Nanooooooooo!

Let me clarify on thing right away: Mamta Banerjee isn’t one of my fav netas, in fact the only place I would REALLY like to see her is inside the Bigg Boss madhouse. Admittedly, I do not know much about her brand of politics, but she does come across as someone who’s a professional party pooper.

However on the issue of the Tata plant at Singur, and her allergy to the little car, I must say, very secretly I hope Mamta is able to give enough labour pains to the car maker so that they are compelled to seek new avenues, and the birth of baby Nano gets pushed by a year if not more. No, I am not anti-capitalism, far from it. Being an ad man, free market trickery runs in my blood. And more so, I have the greatest regard for Ratan Tata.

The reason I am rooting for the fiery politician is that I have serious worries about Nano, and would ideally like the whole project scuttled. As I had mentioned in a previous post, and let me shout this out again: NANO WILL NOT BE THE POOR MAN’S CAR IN URBAN INDIA, THAT’S A FALLACY. IT WILL BE THAT LOKHANDWALA DUDE’S FOURTH OR FIFTH OR SIXTH CAR, MEANT FOR ‘ROUGH USE’.

Which is why I am a firm believer that Nano should only be sold in small towns and rural areas, indeed that’s where it will serve its honourable purpose. The lower middle class folks of big cities aren’t gonna touch Nano cos these folks have NO PARKING SPACE IN THEIR RESIDENTIAL AREAS.

Which basically means post Nano, a root canal surgery would appear more appealing than a drive on city streets, and I am appalled that the citizens of metro town aren’t able to foresee the impending doom.

Sure, no one can stop Mr Tata from doing his business where he wants in this country, but a lakh plus car will be a real nightmare in our lives. And that’s why I am cheering Mamta in this battle… the further she can push the project, the more time it gives us to plan our lives. The irony of the whole thing is that the day Nano gets launched in Mumbai, I will say tata to my car. And relocate to a hill station.