First advance booking, now auction... the life and times of the HMT Janta watch

I distinctly remember a trip that I took with my father and sister more than thirty years ago. This was a visit to the local watch store where we paid an advance and booked an HMT Janta wrist watch for my sister, which would be then ordered and available a fortnight later!

Yes, you read that right, advance booking for a wrist watch! That too for a watch that was called 'Janta' (meaning 'mass' rather than anything connoting special or exclusive) That was the kind of draw that HMT watches had at that time.

It was a big event, a watch was a much sought after accessory, and at that time, almost a rite of passage (I remember getting my first watch when I was in the 8th or 9th standard in school - which was my fathers watch that was first handed down to my elder brother, then my second brother and spruced up with a new strap and buffing for the dial, had reached me)

More recently HMT was in the news again, because the company was closing doors. And a dear friend informed me of old HMT watches being auctioned on an online marketplace. It brought back the memory of the trip to the watch shop to book this same model, so I joined the bid and got one.

Here it is, with a Government yellow dial and devanagari fonts, plus an old world steel strap that I had bought separately years ago.

So at least for me, the legend of HMT Janta lives on, first with the advance booking and now with the auction!

the ceramic house from holland

here's the ceramic house that sangu sent from holland. placed in the corner it makes for a striking picture

return to the flea market

back in ahmedabad for a few days, and as usual i made sure it was over the weekend. spent a good while looking around and catching up with the shopkeepers i know

here's a toy cycle rickshaw that i found. whats more, one of the people there have found a few things i've been looking for and i've to go to his godown today to look at them. should be good fun

curio shop at behrampura

lamps, shades, ceramic tiles with relief work dating back to the fifties and sixties and more. all at the first floor curio shop at behrampura

tony and me would go to this place every once in a couple of months to check out whatever new (old stuff) had come in. i remember once we went there to pick out a set of ceramic tiles for the hichka (swing) that he had picked up from Ashokbhai's at Khanpur, the other time was to look for those quaint old ceramic swithches with the brass knobs.

more recently we went there to find a green glass shade for the brass lamp, after the previous one broke in transit.there hasn't been even one occassion though when we've been there and not found something very nice and that 'you just had to have'

hopefully i will be in ahmedabad next month, and will be able to visit the place yet again