Stars on tarmac

museum musings

Reach out to open the doors of the Heritage Transport Museum in Taoru, Haryana, and you’ll grab a pair of motorbike handlebars. Look around for the ticket counter, you’ll find yourself at the reception desk — a bright red 1951 Morris Minor split into two halves, with the top half turned into an overhead light. While you stand there, you cannot miss the dome-mirror-studded 1962 Chevrolet Impala in mid-air. 

Described as an auto enthusiast’s gold mine, the Heritage Transport Museum, about an hour’s drive away from Gurgaon, doesn’t give away much with its façade and neatly-manicured lawns. But inside, it appears kitschy in some corners, it has entertaining yet educational exhibits — all like it was envisioned before it opened in December 2013.

Home to the private collection of Tarun Thakral, founder of the Heritage Management Trust, it has 2,500 curated objects on display, spread across in galleries on four floors. From antique toys to an airplane and bicycles to motorcycles, from bogies to boats and fancy cars to carts, a railway carriage and art installations, it holds the history of Indian transportation.

The first ride

Of course, Thakral admits that putting together these relics has not been easy. He recalls that he pored over newspaper classifieds , formed a network of scrap dealers and kabadiwallas, and gave them all digital cameras, so that they could take pictures and email him on anything worth his interest. Slowly but surely, over a period of 20 years, he says, he had an enviable collection, which gave him “a sense of achievement” and inspired him to set up a museum.

In the museum, once you have admired the exhibit depicting the history of the wheel, you should visit the well-restored luxury railway saloon from the 1930s that sits on a decorated platform and authentic tracks. Built during the British Raj, it’s one of the earliest carriages pressed into service on Palace on Wheels, after being renamed as Jodhpur Saloon. A peek inside shows a setup of plush bedrooms, a lavish living room, a kitchenette and a bathroom. Its ceiling is adorned with the gilded glass work of Rajasthan.

The side panels of the carriage stand out with traditional floral fresco borders.
By switching tracks from royalty to commoners’ reality, you are then pulled into the pre-mechanised section comprising palanquins, howdahs, carriages and carts — all restored to perfection. From across here, a bus depot plays host to old buses and vans, surrounded by the bright truck art in the section that displays the essence of the Indian lorry, in bight colours, that races across the highways with quirky slogans on its rear.

Another gallery showcases the evolution of early two-wheelers in India, including the indigenous systems of transport in rural India such as the phat-phat and the chakhda. Imagine a motorcycle engine, perhaps of a Harley-Davidson, mated with a cart, carrying up to a dozen people! Yes, that’s essentially the phat-phat.

There is a collection of antique Indian toys and games that have drawn inspiration from modes of transport. Made in India out of materials like wood and tin among others, the toys are magical in transporting you to your growing-up years.

The aviation gallery displays airplane installations made of paper and copper, apart from original airline posters once pinned up in travel agencies, airports and airline-ticketing offices. The showstopper, however, is the 1940s Piper Cub J3C aircraft.

In the automobile gallery, lined up against the backdrop of an Indian street, you’ll find classic beauties, where, among the Fords, the Chevys and the Buicks, the good-old Ambassador by Hindustan Motors stands proudly. In the corner dedicated to the cars of Bollywood is a sporty red convertible, a Dilip Chhabria-modified gypsy, used by Shah Rukh Khan in Dil To Pagal Hai. The transportation memorabilia is exhaustive and includes original photographs, old postcards & lithographs, rare books & stamps, vintage maps, vehicle advertisements and old automobile spare parts.

The museum is also home to a toy bird-cart, the oldest artefact there, dating back to the Indus Valley Civilisation; the only Indian flag that was part of the Apollo 15 mission to the moon; and the Rupee Mobile on the topmost floor, a Contessa Classic, encrusted with 18,902 one-rupee coins!

Tarun Thakral, it seems, has never been partial to any one mode of transport, but inclusive, of many art forms as well, as represented by the interspersed tribal art and contemporary art installations here. He attributes the origin of his interest in the subject to his stay in Paris while pursuing studies. He says he realised that most of his classmates cultivated a hobby or collected objects of interest, while none of the Indian students did.

Upon his return to India, and while on a trip to Rajasthan in 1994, he came across a dilapidated 1932 Chevrolet. This did not deter him from buying it for Rs 5,000, carting it to Delhi and restoring it over two years. “It gave me a sense of accomplishment; a feeling that I’ve brought something back to life. That’s what triggered my interest in collecting cars,” he recalls.

Along the ride

In December 2015, as part of the 2nd anniversary celebration, the museum launched the unique Street Jewellery project with the unveiling of the first vehicle, a 1952 Dodge Pickup Truck, done up in reflective stickers.

Over the next few months, local and international artistes are expected to contribute to the collection. The railway gallery, too, will receive a pair of steam locomotives from the Indian Railways. “We intend to restore the locomotives and fire up the engines so visitors can experience its working,” reveals Thakral. And, for all the 007 fans, sometime in 2017, the museum will exhibit all the cars that have been featured in the James Bond blockbusters.