On the God of Nano things...

It has finally arrived! India and a good part of the global fraternity had been keenly following the story – the development of the world’s cheapest car. The initial plaudits have found takers in both the television and the print media. Every automaker has envyingly admired the car with the green tinted lenses. ‘Low cost and affordable’ is fashionable in these times of global penury and perhaps the timing of the launch matches the sentiments of the current hoi polloi.

For me, the news ushered in a lot of wonderful memories. The great old GET days at TELCO Jamshedpur! The homely colony, the friendly club, our favorite bar man Khayoomji, the thrill of riding a two wheeler, the October chill in the air and … True, it has been a long while since those days. And it has also been a long while for Tata Motors to emerge into its new avatar. “Why does every TELCO product have to look like a truck” – a cheeky fresh engineer has asked during a top management open house at the Jamshedpur works. The comment was directed at the Tata Sumo. The market also did not take favorably to the products – Sumo was involved in more toppling incidents in those years than all the other vehicles combined. The centre of gravity of the vehicle was the initial target of the critics and then the plethora design errors. But these comments did not dent the market demand and it more or less reigned till the advent of the Scorpios and the Qualis.

Indica (which began as Tata Mint – till the brand definition was changed from small car to Indian car) had too many startup issues right from design bloopers, reneging suppliers, conniving competitors etc. Even when the recalls ended and the design modified, the car was still not the favored passenger car that a consumer would want to take home. Even the wallet conscious did not flock around a very economical diesel design introduced later. But what Tata Motors won the process was the heart and faith of many a consumer and even the customers of other cars unanimously agreed that “Tatas have learned how to make a car!”

To top it all, the name ‘Tata’; it brings in a kind of romanticism and ethical purity like ‘Gandhiji’, our national anthem, our national flag – four letters which have some kind of a spiritual connection in the mind of every Indian. Amongst a lot of us Tata ( and ex-Tata) couples – we have a common joke that our kids will say that Ratan Tata is the father of the nation and not Mahatma Gandhi !

And now the Nano ! Indian technology has for once hit the business headlines and every business reader in India has definitely read the news with lot of pride and for me, it was the kind of feeling where one gets goose pimples and a soft Yanni tune plays in the background. It was a semi–emotional moment where I just wanted to call everyone I knew in Tata Motors and talk, talk and talk… Of course, the first response from their end – “So when are you buying the Nano?” followed by the chuckle. Well, it is not a ‘Na’ or ‘No’ to Nano now, let me just enjoy this feeling and walk around glowing in pride and pray that it will be the dream that a lot of us Indians cherished…