[Stanher]

Originally Posted by DKG

at this rate we'll soon have a Getting Karl hooked thread !!

And once he does get hooked, he may or may not find it affordable to be a car-lo(o)s(e)devil(le) anymore!

[avrendu]

Sirs,

I chanced upon this thread after I chanced upon this man, Piklu Deka (not Pickloo). It was a warm "beer" afternoon in Goa in November 2013 when our associate Bose da (Shri Debasish Bose) of Guwahati mentioned an avid footballer whom he had picked up for the ASEB team and who was from outside Guwahati and what an avid footballer he was. As the story trudged on, Bose da mentioned that despite coming from a very humble background, over the years has Piklu managed to amass a collection of JEEPS, vintage cars, motor cycles, cycles, watches, clocks, record players etc etc. Now since I am a member of "Kolkata Offroaders" formed under the able patronage of Uday Bhan Singh sir, I immediately sprang to action on hearing the word JEEP. I made Bose da call up Piklu immediately and talk to him if any reasonably priced and running jeep was available. Piklu said there was none at the moment and that he will keep an eye if any were available. Phone call ending, I flashed out my phone and tried searching google with his name. Bose da was sure of the spelling but I did not find any report except that he held a display of a part of his collections and that Shri Manmohan Singh personally was there and lauded his efforts and promised him an arena within the city where his collections as well as that of others in the NE can be displayed.I was reasonably amazed as why such collection has not found any proper mention anywhere, in any of the forums. We returned from Goa and as is norm, the matter sank to a lower strata in the mind.

Cut to March 12, 2014. I was at Guwahati and I reminded Bose da of Piklu. We decided to visit his place which according to Bose da was a place ON the hillocks just behind the Narangi Cantonment. I was a bit perplexed and was wondering how a collection of cars, that too vintage, could be taken to the hillocks and kept there. There was a road via the NH but we decided to go through the Narangi cantonment and climb the hillocks in our vehicle to reach his place. It was an hours journey from Guwahati proper and we reached at about 11:30 am. As soon as we got down, I was dumbstruck by the beauty of the place. It was a very large area with a waterfall nearby. The landscaping, though not professional, was good. The reception area had unfortunately been damaged away by strong winds and rain.

Bose da had kept Piklu informed of our visit and as we entered there was this smiling man coming towards us. Till then I had not seen his collection except a run down Ford Perfect perched on a stone stilt with a thatch on top. Greetings over, we went towards the canopy at the center of the land. I stood there for a while, motionless, for in front of me there was such a big collection of Vintage cars, all under the canopy. Frankly, I was not expecting this kind of a congregation at all !! I asked Piklu to take us around and told him that I personally did not know much about vintages except the regular ones.

Piklu introduced the beauties to us, one by one, few of which I could recognise. There was Ford Angila, Hindusthan 14, Morris Minor Convertible, Citroen, Skoda, Toyota Landcruiser (one which the Late Rajiv Gandhi used to drive during his NE visit), Oldsmobile 1919 (one of the first 3 imported to India), Jeep Wagoneer, Standard Herald, Beetle, Volkswagen Omnibus, Fiat 1100d gifted to him by an IAS officer (one our very dear Bhpian 1100d has), Fiat Topolino (), Austin Mini, Mercedes, Datsun, Willy's wagon (this one's for you UBS Sir) and a JEEP. The jeep was so heaped up with other items, I could not take a decent photograph. He mentioned the jeep to be a 42 model. There were few other cars, but I forgot their names.

Cars over, we were taken to the section where the motor cycles, cycles and other items were housed. This collection of his seemed an even more impossible one. He has bikes from all corners of the world. Also lots of watches, clocks and miscellaneous items. I was amazed how he collected US Paratrooper motorcycles, both the standard and the foldable models !!

All the above took us almost 3 hours and after that we sat for tea. It is then that he mentioned that one "SAHIB" had come to Guwahati some years back and Piklu had taken the VW Omnibus to show him. Also, that SAHIB had mentioned about Team BHP and that he was a member. I had a faint idea that it could be John. So again came out the android but there was no signal . He also mentioned that due to dearth of funds, he has not been able to shift another 10-12 vintages from their respective owners even after paying for the cars in full. He asked me if I could help him procuring a Bajaj three- wheeled tempo from Kolkata and on hearing about UBS sir, wanted to know the mechanism of a mechanical winch. I promised to get back to him on those.

Then I asked him as to how he plans to get all of these fully restored as it involved a huge sum of money. His reply was that he had spent 22 years of his life gathering these beauties and if need be he will spend the rest of his life restoring them. Also that he has a very very supportive wife and children and they respect his vision. Frankly, that was not practical and being the type of person I am, I told that to him straight away. I told him that definitely he has embarked on a very noble mission but unfortunately such mission is generally of the very rich few. I asked him to SELL 2 or 3 of his collections and gather some money to restore his beauties. This may sound savage to a lot of you but practically with a Junior Engineers Salary with the ASEB, it will be a tiring and long drawn task for him. By his own admission, his salary gets exhausted in 2-3 days to tend to these beauties, thanks to his wife's employment that he sustains. To supplement his funds for restoration, he also lets out his estate to picknickers as well as trekkers for overnight stays. He has built 4-5 tree houses, one of which is a double decker one. When there are guests around or when need be, he doubles up as the manager after his daily work hours at the ASEB. But I must admit that even after so much of hardship, he manages to maintain a constant smile on his face. GOD give him strength.

We had to move out as it was getting late and we invited Piklu to lunch at the nearby Brahmaputra resort. Piklu told us that he was expecting some senior officer from the army who has promised to give an omega wristwatch to his collection, quite the Piklu reason.

Back to Guwahati proper, LT switched on and I search "john a milne deka". There comes out this thread and I see John has spelt his name "Pickloo".The reason behind the TBHP thread eluding me becomes clear A saw that while John had visited his collection, it was kept all around his house. Now that he has a better and more picturesque place for his beauties and also added quite a few more, I though I should write here in this old thread itself.

Take care brothers.
Cheers
Avrendu

[rahul4640]

I must say that he is a very simple yet a very extraordinary person with a very noble intention. Very unfortunately, restoration of these beauties are devilishly expensive.

[Bulldogji]

I cannot understand why people just keep on buying but do not restore. My personal opinion , buy , restore , then buy again. You may not have numbers , but you will have cars in working condition that you can enjoy.

Surely that is the purpose?

Of course there is the other camp who buys but does not restore, waits for some years and then sells!!

And then there are those who buy, do not restore, do not sell!

I wonder in which category this gentleman fits?

I am not knowledgeable where bikes are concerned, but they look better than the cars!!,

Bikes being easier to restore, maybe they will be usable earlier?

Anyway kudos to him for at least saving the cars from being junked.

[avrendu]

Dear Bulldogji, ( I assume its okay to address you by your Tbhp handle)

I absolutely agree with you when it comes to the FINAL OUTCOME of the mission of collecting these beauties.

But there are different TYPES of people in this universe who are a mix of the types you have mentioned.

This person, as I saw, has a strange penchant to collect and restore. Only that his financial ability comes in his way. He could, as you say, collect restore and then collect again. But as is normal with his kind, as soon as he gets news of some genuine vintage, he is unable to hold himself back and ends up buying them. The idea is, what if I don't get them later!! He also has put in place a TRUST which will later look after all these things. Maybe a noble idea but dont know how it will proceed. Never tried to inquire as that is one more black hole.

However, all such behaviour is not rational and I told him that. Also the other gentleman who went with me stressed on the same thing. But I guess at about 42-44 years of age, old habits/ thought processes will die hard

Lets hope the best for him.

Thanks
Avrendu

[Bulldogji]

Avrendu, Hi.

To each his own.
As I earlier stated, at least the cars have been saved from the scrap yards. Hopefully the restoration work will begin soon, its just that most of the cars seen are not worth the costs and efforts of restoration. That of course is only my opinion.

Anyway I wish him well .

[ankan]

Even though I don't know the man personally but I have admired his cars from a really small age. Even today when I visit Gandhimandap, the hill where his classics are located inside Guwahati, I search for them, but last year I only saw a few cars, previously there used to be many beauties. My house is jsut at the base of that hill, these pictures bring back a lot of memories .

[PAVAN KADAM]

One fine Guwahati afternoon, my friend Taranjit Singh decides to take me to one secret place. Yes, i did go. I did go to this place called TREASURED WHEELS.

Call it this mans Passion or Obesession. Times when you feel happy seeing these cars, and a moment grief stricken to see them in such pitiable condition. Should i praise this guy or should i give him my piece of mind. I did both when i met this gentleman called Pickloo Deka.

Well, i really dont want to express myself here, all i can say is, I spent some good time here, and returned all but helpless.

[Hesbee]

thanks for sharing... but is anything up for sale also??

Regards,
Harry

[noonrock]

I can understand how the thrill and elation of the finds could turn to a sense of helplessness. So many lovely cars, so little salvage.

[Bulldogji]

Is this the same collection that was built with a grant from the government?

Hope the money is used also to restore the vehicles . personally not many cars worth saving as seen in the pictures , at least in my opinion.

Each to his own though, and good luck to the gentleman.

[Drkannant]

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

One fine Guwahati afternoon, my friend Taranjit Singh decides to take me to one secret place. Yes, i did go. I did go to this place called TREASURED WHEELS.

Call it this mans Passion or Obesession. Times when you feel happy seeing these cars, and a moment grief stricken to see them in such pitiable condition. Should i praise this guy or should i give him my piece of mind. I did both when i met this gentleman called Pickloo Deka.

Well, i really dont want to express myself here, all i can say is, I spent some good time here, and returned all but helpless.

Hi pavan,

It's a pity to see all these beauties lying in such pitiable condition.
Where exactly is this place in Guwahati? I will be going there for conference next month, will positively visit this place to see these beauties.

Hope you don't mind PM'ing the address or any contact number.

Thank you & regards.

[predatorwheelz]

Truly, the difference between a museum and a junkyard is clear to me now.

Originally Posted by Drkannant

Hope you don't mind PM'ing the address or any contact number.

You can find all the information on their facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Treas...542972?sk=info

[kasli]

Its sad to see cars lying in this state and exposed to all elements as I did not see an covers or shutters?

Except for the VW Van / Beetle and the red Mini nothing seems of any significant importance and that also with new collectors who are starting their collections. Its a rolling yard/farm and they seem so incomplete. Saved and kept is all the plus I can see of this collection. I am not so much of bike guy so really don't know the correct rarity of them. Is one of the cars in the primer a Zundapp ?

Cheers

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

One fine Guwahati afternoon, my friend Taranjit Singh decides to take me to one secret place. Yes, i did go. I did go to this place called TREASURED WHEELS.

Call it this mans Passion or Obesession. Times when you feel happy seeing these cars, and a moment grief stricken to see them in such pitiable condition. Should i praise this guy or should i give him my piece of mind. I did both when i met this gentleman called Pickloo Deka.

Well, i really dont want to express myself here, all i can say is, I spent some good time here, and returned all but helpless.

[architect]

Well-kept secret, this.

I have spent my childhood in Guwahati throughout the eightees. One of my friends' family had a Standard 10 and one of our many landlords had a Fiat 1100D, Dukkar Fiat with suicide doors (grey colour lated painted to wine red). I can try and find out where these cars are now. The Fiat 1100D should be in a lane on Zoo road since the owner really loved it so I hope he kept it. The Standard 10 I will have to ask.