Kia Sonet Wild Drive
Exploring the ceramic city of Khurja with the Kia Sonet
The design began the day man picked up a piece of clay and shaped it into something from his imagination. Everything around us, from the cars we drive to the phones we can’t seem to get enough of have been designed from a derivative of that very basic expression. In India not too far from the country’s capital, is a small town that has preserved the tradition of turning clay into beautiful ceramic products that range from delicate crockery to carefully crafted decorative vases, for over six hundred years. The perfect location to explore with our Kia Sonet, a car whose striking design ensures that it stands out in the crowd of compact SUVs. The town in question is Khurja in Uttar Pradesh, about 200km from Delhi where almost six centuries ago a group of Pashtun soldiers from Timur’s army retreating from a battle decided to throw down their arms and settle down and pursue more artistic endeavours.
The soldiers who probably started life as clay artisans, established the town of Khurja, starting with simple red clay pots, growing their skills and fame over time. The land which they had chosen was surrounded by swamplands that were not ideal for agriculture but provided the soldiers plenty of clay-ey raw material to begin their crafts. Starting with red clay pottery they moved on to blue glaze and on red clay articles with a white engobe, painted floral designs with cupric oxide with a soft glaze containing glass and borax. On a cold day in the first weeks of December, we packed ourselves into the Kia Sonet to go see this little piece of cultural history that has been preserved in the heart of Uttar Pradesh for so many years. The drive to Khurja took us along the Yamuna Expressway for the first part, before we were directed towards an exit that took
us through the heart of Uttar Pradesh along a dual carriage highway lined with fields of yellow mustard flowers in full bloom. The fields soon blend into a town that is lined with storefronts lined with exquisite clay handicrafts, a clear signal that we had arrived at our destination. Each storefront seemed to be set against a small brick chimney, all of which seemed to be busy puffing away and creating new handicrafts, everything from cups and saucers to chic serving trays and decorative vases.
We began our exploration of the city by talking to some of the store owners, most of whom had their own factories behind their stores. Most of them said that they had been involved with this trade for longer than anyone could remember. Each one said they had acquired the skills of the trade and their own unique style from the previous generation. Over the years, each generation has added a new skill to the palette transforming the trade from simple red clay pots to delicate ceramic handicrafts. Today these products find their way not just across India but all over the world, earning Khurja the title of ceramic city. Over the years the factories too, have evolved with gas-powered kilns replacing the traditional brick kilns of the past.
Today These producTs find Their way noT jusT across india buT all over The world, earning Khurja The TiTle of ceramic ciTy
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT STOOD OUT IS THE SHEER RANGE OF THINGS ON SALE AROUND THE CITY, FROM TEA-SETS OF FINE BONE CHINA TO THE HUMBLE RED-CLAY PLANTERS
One of the things that stood out is the sheer range of things on sale around the city, from tea-sets of fine bone china to the humble red-clay planters there were factories of all sizes around Khurja busy churning them all out.
Over lunch, having heard so much about design and styling we thought about the car that we had brought with us for the trip, the Kia Sonet, that too would have started out as a clay slab on a designer’s table. First reducing it to a shape and then carefully etching in the sinews that run along the body and the bonnet that adds to the Sonet’s sporty design. The rounded wheel arches and even the sharp angles on the bumpers were then added in all culminating in the striking compact SUV that we see today. From there on, each new layer adds to the Sonet’s presence, the sharp DRLs inset in
the elongated headlamp casing thataccents the LED lights or even the grille that on our GT-line variant gets red accents that add to the Sonet’s sporty appeal. Even on the inside, the cabin seems like a well-articulated piece of artwork, everything that has a sense of symmetry to it. The infotainment system flows seamlessly between the dashboard and the instrument cluster setting the tone for a cabin where form and function move hand in hand.
Our short trip to Khurja had given us a spectrum of new insights, be it witnessing one of India’s little known gems that have been preserved through the centuries but also gave us a new understanding of the painstaking attention to detail involved in the design. Once again, the Kia Sonet had proved to be the ideal partner for the trip be it for conquering the dusty arterial highways that lead to Khurja or as a muse to our new found thoughts on design.