Looking at something small that is much vaunted about its prowess and skills has always been hard to swallow at first go. Remember of Sachin Tendulkar – the little rookie who harnessed his prowess across the globe damaging and bludgeoning the opposing nations with a mere 24x6’ willow in hand. It was difficult for the cricketing bigwigs to accept defeat at amateur hands but who could have resisted long to stand up and applaud the swashbuckling cover drive or the silken loft straight over the bowlers head. Or instead mull about the Apple I-pod, the mesmerizing gadget that has made the world swerve around in gaiety, enjoying their favorite music that touches their soul or gushes through the adrenalin. The journey from the gramophone to the i-pod has been a revelation and it would still be a chimera for the underprivileged barred from technology.The latest roadblock to human imagination before its launch had been the Tata Nano. As ‘Nano’ connotates, it’s something suggestive of a tiny little thing but when the name gets linked to the Tatas, the height of expectations climb up like a genie rising from a bottle. The small car unveiled at the Auto Expo 2008 has pulled in unprecedented crowds and all shoveling against each other to capture a minute glimpse of the engineering marvel. The car promises to surpass all enduring safety standards and is supposedly in line with Euro III Emission standards. But there are still aplenty who would raise their eyebrows in contemptuousness to belittle the efforts of the Tata’s or authenticate their intellect or the concern for the environment. Whatever the reason might be, the Nano will unflappably be the world’s envy and India’s pride. It comes with all basic configuration that would describe a decent 4-wheeler travelling vehicle or ‘Car’ (if that definition does not harm its competitors) that would cater to the requirements of the many thousand families dreaming incessantly of possessing their own four wheeler.
One thing that I keep pondering about is the aftermath of the Nano that keeps our own Dr. Pachauri up all night. The thoughts that incubate in his mind, if shared with the safety guards patrolling our borders during nighttime would be an added advantage to national security and might win him another super award paralleling the Nobel Prize. The car that has encircled and emboldened the Indian automobile industry onto the world map should be a symbol of honor and pride for the nation and we should indeed reciprocate the people behind it with reverence and gratitude. It’s rather unfortunate that the ‘Green’ activists can only foresee the increasing number of cars on the road leading to insurgency in pollution levels. If the small car is able to replace the autos that throttle the roads and those who use petrol contaminated with cheap kerosene, it would indeed be a gigantic step towards greener and cleaner India. A car that is well within the budget of the middle-class would certainly succeed in doing so. Comparing the safety that they would experience compared to the autos or a motor-bike that is more often seen over-accommodated and over-enthusiastically driven would be an icing on the cake.
Nevertheless, it’s still time to get the engineering marvel from production to roads. Meanwhile, there is plenty of time at hand for the Tata’s to do their homework and prepare a cogent and impressive marketing strategy to propound their views and showcase to the world that we are no longer rallying behind in the surge to be a developed country and produce indigenous designs and technological revelations. Moreover, Dr. Pachauri can do his part by closely analyzing the technology to satisfy every bit of him and in the interim we’ll pray for him to resuscitate his sound sleep.
Comments
Nice post.