P. C. Sorcar, magician

nThe very first car that I bought with my own earnings was a Jonga jeep. These were made by Nissan for the Army, which used to sell them off after using them for a while. Mine cost about Rs 11,000, a whopping sum in those days, for I was barely in college, doing a few odd shows, and had to save up for a really long time to buy it.

The jeep was a major petrol guzzler but as far as I was concerned, I couldn?t be happier. I painted it a golden-yellow with bright red stripes, took off the hood and added a number of extra spotlights, horns as well as the piece de resistance ? a loudspeaker. Every evening, about seven to eight of us would pile in and go to the Ballygunge Lakes, where we?d switch off the engine, put the car in neutral gear and sneak up on the unsuspecting courting couples. Then, we?d switch on all the spotlights and shout ? ?Baba jane? (Does your father know)? It was a hoot to see them all run helter skelter ? a couple of them actually dived into the lakes!

There were so many good times that I had in that jeep that it was really sad when I finally sold it about five years back. But I really had no choice. All its parts had been replaced by then and there were few traces of the original left. Now I have a Willys jeep and my wife a Tata Safari, but my first car will always remain the most special to me.