Nineteen year old Prem Thakur has no background in engineering. But that didn't stop him from pursuing his dream of building his own buggy car.
Nineteen year old Prem Thakur has no background in engineering. But that didn’t stop him from pursuing his dream of building his own buggy car.
Prem Thakur zooms across Navi Mumbai’s suburban streets in a swanky looking buggy car. As he pulls into the petrol pump, all the attendants pull out their mobile phones to take pictures of the car. Prem, the 19-year-old creator of the car, beams like a proud father. “I have built this buggy from scratch, using an old sedan’s engine,” he tells Amol Lalzare, the correspondent from Video Volunteers who first reported this story.
With limited monetary resources and no background knowledge of engineering, Prem, a commerce student, learnt how to make the buggy car with the help of tutorials from YouTube. Taking lessons from the Youtube Do-It-Yourself (DIY) videos, Prem has put together the entire car from scratch.
“In four months time, I wielded the car from the chassis up and painted it all by myself,” he proudly tells us. The buggy even has a few fancy features, including cool side-blinkers and a music system with USB port.
Prem’s story is unique because of his family’s support in his ambition.
A resident of Kharghar, a suburb in the planned township of Navi Mumbai, Prem comes from a humble background. Even though his father, a rickshaw driver, earns a meagre daily income of Rs. 500-600 ($ 7 – $9), his father was determined to ensure Prem’s education.
“My father got me a computer when I was 12. Since then, I have used the internet to learn all sorts of things, including how to make a buggy car,” says Prem.
A car enthusiast since childhood, when Prem expressed his desire to make a car by himself, his parents could have easily cited monetary difficulties. But instead, the family and his grandmother came together and helped him realise his dream. Putting the buggy together cost the Thakurs almost Rs. 2.5 lakh ($ 3800 approximately).
“Had it not been for my family and the internet, I couldn’t possibly have built this car,” Prem says.
While the family has spent a significant amount of their household earnings, on Prem’s dream, the machine’s roar and speed prove that their investment in his dreams is not futile.
Prem wants to test his car on a race track one day and someday become an automobile engineer.
Do you think you can help him fulfil his dream? Do let us know by writing in at info@videovolunteers.org
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