A case study of the maintenance of Second World War military jeeps in Bhopal: a study in the resourcefulness of the local mechanics

Abstract

Bhopal, the city of lakes, is topographically a city of alternative steeps and downs and inhabited by a romantic and daring people. The older generation who still have affection for the late His Highness Hameed Ullah Khan of Bhopal have an interesting saying that President Roosevelt has presented the first military jeep manufactured in US, on the request of Sir Winston Churchill, to the Nawab to defeat the Axis Powers. And the Nawab did. It was in this background of simple people and their simple beliefs that this vehicle has its roots. Whats more important is that they and their later generations are still sentimentally attached to their II World War Jeeps. This paper is an humble effort to study the maintenance of these war model jeeps. Dispite the rising cost of spares and also in the face of their unavailability how they are able to maintain these vehicles? What are the special methods and techniques that the mechanics have adopted to keep them fit and fighting.