Chamat-Car

Some time in 2020 (I know u must be petrified that this one again must talk about Developed India in yrs to come ….so don’t gasp it doesn’t …I am no where close to APJ in the making) a Conversation b/w Boss and a new Fresher Joinee :

Boss: Hi, I need a favor from u buddy.
Fresher: Yes Sir tell me?

Boss: Can u lend me your bike for few Hours, I have to clinch a deal with our new client and the meeting is scheduled in an hour from now at Le Meridian 3kms from here.
Fresher: But Sir u have all Merc’s and CRV’s in the parking lot to drive u there.

Boss: Come on man with all those Nano’s, Lite’s, Micro’s and the Mini’s on road u know I cannot make it to the meeting in time even being such a short distance. And on top of that they don’t make machines (no guessing, he is referring to bike here) like Ur’s these days. It’s been my dream to ride a city bike for ages now. Barely get to see any of these nowadays.
Fresher: K fine, here are the keys sir …go ahead …and just make sure this favor reflects in my appraisal if the deal gets through :)

This might actually be the scenario in yrs to come. I am not any astrologer or an Economy Guru but the events which unfolded at Auto Show in Delhi made me think in such a way. The much awaited 1 Lack car by Tata’s was launched here in a magnanimous way. All the newspapers, news channels, media in all possible forms were geared up to cover the event. Right from the morning news, to forwarded mails in office, to the most searched keyword on Google, everything had one agenda: what’s up the sleeve of Tata’s. Even before the D-Day everyone was apprehensive as to how can a car be manufactured in such a price range, how will it look like, will it be safe, will it stick to emission norms, and will it be in the price range as promised coz of Rocketing steel and oil prices? …

D-Day approaches and Mr. Ratan Tata himself drives the car on to center stage at Delhi Auto Expo. Man Oh Man….is what people witnessing the launch have to say…With thunderous applause is the most awaited and speculated car in India so far gets launched. Critics, Experts, Business Rivals, Politicians and at last the common man, everyone goes gaga over this masterpiece of Engineering thinking of it as none less then a miracle or a Chamatkar. Winning accolade form everyone this car of Tata’s sticked to what they had promised (wish our politicians were like Mr. Tata)… An “Aaam Aaadmi Car” as it is to be called.

But then is India Equipped enough to bear such a car, this is the Question of the hour. Social impact of such inventions can not be judged at ease. With a population of more then a Billion people where are we heading to? …With such a stupendous increase in household dispensable income, and a booming Economy with loans available for even a holiday trip u might plan, this might be car for masses. But then this is not some miniature cell phone ke ‘karlo Duniyaa mutthi main’…Cars like these will crash the backbone of Indian Infrastructure to the max extent possible. With Tata’s planning to sell 2.5 lack on Nano’s in a year as of now…u r sure to spot many of these on Roads very soon. Who’s to be blamed? Surely not the Tata’s…They r into business and its simply supply and demand game. They have a come up with a very nice product and it’s sure to sell too. With better mileage u cannot blame them to be sole threat to pollution, what about fuel guzzler SUV’s on Roads. And with cars speeds just marginally above then that of a pedestrian in places like Bangalore does anyone have to worry about high speed car crashes? …so I don’t see any reason for guys like Mr. Pachauri to question Tata’s…they will be barking up the wrong tree if they do so…coz it’s the Government which has to start thinking now as to how do they scale infrastructure requirements of the growing country like ours. It shouldn’t be like Bangalore where government builds an international airport in 5 years timeframe that too 40kms away from the city limits, and after its completion suddenly wakes up to see they never had a dedicated road to that place!

I don’t know much as to how things shape up in future, but I can assure u to expect much more traffic on Indian roads in time to come. These buggies and many more like these and bigger (39 other cars were showcased at auto expo this year) are bound to flood Indian roads in no time. Affordability will no longer be an issue to buy a car, and parking zone for bikes will have to be squeezed so as to accommodate many more cars in near future coz a decent bike and “tuk-tuk” like this one will almost be equally priced “to jab wohee mobility same daam main milee to koi bike kyun le, car na le”. So at the end of it crux is to be prepared to spend some more time of our life waiting for those Red lights to turn Green.