 2004, Avigo indicated a new marketing strategy by the manufacturers of the iconic cars. Nadar has two Avigos. Nadar drives only an Ambassador.

“When I was born, I was brought home by an Ambassador car”, said the Nadar (36). He is excited about the recent purchase of the Ambassador brand by the French company, Peugeot. “It will be absolutely great if Peugeot launches the Ambassador again”, says Nadar.

Jaideep, another Ambassador enthusiast, is in his early thirties. He has a Mark-II Ambassador, and he takes care of its maintenance. The Bangalore-based Ambassador owner, who works in Dassault Aviation, says tinkering with his old automobile takes him back in time.

Peugeot, a source says, is planning to launch the new Ambassador as a premium product in the sedan segment of the automobile market. This will be welcome news for the fans of the car, who come from the affluent category. 

As for HM’s Uttarpara factory, well, hope would sustain workers’ life.