[Assam] Thank you, Mr Tata, for thinking of the common man!

[mc mahant]

in Ratan Tata's mother tongue Gujarati, 'nano' means small>.Or is it Nanha, Nannow? > Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 07:29:15 -0800> From: dilipdeka at yahoo.com> To: assam at assamnet.org> Subject: Re: [Assam] Thank you, Mr Tata, for thinking of the common man!> > " The other thing - the Tatas.. arent't they Zorastrians, whose mother tongue> is Parsee?" - It used to be, several centuries ago. The Parsees in India are very adaptable people. Those who settled in Gujarat speak Gujarati and call it their mother tongue. We knew a Parsee family in Venezuela that originally came from Gujarat, migrated through Mumbai and USA to Venezuela. They are fluent in Gujarati, Hindi, English, and also in Spanish.The husband is a successful businessman and the wife is very active in the Indian community in Caracas.> Dilip> > Ram Sarangapani <assamrs at gmail.com> wrote:> >By the way, in Ratan Tata's mother tongue Gujarati, 'nano' means small.> > And I thought the word nano originated from Greek "Nanos" meaning> small/dwarf, and hence words like nanotechnology!> > The other thing - the Tatas.. arent't they Zorastrians, whose mother tongue> is Parsee?> > :):)> --Ram> > On 1/11/08, Pradip Kumar Datta > wrote:> >> > Thank you, Mr Tata, for thinking of the common man!> > Sheela Bhatt> >> > January 11, 2008 visit: www.marketmantra.in> >> > http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/jan/11sheela.htm> > 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.> >> > visit: www.marketmantra.in> >> >> > ---------------------------------> > Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it> > now.> > _______________________________________________> > assam mailing list> > assam at assamnet.org> > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org> >> _______________________________________________> assam mailing list> assam at assamnet.org> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org> > _______________________________________________> assam mailing list> assam at assamnet.org> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
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