Johnny is getting ready - not to run a race, or a game of polo, but for a wedding! Johnny belongs to a horse-and-carriage hire shop in India's southern city of Chennai. A family business that's been ... more 

Johnny is getting ready - not to run a race, or a game of polo, but for a wedding! Johnny belongs to a horse-and-carriage hire shop in India's southern city of Chennai. A family business that's been around for over a century. The shop has 10 carriages, many over 100 years old. Along with bridles and harnesses, the place looks like it belongs to another era. Thennavan's family business has been passed down over generations. They buy and refurbish carriages, then hire them out for functions mostly marriages. And it seems that business is still good, even after 137 years. Horse drawn carriages are popular in and around Chennai. No wedding is complete without it. India has a tradition of using horses and carriages. When Pranab Mukherjee was sworn in as the current president of India, he chose this royal mode of conveyance to enter into the presidential palace. Even India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru used galloping buddies to go to work. And so did Mahatma Gandhi. less