Waiting for the signal to turn green, I was all set to zoom off the signal and reach movie theater at the earliest. No, I was not getting late for the movie, I was well in time, 90 minutes in advance for the movie. The “rush” and “hurry” was to secure a parking space. Yes, lately things have been worse with so many cars flooding the streets all of a sudden. Go anywhere and to parking your car is no less than an art of jugglery. Front-reverse-look left, right-take turn-squeeze in-no luck-take reverse-search again, is the kind of stunt I required to do every time I needed to park my car. I had just contemplated a situation, thinking about the launch of Tata’s new Rs. 1 Lac car.
Popularly deemed as the “Peoples Car”, this affordable family car would supposedly transform many middle class dreamers into car owners. However, the car’s entry seems to be a little misfit; imagine the number of cars that you will see around when every single household will own one. The Indian economy already booming, inflating salaries and growth prospects scaling new highs every day, have improved the buying appetite of many. And now the 1 lac car will stand a testimony to all this, when today we all are just frenzied by the “no-need” based buying. The bikers may now get converted into 4-wheel drivers, adding to the population who would rush to empty their bank accounts by a lac. Also, other car companies might lower their costs in order to improve on the affordability and thus there will be cars, cars, and cars everywhere. It will need a high amount of proficiency to maneuver your wheeled asset on the highly congested roads (visualize the situation now and when the 1 lac worth peoples car will float everywhere). Malls packed, theaters packed, so will be the restaurants, street sides, fuel stations, and so on.
Indeed, the 1 lac car offers many advantages – affordability, environment friendly, compact, essential features rich. However, considering that it’s a perfect city car, do we have enough space to accommodate the entire four wheeler family on our bumpy, choppy, narrow roads?
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