Thursday, February 14, 2008

NANO: You are not welcome to my country

NANO, introduced by TATA, is a car that costs only one lakh rupees. Making the dreams of millions of middle class people come true, NANO is truly considered as a wonder car. Costing even less than an auto rickshaw, this lowest ever price car is going to throng the Indian roads within a few days. No need to say, people are very exhilarated to have NANO with them. TATA is proud of making such a car available to the public.

However, there is always another side of a coin. And here the other side is referred to the Indian roads. By the term "Indian roads", I don't mean the pitiable condition as usual, but the traffic.

In the Indian metro cities, maximum people travel by public transport. Local trains, metro trains, and public buses minimize the distances. One has to choose a very long route, if he decides to travel by his personal car or even by motor bike other than trains. Curtailing both the travel time and distance, trains are undoubtedly the most convenient means of communication.
Just close your eyes and imagine the number of cars equal to the number of commuters in a train on any Indian road. Very hard to imagine, isn't it? In a city like Mumbai where once a public bus like
BEST is stuck in the traffic, one is not sure whether he is going to reach home today or tomorrow (after midnight), it is hard to expect an increasing number of public transport itself. At this juncture, we need many more flyovers, wide roads and two ways. We need to convert our hectic travels into luxuries instead of getting stuck in a luxurious box. We need air. We need space.

And, pollution? Well, nobody wants it to rule over the air. A pollution-free world is the cry from every nook and corner.

Then when will all this take place? We also need some time. Obviously, every country needs some time to get developed. We don't need time for the same purpose. We ask for it to fight with each other, to create discrimination among the people of our country, to have fundamentalism in between us and to play politics on region, religion, language, origin, etc. And till then, NANO, it's "no, no" to you. Sorry, but you are not welcome. By the way TATA, do you have any inexpensive public transport system under your sleeve?

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