It's a muggy Bangalore morning. People seem to be milling around earlier than usual. A couple of joggers rub the last vestiges of sleep from their eyes and stop to take a closer look at what, judging by the expressions on their faces, is the most gobsmacking sight they've seen in a while. A little yellow Reva pulls over. The man behind the wheel sticks his head out the window and looks enquiringly at what has caught his attention.
'Is it a new car? he asks Pratap 'Bobby' Jayaram.
'No, it's an old car,' Bobby replies.
Reva-man: 'What's special about it?'
Bobby: 'It was totally built in India.'
Reva-man: 'Which company?'
Bobby: 'Not by a company, it was made by an individual.'
Reva-man: 'Are there a lot of them?'
Bobby (smiling): 'No. Only one piece in the whole world.'
Reva-man: 'Who built it?'
Bobby: 'My dad.'
Reva-man: (says something incomprehensible owing to excitement)
Bobby (hastily): 'Not me, my dad!'
Reva-man (regains composure): 'When did he make it?'
Bobby: 'This was finished in 1973.'
Reva-man: 'And what business are you in?'
Bobby: 'I designed the Reva you're driving.'
It was at this point that the man in the Reva nearly keeled over, due to the sudden realisation that he had for the last few minutes been carrying on a conversation with the president of the Reva Electric Car Company. What had caught his attention and caused him to pause his early morning drive was the Jayaram GT, parked neatly in front of the Hard Rock Cafe in Bangalore. And what he pulled over in was a car completely designed by a second-generation Jayaram, Bobby, AD Jayaram's son. Two generations of an automobile-crazy family, and two distinctly unique cars, which about sums up the Jayarams for you.
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