Podcast: The business of family — The Bajajs

May 07, 2018, 10:59 AM

We have been bringing to you stories of homespun empires and few brands are as evocative of strong family values as Bajaj.

'Buland Bharat ki buland tasveer' was a catchphrase that not even any astute political party's election manifesto can better. It was a slogan rooted in national pride and industrial autonomy. And in the legacy of a family steeped in Gandhian idealism. The tagline of “Hamara Bajaj" was first used in a Chetak scooter TVC in 1989.

The Lintas ad encapsulated not just the history of the Bajaj conglomerate but the sense of kinship India feels with the name, "Bajaj." So iconic was this tagline that in 2013, Bajaj Auto went to court to stop it from being used as a Hindi film title!

The tagline came at a time when the Bajajs felt the need to readdress their automobile consumer base. Much like General Motors that had wooed America with their Chevrolet ads in the eighties. Hamara Bajaj is after all not very different semantically from the slogan 'Heartbeat of America.'

The Hamara Bajaj ad represented a simpler time where a harmonious sense of community, the joy of needs being met, a seamless dialogue between tradition and change seemed to point the way to a happier India.

Here's the story of another Indian business family — the Bajajs.