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: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> To:
[email protected]> 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 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 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.> >
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