Thank you, Mr Tata, for thinking about the common man!
{Guys, i know this is a long one, and we DID have a looong debate on the Tata nano, well, i couldnt help it though. just read it if you feel so. the author has put into words my feelings, down to the last T. Maybe i should learn to write like that from her...}
By Sheela Bhatt in Rediff.com
Mr Ratan Tata, thank you very much!
You have created history, not because you have created the cheapest car in the world but because you have touched our emotions, our hearts. Thanks a million.
For more than 900 million Indians, who live ordinary lives, this is a rare moment when they feel like they are being taken care of by the rich and the mighty class.
Your class, I mean the others who are amongst the richest Indians, must be feeling a little squeamish today as they saw the overwhelming coverage of you unveiling your pretty car in the Indian press and on television.
Frankly, the best part of your endeavour is that you have taken terrific care to make sure that your car does not resemble a superior version of a Bajaj autorickshaw. That would have made us feel humiliated. Instead, you have done it with style, and class. Thanks again.
The stock exchange might not reacted favourably to your history-making venture, but that is also the proof that Tata Nano is not just about money. It's about profits along with creating a great product.
Very soon the Bajajs and the Munjals, the Japanese and the Koreans will also realize this. We are told that you may be making a humble profit of only Rs 4,000 per Tata Nano, but life in globalization is about ideas plus profit.
In one single stroke you have created a new class within the Indian society. Overnight, my canteen manager Sitaram-ji, my driver's elderly father who is a retired army man, my grocery supplier Mr Arora, and all such nice people with decent but limited income can start dreaming.
That's wow! Really!
Till the 1990s, Indians were striving for roti, kapda, makan, water and roads. Then, the desires expanded. Consumerism started to find a foothold in the country, but glitzy acquisitions were still within the reach of only the fairly well heeled.
But, now, I cannot but be amused as I visualize a supervisor stepping out of his Alto-deluxe and his salesman disembarking from his Tata Nano for an informal meeting at a Barista outlet.
As expected, Bajaj Auto Ltd [Get Quote] managing director Rajiv Bajaj talked about profits the other day. He said: "We have seen the car (Tata Nano) and it looks good, but I haven't heard them (the Tatas) say that it will be profitable."
No one can be so off the mark. To be an industrialist in the new economy is not to be a new zamindar. It is about inclusive growth without losing out on innovation, technology and growth.
Mr Tata, you have given shape to our secret desires. In all seriousness, India's hyper-energetic middle class and the impatient poor who want to break into the upper economic layer salutes you today. You have accomplished what CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat -- with his bagful of idealism -- could not do, or what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh -- with his five-page-long qualifications as an ace economist -- could not do, and what all Karl Marx-quoting hypocrites could not dream of doing.
Tata Nano is the great symbol of Indian-ishtyle socialism. This is socialism suited for the 21st century. As a nano favour, Karat should write a letter to the United Progressive Alliance government recommending you for the Bharat Ratna because by thinking so big on behalf of those smiling and struggling Indians travelling awkwardly on unreliable two- or three-wheelers, you have given us something to boast about.
For the first time, our favourite pro-people activist and Centre for Science and Environment director Sunita Narain looked out of sync on TV on Thursday when she talked about congestion, pollution and the other inherent problems 'caused by' the auto industry.
Right now, there are about five million cars and 70 million two-three wheelers on Indian roads. In the coming five years there might not be more than 500,000 Tata Nanos in the Indian market, but there will certainly be 500,000 ordinary Indian families enjoying a safer ride in their own four-wheeler.
The entire Nano event is important from only one point of view. We are taught that social democracy is all about the majority of people having an equitable share of the resources of the nation. Water, land, metals, food and roads -- every basic requirement for living should be distributed in such a manner that more and more people reap the benefits. Since the last 60 years the rich who constitute a single digit percent of the population had all the roads to themselves except for the footpath.
"Yeh road tere baap ka hai?" is the common aggressive sentence ordinary pedestrians heard from insensitive car drivers. Yes, the road should be more the property of the common people of India, but those who can afford Marutis, Hondas and Skodas wrongly think that they should be given the right of way by pedestrians on wretched Indian roads. Yes, road common people ke baap ka hai, this is what Tata Nano is shouting from the rooftops. For that we are so happy, Mr Tata.
Creating roads was a capital-intensive development and took away a large share of the planned budget and ended up helping the rich and upper class much, much more. Huge chunks of land were taken away to build highways and expressways, but 80 per cent of people living around them have no use for them because they simply cannot afford the cars or even autorickshaws to drive on them.
People without cars had to struggle to have their share of the roads. The most shocking fact is that when the New Delhi government built a magnificent cluster of flyovers near the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, it simply forgot that there will be many people on foot too! Only after UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi inaugurated it were some amendments made.
It's so difficult to walk or even cycle in cities. Tata Nano is important from the point of view of having a piece of the pie of the national asset called 'road.' So far, only the rich could boast of driving on roads and highways.
But now the 'other class' will enter. Sunita Narain's argument about pollution and congestion is first class but it comes at a wrong time and at the wrong place because it is a general argument applicable to all and mainly to Central government which is bereft of ideas on development.
The real reason behind the euphoria caused by the Tata Nano is the negligence of mass-transit systems in India since decades. Every ordinary Indian has his or her tale to share about how they have suffered in jam-packed and rickety state transport buses, how they are crushed in Mumbai local trains, and how elderly people dread travelling by any means of public transport.
It is a national shame to see the way women, children and the elderly travel in Mumbai's local trains, but no government or industrialist thinks about putting their act together to help more than 4 to 5 million people even when Mumbai is reaching a breaking point.
For the first time, the Kolkata and Delhi metro rails gave 'respect' to the common man's need for better transport.
We would like to believe that Tata Nano is a symbolic gesture to bring the common Indian in national focus. If India had better public transport, we would not have given a rousing welcome to Tata Nano.
By the way, in Ratan Tata's mother tongue Gujarati, 'nano' means small.
Fortunately, knoxcollege's opinion about the nano does not count at all as far as the man in India who is going to buy the nano !!!
By the way, saftey, as every Indian understands, is a relative term, isn't it ? We know all about karma and kismat which many other nationals do not and cannot possibly understand... Way to go, Ratan, tum such much ratan ho !
People on QL wouldnt let me hit my nano with a truck and you wanna test my nano by bombarding it with bullets from a semi automatic G-III with me inside.
Wonder what will happen to the nano after being hit by a 5+ cm long bullets. It will probably be a big hole in the nano and people will think a rocket passed right through the nano just like in the movies.
The less metal, the easy the bullets will go through! Imagine you getting splash by a 7.62 caliber and you are standing 150 feet away? Thinking the you are safe from the rifle volleys?
Don't worry Knoxcollege, we will use you for as a guinea laboratory pig, at the firing range inside those cars....
Thank you for your ideas...
The Red Pope of Qatar Living
The nano is so narrow the guys might be able to drive it through/under most military barricades too!
Think about nano explosions. It is probably very light weight so the metal has to be very thin. So if a suicide bomber detonates inside a nano think of the devastation it will cause. It will definitely be a hit in Afghanistan specially with the Talibans and the suicide bombers.
It is so cheap that they will probably do some test explosions just to see nano's performance and how far does its pieces scatter after the blast. I imagine that the american might have to ban the nano for their own well being and security.
After all nano blasts they will say It was a Nano Hit.
Bam Bam. Thank You Tata Man
Regards
KC
If you go to India you can see 8 lanes operating on a 10-feet wide road. Totally crazy.
I agree pollution cannot get any more worse in India. The traffic though is a different problem. Traffic is unmanageable and you cannot drive over 40Kmph. The upside is that it is a lot safer driving there than for example in Doha. You or your loved ones won't die of some petrolhead's road rage.
anyway it will be a hit in Afghanistan as well I think. what say Knox ;)
I don't think pollutuion or traffic can get any worse there...
So don't worry be happy
Hi Alexa
You can't teach experience...
Yes Alexa, it is definitely an improvement. The Indian middle-income group is very conscious of expenses etc. India is actually one of the most cut-throat markets in the world. Anything will sell only if it is good, otherwise it won't. Pollution will increase a little bit. The right way to approach it is to introduce tighter emission control measures. It will change the market in ways like taking the share from the other low-end cars. People will just realize that a Suzuki selling double the cost doesn't really deliver as much as it should for the price. Price will drop down for lots of cars.
How can you say that pollution will stay the same?. We are talking about many many hundreds of cars getting into the roads within the next few months. How about people who rely on the public transport?
You and everyone can think that affordable cars are great, but it is undeniable that it will come with environmental consequences. Personally, I think that cars should get more expensive, more like a luxury.
Exactly what you have said is what I wanted to hear.
if you like nano just because it is made in india and just because you are from india, whatever reasons I give you you will not accept it. So no need for a debate.
Thats why they say
"Faith has to be without reasoning"
Good Day.
"If an allegation to the contrary was for the purpose of spreading misinformation it will serve as an opportunity to dispel the myth Otherwise....."
I may not buy it now Knox, but I do feel the euphoria as an Indian that Mr. Ratan Tata finally brought an Indian car for the Indian masses. Very shortly every low income Indian will be buying this car. Do you know that his great great grandfather Mr.Jamshed Tata was the first Indian to start a Steel plant in India and made steel affordable for the masses in India. Now they are the biggest exporter to Middle East and Europe. May be one day 'Nano' will flood the international streets including your home country. Who knows you will be buying it yourself one day, may be after your retirement.
I dont know where are you from but hopefully one day I hope you might buy the nano. Talking about camels do you know why camels come on roads.
Camels when see light in the dark they go towards the light. but the light is coming from the passing cars and this is what causes the accidents with camels.
Knox, please don't try to twist the meaning of what I am saying. I never said there are no highways in India . Neither did I say you can not drive the car beyond 40-50 km/hr. BTW, you talk about probablity, have you seen a camel hit 4WD.
The cost saving is done by :
No - Radio, Power Steering, Air conditioning, emissions control, antilock brakes, air bags, safety beams.
Read the last line 'Nano' means little in Gujrati.
Did Mr. Tata advised people not to take the nano on the highway? Or simply stating are there no highways in India. And no car has or is allowed to go beyond 40-50 or lets say 80 km/hr.
Whats the probablity that a nano will hit a nano. And what are the chances that a truck, bus, minivan, different brand cars will not hit a nano.
(And how the hell they came up with the name nano. Everytime it reminds me of nanotechnology)
Anyways I believe Tata has a taken a step in the right direction. If thats what you want to hear. I hope they give full insurance on nano. Ahem Ahem and make sure that you have paid your life insurance premium before you get inside a nano.
Knoxcollege, did'nt we had a debate already. We are talking about Indian roads. Everybody knows that the speed limit is not more than 40-50km/hr. inside small towns. We even ride cycles and two wheelers on those roads. What can possibly go wrong. We are not driving it on Californian highway.
My economics professor once told the class:
The Rolls Royce cars are very expensive and the dont sell a lot, BUT the profit margin on a single Rolls Royce car is very high.
On the other hand Toyota Corolla cars are not as expensive as Rolls Royce, and the profit margin on a Toyota Corolla is not much but they sell like hot cakes.
Sometimes Quality can be compromised as long as the quantity increases.
A fool always gives priority to quantity whereas a wise always demands quality.
Indian has many of the most polluted cities in the world. How is this going to affect the environment?
We should all go get horses and bicicles, like the good old days, just like in Cuba :).
they say it gives 23 km to the litre, and its like drops of water on dry parched earth as far as Indians are concerned...
think the safety factor has been discussed in depth on Greeker's other thread on this matter.
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Love is the answer...
Thats the survivors choice.....
Sorry double posting
The cheapest car in the world, hope that it would not cost alot of fuel like the Range Rover and Jaguar.
The cheapest car in the world, hope that it would not cost alot of fuel like the Range Rover and Jaguar.
The cheapest car in the world, hope that it would not cost alot of fuel.
what about the safety factor. How safe is it
and affordable, which is a big factor to most
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Love is the answer...
He plans to export it to SE Asia, Latin America and Africa after 3 years. The profit margins are very thin. Ratan Tata being a parsi named it Nano, I liked the name.
so I changed my comment, but thank you for posting the lady's prose.
I enjoyed reading it and will probably investigate the car!
But I still think I shall see your name in Reuters :D
Lord, keep Your arm around my shoulder and Your hand over my mouth
For what it's worth I think the Nano is fandabbydozy (fantastic!). It is just what millions of people need as a city zip around. An innovative and also benevolent move from Tata. Looking at their past business ventures and successes, I would expect nothing less.
I thnk they'll be wildly popular.
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Love is the answer...
What writing was done by me? In the above post, the only things i wrote were what was inside those two brackets - { } . The rest was done by that kind lady who writes very well.
The will, in another fifty years, m'lady!
I just wanted to say what a really interesting piece that is. NOW I must go and search the internet to see the car!
Great to hear some people understand the needs of others, without being greedy.
Lord, keep Your arm around my shoulder and Your hand over my mouth