Automotive historian & author of award winning titles: Mercedes-Benz Winning; Jawa-TheForever Bike; Classics & Thoroughbreds; Timeless Mahindra & more.!
Adil Jal Darukhanawala, the man who eats, sleeps and drinks automobiles!
Circa 1983, Nehru Stadium, Pune. A couple of days before the start of Pune’s first ever International Motocross event.
Adil Jal Darukhanawala is one of the pioneers of automotive journalism in India.
The roar of the dirt-track motorcycles, clouds of dust and the inimitable smell of 93 octane enveloped us. Swedish riders on their extremely light, yet powerful Yamaha YZ 125s were flying over the whoop-de-doos, berms and camel backs, as if these obstacles did not exist.
One moment the riders and their bikes were twenty feet in the air and the very next, they were at your feet zooming away in a cloud of dust. Just then, a stocky, bespectacled, moustachioed man by the name of Adil Jal Darukhanawala shook hands with me and said, “You have seen nothing yet, young man.
Just wait for the opening day!” and walked off to meet the Swedes.
Article by Rahul Chandawarkar | Pune 365
Later, in the Poona Automotive Racing Association (PARA) office inside the stadium, Adil, who was PARA secretary