Nano, A gift to the nation

If I am not wrong, the year was 2001. Ratan Tata, the chairman of the Tata Group of companies was having a business meeting on his way from Pune to Mumbai over the Expressway.

As the rains slashed on the window of his car, he felt warm and cozy to be safe. But not all on the Expressway were as fortunate. A family of four apparently was also on the same way but on a two wheeler. The kid in the front along with his father took the wrath of the rains while the mom at the backseat tried her best to protect the younger one. A typical Indian middle class family believing in the saying –Hum do humare do. A car [gadi] is still a thing of luxury in our country and not all can afford it.

That sight is supposed to have moved Ratan Tata. And he, as the Chairman of Tata Motors asked himself –What can I do for them? What can Tata Sons –as the biggest conglomerate of the nation- do for the nation? And Nano [‘small’ in Gujarati, the language of the founders of the Tata Group] was born.

Apart from the designing constraints one of the biggest challenges was the cost factor. A car for the Aam Aadmi [common man] needs to be affordable by the common man. And as time as taught us –cutting costs happens with innovation. Exactly 100 years back, Henry Ford used the assembly line to produce the Model T in 1908 which brought down the cost of car building. The question facing Ratan Tata was can The Nano with technology innovations bring it within the grasp of the Indian Aam Aadmi?

The development of the car finally kicked off in 2003 with design inputs from IDEA, Italy. To achieve its cost and design constraints Tata had simplified the manufacturing process, sought new design approaches from the suppliers [Bosch, Germany] and emphasized innovation. Such was the shock at building a car at so low cost that there were thoughts that Tata Motors should patent the technology being used in Nano. But Ratan Tata pointed out that none of these is revolutionary or represents earth-shaking technology and most relate to rather mundane items such as the two-cylinder engine’s balance shaft, and how the gears were cut in the transmission. The innovation however is the utilization of compressed air as fuel.

The introduction of Nano received huge media coverage due to its targeted low price. The most common question [even I remember to have asked this] was –“Is it really possible to build a car that low in cost?”

The Financial Times reported –“If ever there were a symbol of India’s ambitions to become a modern nation, it would surely be the Nano, a tiny car with an even tinier price tag. A triumph of homegrown engineering, the Nano captures the dreams of millions of Indian groping for a shot at urban prosperity.”

But not all was hunky dory for the Nano. The earlier identified site of Singur in West Bengal went through a lot of controversies and finally amidst a lot of drama, the Tatas pulled out of Singur and went to the land of dreams, where visions are shaped into realities –Gujarat. Within five days of Tata’s decision of pulling out it was announced on the 7th of October, 2008 that the Chief Minister of Gujarat has signed a MOU with Tata Motors for allocating land for the Nano factory in Sananda, Gujarat.

Tata Motors has commercially launched the Nano on the 23rd of March 2009 with bookings from the 9th to the 25th of April 2009 and sales from July 2009 onwards. Finally the Indian middle class will have an affordable car[gadi] of their own.

Ratan Tata, a shy man who rarely features in the social gatherings has lived for years in the book crammed, dog filled bachelor flat in Mumbai’s Colaba area. JRD Tata built Tata. Now his grandson builds Tata Nano. The Tata group of companies with their extremely high standards of ethics has played a huge role in creating the modern India. Air India was founded by JRD Tata in the year 1932 as Tata Airlines, which was later acquired by the Govt. of India. I’m sure a lot of us were not aware of this.

Tata Steel is the cheapest producer of steel in the whole world. It was not possible to reach such heights without an eye for innovation that is so much a part of the Tata Group. With Corus in their kitty, they’re the 5th largest steel producer of the world.

Tata Consultancy Services is the largest IT exporter of the nation with unbelievable profit margins.

And now Tata Motors joins the bandwagon with Nano.

Apparently Tata Steel, Tata Motors and TCS forms the largest contributor the profits of Tata Sons in the conglomerate that has 100 companies. Yes you heard it right, The Taj Group of Hotels, Tata Tea, Tata Communication, WestSide, Tanishq…. Phew!!!

Ratan Tata has definitely brought us one step closure to comfort. Over the next few years, when Ratan Tata conducts meetings enroute over the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, he might not be any lesser glad.

Do not be surprised if next time you’re behind a truck on a highway and read “Hum do humare do aur Nano” being written. By the way, try to look at the make of the truck, chances are it might be TATA.

Slumdog Millionaire or Conviction calling?

How many of us would take the route of plunging into deep shit to get close to our heros in life? And hold out his photo [while we are inside the shit] to save it –from getting spoilt?

How many of us would not take the bait of selecting the option: Ricky Ponting when the answer is made available to you and when 1 crore is screaming at you?

How many of us would go the extra mile and wait for our Latika? And more significantly –take her back, even after whatever she has been through?

And how many of us believe in destiny, our destiny that is written?

We’ve read a lot about Slumdog Millionaire. It’s won the Golden Globe, the Bafta and recently the Oscars. Some have praised SDM while some have cursed it. An iconic actor of the 70s-80s eras has said that it’d be better if SDM does not win the Oscars. Why? Is it because it showed the India which we do not want to believe is true? Your guess is as good as mine.

Whatever are the views of these demi-Gods, but the fact remains, –whether you like it or not –maiming small children and making money out of begging is a thriving business; -the gangsters, the kothas, the easy money via theft is very much there. But then, so is Jamal –the truth. Why did we fail to appreciate that fact? After-all he is the protagonist in the movie and is shown as the truth. Why have all the critics forgotten to look at that side? We go overboard to react saying that the “Goras” [whites] like and want to see India as dilapidate third world democracy and hence all the awards. I cannot comment on that, and having watched SDM, I find no reason as to why IT should be nominated for Oscars, leave apart winning it. Probably they are true, probably the Goras DO want to see India that way. So if I am to give my views about SDM, I’d say it’s an intelligent movie but worth the Oscars? ...Naah, not even the National Awards!!!

The storyline is nothing remarkable. A smalltime kid makes it to Who Wants to be a Millionaire and out of sheer luck and a few coincidences, wins it as well… but not before raising a lot of eyebrows. In fact the whole nation is shown to be on the standstill when Anil Kapoor asks the final question and Jamal takes his own sweet time, looking as casual as can be [which I do not thing anybody would be while sitting on the hot seat with a million rupees just out of reach] to go for the Dial-A-Friend option.

Flashback. Jamal is a young Mumbaikar who stays in Dharavi [the biggest slum in Asia] and loves playing cricket just besides the corner on the concrete strip of the Airport…The Mumbai Airport. If you remember, when you’re approaching the Mumbai Airport via air, we get a glimpse of The Dharavi.

The kid is shown to have lived through the Mumbai Riots where he sees his mom being hit [killed?] while he keeps running with his elder brother, Salim for safety, for food, for a living. It is here that he meets his childhood sweetheart Latika, another survivor of the Mumbai Riots. Being fascinated by The Three Musketeers they call themselves Athos-Porthos and Jamal wants Latika to be the third Musketeer, which Salim denies.

All of a sudden the surviving kids of the slums are taken under the care of a “God-man” who wants to make the lives of the kids better… But in reality he’s the conman who runs the business of crippling children and making money out of their begging business. When Jamal is being taken to him for the audition, a quick code word exchange [Athos-Porthos] with his brother saves them from a frightening future. While they make the escape, Latika is left behind. Jamal promises to himself that he’d come back for her.

In the months to come they make a living out of selling eatables and toys in the trains. Sooner than later the train takes them to Taj-land, Agra and he realizes that creating the “Jamal” version of Taj Mahal’s history and selling it out to the Goras is not a big deal –and we thought that the Goras are really THAT intelligent ;-). Having filled their coffers they make their way back to Mumbai, to find his Latika.

A lot of enquiry, catching up with old friends and he finally is able to find Latika; though their rendezvous lasts only for a few hours. This time it’s his brother to be blamed. Being the elder one, he claims his rights over Latika.

Jamal again goes away, away from everybody he knew.

Come out of the flashback. The present Jamal is shown to be working as a chai-wala in a local call center. A quick stroke of luck and he get access to one of the computers and is able to trace his brother and meet him up. Old wounds open up, but his brother does not have any idea of Latika’s whereabouts.

Again destiny plays its part, Jamal finds out Latika, but this time around she’s a mistress of a local goon, Javed for whom Salim works. She’s gone far, quite far… she asks Jamal not to return. But Jamal insists that she comes out of that dirty world and escape with her. She refuses his proposal though he promises to wait at the CS Terminal railway station daily at five in the evening for her. On the first day she comes to meet him there but is captured and taken back by Salim to Javed and one of the men slashes her cheek with a knife to scare away Jamal.

Jamal again loses contact with her, when Javed moves to another house. Having set his mind on the task Jamal tries to find out ways to locate Latika. And this is when he realizes that she’s a viewer of WWTBA-Millionaire show and if he has to get to her, the show is his platform.

Now is where intelligent direction comes to play.

As we all know, in the WWTBA-Millionaire show there are series of questions and on being able to answer one correctly, you earn the money and graduate to the next level. Jamal makes it to the final question though the host feeds him a wrong answer, which Jamal does not accept. At the end of the show, Jamal has only one question left to answer rightly to win the 2 crores rupees when he is taken to police custody. He is tortured there, because they believed that how much ever bizarre it may sound, a simple "slumdog," could never know the answers to so many questions.

On the next day Jamal answers the last question rightly and wins the 2 crores. Everybody is surprised. There are approximately 15 questions and he answers all of them rightly. Stroke of luck, eh? Well not really. All the questions have in some or the other way has been linked to his life except for one.

The direction of the movie is such that when Anil Kapoor asks a question to Jamal we have a flashback. And the incident related to Jamal’s life where-in that question has the answer is shown. The inventor of the pistol, the bhajans of Surdas, the face of Benjamin Franklin on the 100 dollar bill… every question has a relation to what has happened with him. This is the best part of the movie – the flashbacks and the strange coincidences. This according to me is the single USP of SDM.

Just when Jamal was about to be asked the last question, Salim helps Latika escape giving her his mobile phone and the car keys and asks her to escape and run away to Jamal while he would take care of executing Javed.

In the last question where he was asked to answer the name of the third Musketeer –though he never knew the name, he made a wild guess, but not before utilizing the option of Phone-A-Friend. This time he [first musketeer] makes a call to his brother [second musketeer] which was received by Latika [the proposed third musketeer]. He does not get an answer but again his destiny saves him; the correct name was Aramis.

And on the other hand, his brother having killed Javed is discovered to be lying on a bathtub filled with money and is shot dead, but not before uttering his last words, “God is great”.

At the beginning of the movie, a question was asked:

"Jamal Malik is one question away from winning 20 million rupees. How did he do it?
A) He cheated,
B) He's lucky,
C) He's a genius,
D) It's written (Destiny)."

The correct option is D, shown at the end of the movie.

The Indian Coffee House

Bucking the trend [as the dictionary describes it as -to oppose directly and stubbornly; go against] has always been an eyebrow raiser. Be it a hefty hike in your paycheck when the world goes into recession or a stock hitting a 52 week high when the BSE is making its 52 week low.

Well for me, it’s neither of them. I should be glad if my paycheck stays as it is and as far as my stock portfolio is concerned, the scripts are on a race as to which one reaches zero first.

But life is not only about the sleekest cars or the latest gizmos. There is much to life than this. Some people find solace in gardening while some find it in going for a long drive early in the morning. I have a hobby of reading or writing and over the years have discovered a perfect place where I can laze along for hours and still not get bogged down at all. Coincidently this place happens to be in the heart of the city yet its so untouched by the latest in architecture and cost. Well, lets zero in – it’s the Indian Coffee House at MG Road, Bangalore.

I do not exactly remember when I started visiting the place but once visited I got hooked to it. Though it happens to be in THE place [MG Road], but yet it still maintains the old touch which we value. The way to the first floor of the Coffee House happens to be along a small short lane near the front entrance. This time when I visited it, the place had a feel of an old building; the walls, the stairs and the aroma from the kitchen. How much I loved that place.

The first floor is preferable because its less crowded and if you’re lucky you get the window seat. I have been lucky always. The MG Road promenade when it was there used to send cool breeze early in the morning while you savor the hot coffee along with your favorite novel. This was life for me: away from the chaos of the traffic, earlier in the morning when most of the city is sleeping, while I gain on life and live more.

The walls still have the age old advertisements of the Indian Coffee House. The food is good, the service remarkable. The reason why I loved it all the more is the staff is extremely courteous and understand the needs of a book lover. I have always been accepted with my long hours either reading or writing or at times casually chatting with the staff there. There have been times when I have spent more than a couple of hours having probably just a couple of cups of coffee and was not at all disturbed by the staff.

This time around when I went I had a reason; it was a visit to honour the Indian Coffee House. Yes, you must have also read it, the ICH, MG Road is closing down for good.


Though the promenade is gone, the cool early morning breeze has not, but yes the greenery outside is a thing of the past. Strange as it may sound, I was ushered into my favourite place by the same old ICH staff who has served millions in the decades past. The smile on the face of the old man has not changed, but the hair has changed its hue. The patience with which they carry out their business is still intact. Over the years the furniture has grown old, the uniforms stained, but yet the breakfast maintains its excellent standards. The masala dosa is the best in town, the omlette thin and the coffee masha-allah.

I have visited ICH innumerable number of times, sometimes with friends most of the times alone. And I have loved it more and more. Writing one of my blogs or probably my diaries and sipping coffee or at times just starting out of the window looking at nothing in particular and enjoying the cool early morning breeze… my time has been good in ICH.

What makes this “tribute” visit of mine last weekend all the more nostalgic is the fact that the same old man was there to welcome me, like he had when I first came in there. The smile was still there, I do not know whether he recognized me. Unlike the place, the crowd comes in all ages. I have seen old couples to college going crowd frequent the place. Many of them, like me, do not need the menu card to decide on what to order.

Peeking into the ICH while walking along the MG Road I have seen uncles huddled around a table and having discussions ranging from politics to cricket and consider the ICH as theirs. Yes it is theirs. It has stood there for decades and has grown old with them.
It has weathered the storms just as they have.
It has held meetings right from the time of our independence.
It has been the place when a friend needed a friend.
It has been the place where young couples visit just to hold hands, look each other in the eyes and say sweet nothings.
It has been the place where problems were resolved.
It has also been the place where elderly couples have had a quite time together and relived their past.

It has also been the place where young bulls have had stock discussions. Me and Bhav to be precise.

And now, like all good things in life, its closing down. When I came to know about it I was not sad. I was at peace. I knew I was losing a place so comfortable. I knew there would be no other place like the ICH. I knew that the smiling face of the old man would not be there any more. The long hours of hanging out with a book with continuous supply of coffee would be history. The promenade along MG Road is gone. Now it’s the ICH.

What is the price we pay for development? Ask me, I have lost something irreplaceable. I will always miss the Indian Coffee House at MG Road. Our days are limited, lets give the ICH a grand closure.

While walking out, I said a small thank you to the staff and well, what I then came to know, I could not believe.
Probably, someone has heard our cries.

Probably, the ICH may [and it’s a big may]…