Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine is celebrated annually on February 14 as a Christian feast day honouring an early martyr named Saint Valentine and, through later folk traditions, has become a significant cultural celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world.
While it is common practice for one to woo their person of desire with flowers, chocolates and objects of value on this day of love, Eastern India Motoring Group (EIMG) set up Kolkatans for a very special date that will be etched in the memory of city for a long time to come.
On the event of Valentine’s Day 2021, EIMG organised the Valentine’s Day Brunch Meet which witnessed the coming together of nearly 75 Vintage and Classic vehicles. The galaxy of historic four and two wheelers were lined up outside the iconic venue of Town Hall. These horseless carriages and timeless pieces of history made for the fabulous view against the backdrop of the majestic edifice. Collectors, restorers and guests in attendance basked in the winter sun while exchanging anecdotes and pleasantries.
At around 10.45 am the convoy of cars and bikes were flagged off from Town Hall and drove past the iconic Raj Bhavan before hitting the majestic Red Road. The convoy continued straight before turning left onto Hospital Road and then embarking on the AJC Bose Road flyover. The car alighted from the flyover at the Park Circus 7-Point Crossing before turning right on to Gariahat Road driving past Quest Mall, Ice Skating Rink, CCFC, Birla Mandir, Ballygunge Phari and Pantaloons before embarking on to the Gariahat flyover. The convoy then took a right from the Golpark on to Southern Avenue and continued straight on the beautiful thoroughfare before culminating at the Lake Club where the camaraderie among the participants and guests continued over brunch and cocktails.
Some of the cars in attendance at the event were Ananda Chowdhury’s 1913 Stoewer, A. Bubna’s 1925 Rolls-Royce 20 HP, Deborshi Sadan Bose’s 1928 Auburn, Shrivardhan Kanoria’s 1931 Chevrolet Big 6, Pradeep Gooptu’s 1931 Austin 7, Sanjay Ghosh’s 1932 Ford V8, Azam Monem’s 1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III, Avik Naha’s 1947 Rover 12, Sarojesh Mukherjee’s 1947 Rover P2, Siddhartha Swarup’s 1947 Wolseley, Rajiv Ghosh’s 1949 Buick Super and Rishi Kumar’s 1967 Datsun among host of others.
Barno Barman’s 1941 Matchless and Harjit Singh Dhanjal’s 1947 Arial Red Hunter stood out among the participating two wheelers.
But it was Saikat Dutta’s 1963 Triumph Spitfire which fluttered several young and restless hearts.
EIMG, a group of Heritage Car owners, is the labour of love of Collector / Restorer Shrivardhan Kanoria who founded the group in 2020 with the objective of bringing together likeminded individuals and providing a platform to its members to interact with each other, share valuable information, educate one another about the preservation of these timeless beauties by virtue of a WhatsApp group. Together with Rajiv Ghosh (Vice President), Subhajit Kumar (Secretary), and Avik Naha (Committe Member), EIMG President Shrivardhan Kanoria has been instrumental in organising notable heritage car shows/drives in Kolkata under the EIMG banner.
“My intention is to make the eastern region of India rich in the Heritage car movement, and hence I keep organising such events for the EIMG members. EIMG was started just as my brainchild, but now has surely turned into an important institution of motoring heritage. With such events, our members get encouraged to keep their heritage vehicles in good order and also get an opportunity to use and enjoy them. Very soon we would even move towards organising our own Concours D Elegance events, which would be one of its kind”, said the EIMG President, Mr. Shrivardhan Kanoria.
After the recent success of Goodbye 2020 Brunch Meet held in December last year, the Valentine’s Day Brunch Meet was EIMG’s second event of the season which has been applauded by members and guests alike.
“We keep affiliating with the clubs and other institutions which creates a destination for the EIMG members. These clubs are more than happy to support EIMG towards this good cause, just like Lake Club did this time” commented the EIMG Secretary, Mr. Subhajit Kumar.
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