CHAL MERI LUNA

How many today, are aware of the unique story of the Race between the Deccan Queen & LUNA?

"Luna Moped" was a well-known name in the field of two-wheelers. The Pune-based Firodiya's Kinetic Group Company wanted to introduce the small & easy to handle two wheelers in India, in collaboration with Japan's Honda Company. With Japanese technology, they started designing a cross between a bicycle & a motor-bike. They eventually manufactured a Moped with a 50 CC engine calling it LUNA. It was a licensed copy of Italian Piaggio's Chiao Model two wheeler.

The Luna was launched in 1972 in India, by the Kinetic Group. In a very short period of time, Luna became quite famous & popular as it was light weight (50 Kg.), small & a great substitute for a bicycle. 

Pune is well-known for bicycles. In that city, Luna captured the two-wheeler market. Many people booked the Moped & the journey of Luna began.

Initially, there were many queries about the performance of the newly introduced Luna. Doubts were raised, as to whether it could be useful on the roads of India or not, since roads were of poor quality. Would it be able to run on such roads, will it have sufficient speed & pick-up, & so on.

To clear the doubts of the public & for publicity and promotion of the brand, Mr. Firodiya adopted various tactics. Ads were produced for TV & newspapers. To attract the youth, the Man of the match in Cricket matches was given a Luna. Famous cricketers Sandip Patil & B.S. Chandrashekhar had won the Luna. The First rank holder students of the 10th & 12th board exams, were also awarded the Luna as a prize. Ads Of Luna came with the tag lines, "Chal meri Luna", & "Safalta ki Savari".  Ads also included the promise, "Luna karaati pakka waada, kharcha kam, majbuti zyaada".

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In order to achieve the faith of the public in regards to the performance & speed of Luna, Firodiya suddenly made a sensational announcement when he declared that there would be a race between his Luna & the "Deccan Queen". 

People took it as a mad joke, and a publicity stunt. How could a 50 CC Luna moped compete against the super-fast train Deccan Queen?

But, Mr. Firodiya was serious. He arranged for the race. He even asked Mr. Jayant Rao Tilak (then speaker of Vidhan Parishad) to inaugurate the race at the Pune station. The race was to end at the Dadar Rly. Stn. 

At the finishing point, the Mumbai Police Commissioner was asked to declare the winner of the race.

On the day of the race, at 0720 hrs, in the presence of thousands of spectators & Newspaper reporters, Mr. Jayant Rao Tilak flagged the race off. 

And, the historic race between Deccan Queen & Luna began. 

The Luna rider, with all his skills, drove the Luna at full speed. In those days, the old Mumbai Pune Highway still was in use. (The recent Mumbai Pune Expressway had not yet come into existence.)

There were many obstacles in front of Luna, especially the difficult Khandala Ghat. Many people laid bets that the Luna will not get beyond Lonawala. Mr. Firodiya had also arranged a car to follow the Luna rider, in case any emergencies were to occur.

Eventually, the Luna rider entered in Mumbai & proved its capability. Mr. Firodiya was confident about Lunas performance & sure that Luna would complete the race. 

That it would defeat the Deccan Queen, was not dreamt of, even by him!

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But, history was created that day. 

The Luna entered the Dadar station to loud cheers and huge rounds of applause, 15 minutes *before* before the Deccan Queen!

The Deccan Queen arrived at Dadar, a quarter of an hour later.

The 50 CC Luna moped, won the race, in presence of thousands of spectators, TV cameras & newspaper reporters. Next day all newspapers covered the news on the front page.

Deccan Queen is one of the famous trains in Indian Railway. There are many records in its name, for eg., the first train to run on an electric engine, the first deluxe train, the first super fast train the first train to have Ladies' & catering coaches. 

But it also has the historical record of being the first train to be defeated by a 50 CC Luna moped.

 From a Luna-tic!