Nano

Global carmakers thought it was impossible for us Indians to give the world a global car, meeting global safety and emission standards at an irresistible price tag of Rs.1 lakh. Undoubtly the world’s cheapest till date. The nearest international competitor for the Nano is the QQ, made in China manufactured by Chery Motors

On January 10th, this year this impossible dream became a stunning reality when Mr. Ratan Tata unveiled the Tata Nano at Delhi’s 9th Auto Expo.

Big Deal! Most critics might guffaw but what makes Nano a small milestone in the automobile history in times of soaring oil prices and climate change is its fuel efficient 623 cc rear mounted petrol engine which will deliver (as mentioned officially) a 20 km per litre equation. It is also Bharat Stage III (Euro III) compliant and can meet tough Euro IV norms when finalized. Tata Motors has applied for 34 different patents just for this car. They say the Nano though is very compact, has 21 percent more space inside than the Maruti 800.

Finally the message that is delivered to all is - we can and will design/deliver automobiles from start to finished product and even make it affordable to the masses. In fact once Nano revs into the showrooms it will invite a completely new set of customers. The mushrooming Indian middle class in absence of a good public transport system will quickly grab this opportunity to own their personal form of transportation.
All the biker’s will now possibly graduate to ‘nano’owners.. This has already scared the enviromentalists and the socially awakened people. Considering more than a million two wheelers per year hitting the road, chances of even 30-40 % of these switching to Nano owners is a cause to worry naturally.

The Tata’s have mentioned though that the ‘Nano’ does not have an A/C or even a radio, forget power steering. But saving grace like slick stylish seats and all steel monovolume body make the Nano a triumph of sorts. If an towering personality like Mr.Ratan Tata can easily fit into his own creation effortlessly then for us lesser mortals of average heights it is big enough.

But what seems to be of paramount importance to know for all of us is that Ratan Tata’s
Nano is a concept started as a social issue and not as business or philanthropy ( Ratan Tata’s own words). He had put his faith in a young and dynamic team. The team behind nano is in the age group of 30 – 35 years. If one has followed the business graph of the Tata’s then it is clear that the Tatas had gone through good and bad times. They are a business group who always gave a lot to charity. They are not in the company of others who break the law and encourage corruption. Rest of the business fraternity always thought they were foolish and suicidal not to be a part of that clan.
But India has changed for the better. The new India comprises of strong, bold and a vocal middle class that is becoming more honest above else and that has contempt for the same old sleazy politicians and shrewd capitalists of old.
When we see Ratan Tata refusing to pay bribes, refusing to be wooed by dirty politicians and refusing to bend the rules and still taking the Tatas from strength to strength, still buying the world’s best companies and still reinventing the rules of the car industry, well then we know that there is a better world. It is possible to be honest and principled. And still beat the rest of the world.

That’s the strength of the new India. And for all you know the young and the new India will go for the Nano despite some of its flaw.

Khajuraho thru my Nikon

Ram V Sutar

I have been part of a shooting crew for the last one month in khajuraho and every morning when we travel from our hotel to our office, our car takes a turn around a very beautiful sculpture. Each day I find the sculpture more interesting.

So one Sunday, which is our break day, I ventured on my own and studied the sculpture carefully. I realised that beautiful sculpture was of an artist carving on a stone and the credit for that beautiful piece of work belonged to Mr. Ram V Sutar.

I am sure lot of people especially the young generation do not know who Ram V Sutar is. It makes interesting reading to know more the man and his work.

Ram Vanji Sutar was born in a poor carpenter family in village Gondur, district Dhulia of State Maharashtra in India. He was a child prodigy as an artist who soon got noticed by his guru Shri Shriram Krishna Joshi who was instrumental in him joining Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai (formerly Bombay).

Ram V Sutar always excelled in this institute and graduated with the Mayo Gold medal for modelling. Ram V Sutar has over the years mastered stone and marble sculpting but he is more passionate about casting in bronze and many of his famous works are in bronze.

He was also involved in the restoration work of the sculptures at Ajanta and Ellora, Aurangabad.

What amazes me is the uncanny perfection he achieves in proportions whenever he executes any of his works be it the Chambal Symbolic monument at the Gandhi Sagar Dam or the heroic size bust of Mahatma Gandhi.

Ram V Sutar has been a receipent of many prestigious awards notably the Padamshree conferred on him in 1999.

Khajuraho

When I got a chance to work with an UK crew on a television serial, I agreed instantly. Apart from the fact that I would be working with the best technicians from India and UK, one more thing which made me say yes to this project was - it was gonna be majorly shot in Khajuraho, a village in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, located in Chhatarpur District, about 385 miles (620 kilometres) southeast of Delhi, the capital city of India.
I had never been to Khajuraho before but heard so much about the place especially the temples and the erotic sculptors on the temples.
It is almost a month now that I am in Khajuraho and i am loving every moment. Work is hectic but challenging. But Khajuraho is a fascinating place. One of the most popular tourist destinations in India, Khajuraho has the largest group of medieval Hindu and Jain temples, famous for their erotic sculpture.
They say there were originally over 80 Hindu temples, of which only 22 now stand in a reasonable state of preservation, scattered over an area of about 8 square miles.
The temples are a fine example of Indian architectural styles that have gained popularity all over India and abroad. They were rediscovered during the late 19th century and the jungles had taken a toll on some of the monuments. When I visited the temples, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the erotic sculptors one kept on hearing about was a misnomer. Yes, the temples do have some erotic carvings on the outer walls.
Local Old folks say for seeing the deity, one must leave his or her sexual desires outside the temple. Hence, these carvings but they constitute only 10% of the sexual themes. But there is more to Khajuraho if you honestly ask me.

INDIAN ?

Recently, I was going through some backdated issues of Hindustan Times newspapers and i came across a very interesting read in the editorial section by Karan Thapar under SUNDAY SENTIMENTS (HT dated 2nd September 2007).

The whole article was about “A miserable hotel in Bombay called the Juhu Plaza has just evicted a legitimate guest, with a perfect booking, because he happens to be a Pakistani. And, whats more, its despicable owner, a creature called Krishnamurthy, appeared on TV and proceeded to defend himself! The hotel claims it has a policy not to admit Pakistanis and Bangladeshis! Isn't that racism?”

Well, when i read that I was so ashamed of calling my self an Indian. Discounting all the talks about Pakistan sponsoring terrorism in India (we all know the ISI so well now), are we justified in treating a 'legitimate Pakistani guest' this way. Surely not.

I remember the days when I had to visit Pakistan some years ago on a business trip. I was working with Bombay based Advertising filmmaker Veena Bakshi who was the lady behind the sucessful “Surf Excel Hai Na!” testimonial campaign which was shot all over India. Unilever (it was formerly called Hindustan Lever in India) wanted to replicate those very films in Pakistan too. Naturally Veena was selected to do those films, to be extensively shot in Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan. As I was assisting Veena those days, Veena (in retrospect, i thank Veena so much for that decision) decided i will assist her throughout in Pakistan. And lo after all the visa's, embassy visits and legal formalities, we were in Pakistan to do those films.

Well, what i went through in Pakistan is exactly the reason i am so terribly angry with our Mr. Krishnamurthy. The moment i was passing through the customs, the militia realised i was an Indian. They asked me to step aside. Gave me a form to fill, I was so scared (Obviously so much was pumped into our brains of Pakistan being our enemy country). But an army officer stepped in and realised my fears and volunteered to help me fill the form. Soon after that an army jeep came in and we were personally escorted to our hotel “The Pearl Continent”. I could not believe the treatment given to us. Veena was very cool as she had already received this treatment earlier( she had already made some visits earlier) and wanted me to experience the whole thing first hand.

Since that day onwards I was never ever made to feel like i was in an 'enemy country'. Very weird i thought. How come i have a different picture of your country ? I had asked an local man who i met during our shoot. He was quite old and very wisely told me in chaste Urdu “ Ek lakeer kichke Do mulk nahin bante beta ! (roughly translated means 'One line drawn cannot divide one nation into two')
Even one auto rickshaw, when realised i am from India, refused to take the fare from me, saying “Aap to hamare bade bhaisaheb hai, bade mulk se mehmaan ban kar aaye ho, aap se paise kaise loon?” (Translated means “ You are our elder brother, coming from a bigger country as our guest, so how can i take monies from you?”) Now, tell me guys when i had such a lovely and wonderful stay in Pakistan and not just me, you will get the same stories from all those who have visited Pakistan, isn't it shameful that one Mr.Krishnamurthy subjects one legitimate Pakistani to such a treatment.

Like mentioned in the article, Mr. Karan Thapar's friend Pertie said “The world is watching us,” and Mr. Thapar replied “Maybe, but as far as I'm concerned we're looking at the mirror and watching ourselves. And I'm not sure I like what I see!”

Who Am I ??

who am i???

hi all, my first blog posting and hence me think i can start with "who am i???"

One lazy sunday morning and i was trying to decipher the world from the newspaper i had in front of me. my 8 year old (this was 2 years ago) daughter came up to me and asked me " papa, can i ask u one thing?" i said "yes my sweetheart" and this is how the whole conversation went on

saumya : papa, do u know who am i??

me : well, u r my little darling, saumya.

saumya : oh,oh papa, u don't understand....that i know i am saumya but really who am i?

me : (puzzled and slightly irritated) what do u mean baby? did u have ur breakfast today? r u missing ur swimming classes....i asked her everything just to get it clear from where she was coming in.

saumya : papa why don't u understand....i don't now how to make u understand. ok, do u know who u are?

me : thats enough saumya, if u don't have anything better to do than ask me this questions, u please excuse me, i have something more important to do right now and then i turned to read the newspaper.

This was two years ago. Saumya is ten years old now and even more curious and inquisitive, yes u know what i mean. But u know even today when i sit back and put up my feet and relax, her question suddenly pops up in my mind and then i really keep wondering "Who am i?"

Any one???