LUNCH @ THE HINDU...with those who talk to you daily but you never get to see them.
Hi everyone,
This entry gives you some insight in to a different aspect of the motoring world.
I happened to meet Mr.S.Muralidhar, motoring editor of the Hindu Businessline news-daily. He is basically an auto analyst who has been reviewing and test riding bikes and cars for the past hmmm…more than ten years at least.
While chatting with him at his office at the Kasturi buildings (for the uninformed its The Hindu’s head office at Anna salai,chennai) , i was surprised to hear that he is basically a chartered accountant by qualification(I can hear your “ooh” s and “aah” s) and now pursuing a full time writing career as an automobile analyst. Maybe, that’s what they call “following the passion”. I also learnt that “The Hindu” is planning to launch a magazine exclusively for content on automobiles and some part on latest electronic gadgets. Good news eh.. hope they keep the prices down initially to impress the market with their quality.
I had a chat with him for about some good 3 hours or so and learnt so many things.
Thought I would share some.
• I realized that we at NIT-Trichy have a very good quality to boast about. It is our large network of friends from different places, through whom we are recognized initially. This fellow happens to be the cousin of aditya kalyanakrishnan (popularly known as (p.k.a) kalyani).so it was initially very easy to start the discussion and maybe this is what helped to prolong it. Thank you kalyani!
• An auto analyst has a very busy schedule traveling around the world, visiting motor shows and attending conferences organized by the auto companies. His recent trip was to bologna (Bo-lon-ya), Italy.(Koduthu vaichavaru!!).
The popular motor shows like Frankfurt, Geneva etc. are open to the media well before they are open to the general public. So, if you want to be the first one to comment on the Tata s one lakh car introducing at the delhi motor show(JAN 2008), kaushikram007@gmail.com is my e-mail address. :)
• He gets to drive most of the cars even before they are launched. Organized test drives are a pleasure as you get to drive long a new car in one of the best highways. Last time, he was allowed to take home a new Hyundai i 10 and return it whenever he is done with it.
• Just like many of us, he has nt got a chance to drive sports cars like lamorghini s and Ferrari s. But he is very confident that he’ll soon get a chance to ride them too. All the best sir, at least you have a better chance than most of us do.
• This is for my personal satisfaction; he has tried some of the tractors too and I think he said they were amazing to ride!!(Just got a confirmation from google that I can write anything in this space!!)
• He neither has any complaints against his job nor does he complain of work related stress. The only thing is the space constraint, which restricts him to write only a side (on a newspaper!!!) every week which he usually exceeds and that poses, a tough job for the lay-out designer.
• So, if you ask me about the other side of the coin, he usually has very little time for his family and friends and the work may demand his presence any time as one cannot predict, which company is to launch what , where and when.
• And the journalist part of the profession, brings in threat-calls and the other mishaps associated.
His concerns:
During the talk, I felt that most of us Indian drivers are not aware of the usage of some of the most basic features in automobiles. Prominent among the many is the difference between the Dim and Dip adjustment of the front head lamps. The other one is considering essential features like ABS(Anti-Lock Braking Systems) and Air-bags. I feel this is very much true as you may know when you browse through the features of cars sold in foreign countries, I can assure that you will not find any car without these. But in India, these are optional which means that an average buyer will not even try to know about these.
But nothing will change until they stop manufacturing cars with only single rear view mirror (they are cutting costs it seems. Production engineers are not here to blame as it was the design!)
http://www.truthABOUTtoyota.com
Recently, this site caught my attention and anyone reading it would definitely change their
stance about the famous Japanese automaker. To clarify the doubts he just gave an analogy
“Imagine the kind of criticism a shuddha brahmanan would face, when for the first ever time he strikes a conversation with the village beauty”
I hope you get the point.
Toyota has been successful in making cars for the Japanese markets, where fuel efficiency and eco-consciousness are a part of the custom, a condition very similar to the situation existing in India. People are not surprised when the illiterate street sweeper enquires about your car’s mileage. So ,after surviving these markets obviously when Toyota starts manufacturing cars for the American buyer who prefers a big car, despite showing himself as a green guy etc, it is mandatory that to realize profits they have to compromise on fuel efficiency for better design and glam.
Things never said about the YO! Bikes
Though the cost of driving the bikes were advertised as 10 paise per km , it has to be noted that the lead acid batteries have a replacement time of 3 years. Replacement costs are around Rs.7500/-!!. So it is nt that economical.
Another issue is about the capacity of the bike.
Q: Is it powerful enough to take me and my girlfriend to the nearby pizza hut?
A: The answer is straight NO, then where is the question of bringing you two back home?
Q: Hmm...Ok, can I ride from G.N chetty road to Satyam cinemas on a bright Sunday afternoon?
A: Why not? Sure!! But avoid the Anna fly-over, it might roll backwards on the way.
Bangalore s story:
Anyone visiting Bangalore would have felt the popularity of these REVA cars over there.
The success can be attributed to three reasons.
1. The slow and irksome traffic. It is a place where laws of time and distance never valid. It is also that when you for direction, they answer in minutes of travel and not in distance.
2. the mentality of people. These people in the services industry are well-educated and more than that they are ecologically aware. They chose to contribute in this way though they know that they are paying more.
3. Reva is based in Bangalore. Hence, easy access to spares and service.
Well, things are going too much in detail .let me draw a stop line here. We went on discussing about France implementing electric cars 30 years back as their Public Transport, Toyota prius being popular in Hollywood, few concept cars,superleggera meaning super light(it s not the name of Lambo car, there is a Ferrari superleggera too),lambo naming culture, his trip to Italy, fiat palio…….. and so much more ….
Coming back with non-auto article soon…..
Title may be:
How Nitt ians become POACHERS …….. (based on a true life story)
While chatting with him at his office at the Kasturi buildings (for the uninformed its The Hindu’s head office at Anna salai,chennai) , i was surprised to hear that he is basically a chartered accountant by qualification(I can hear your “ooh” s and “aah” s) and now pursuing a full time writing career as an automobile analyst. Maybe, that’s what they call “following the passion”. I also learnt that “The Hindu” is planning to launch a magazine exclusively for content on automobiles and some part on latest electronic gadgets. Good news eh.. hope they keep the prices down initially to impress the market with their quality.
I had a chat with him for about some good 3 hours or so and learnt so many things.
Thought I would share some.
• I realized that we at NIT-Trichy have a very good quality to boast about. It is our large network of friends from different places, through whom we are recognized initially. This fellow happens to be the cousin of aditya kalyanakrishnan (popularly known as (p.k.a) kalyani).so it was initially very easy to start the discussion and maybe this is what helped to prolong it. Thank you kalyani!
• An auto analyst has a very busy schedule traveling around the world, visiting motor shows and attending conferences organized by the auto companies. His recent trip was to bologna (Bo-lon-ya), Italy.(Koduthu vaichavaru!!).
The popular motor shows like Frankfurt, Geneva etc. are open to the media well before they are open to the general public. So, if you want to be the first one to comment on the Tata s one lakh car introducing at the delhi motor show(JAN 2008), kaushikram007@gmail.com is my e-mail address. :)
• He gets to drive most of the cars even before they are launched. Organized test drives are a pleasure as you get to drive long a new car in one of the best highways. Last time, he was allowed to take home a new Hyundai i 10 and return it whenever he is done with it.
• Just like many of us, he has nt got a chance to drive sports cars like lamorghini s and Ferrari s. But he is very confident that he’ll soon get a chance to ride them too. All the best sir, at least you have a better chance than most of us do.
• This is for my personal satisfaction; he has tried some of the tractors too and I think he said they were amazing to ride!!(Just got a confirmation from google that I can write anything in this space!!)
• He neither has any complaints against his job nor does he complain of work related stress. The only thing is the space constraint, which restricts him to write only a side (on a newspaper!!!) every week which he usually exceeds and that poses, a tough job for the lay-out designer.
• So, if you ask me about the other side of the coin, he usually has very little time for his family and friends and the work may demand his presence any time as one cannot predict, which company is to launch what , where and when.
• And the journalist part of the profession, brings in threat-calls and the other mishaps associated.
His concerns:
During the talk, I felt that most of us Indian drivers are not aware of the usage of some of the most basic features in automobiles. Prominent among the many is the difference between the Dim and Dip adjustment of the front head lamps. The other one is considering essential features like ABS(Anti-Lock Braking Systems) and Air-bags. I feel this is very much true as you may know when you browse through the features of cars sold in foreign countries, I can assure that you will not find any car without these. But in India, these are optional which means that an average buyer will not even try to know about these.
But nothing will change until they stop manufacturing cars with only single rear view mirror (they are cutting costs it seems. Production engineers are not here to blame as it was the design!)
http://www.truthABOUTtoyota.com
Recently, this site caught my attention and anyone reading it would definitely change their
stance about the famous Japanese automaker. To clarify the doubts he just gave an analogy“Imagine the kind of criticism a shuddha brahmanan would face, when for the first ever time he strikes a conversation with the village beauty”
I hope you get the point.
Toyota has been successful in making cars for the Japanese markets, where fuel efficiency and eco-consciousness are a part of the custom, a condition very similar to the situation existing in India. People are not surprised when the illiterate street sweeper enquires about your car’s mileage. So ,after surviving these markets obviously when Toyota starts manufacturing cars for the American buyer who prefers a big car, despite showing himself as a green guy etc, it is mandatory that to realize profits they have to compromise on fuel efficiency for better design and glam.
Things never said about the YO! Bikes
Though the cost of driving the bikes were advertised as 10 paise per km , it has to be noted that the lead acid batteries have a replacement time of 3 years. Replacement costs are around Rs.7500/-!!. So it is nt that economical.
Another issue is about the capacity of the bike.
Q: Is it powerful enough to take me and my girlfriend to the nearby pizza hut?
A: The answer is straight NO, then where is the question of bringing you two back home?
Q: Hmm...Ok, can I ride from G.N chetty road to Satyam cinemas on a bright Sunday afternoon?
A: Why not? Sure!! But avoid the Anna fly-over, it might roll backwards on the way.
Bangalore s story:
Anyone visiting Bangalore would have felt the popularity of these REVA cars over there.
The success can be attributed to three reasons.
1. The slow and irksome traffic. It is a place where laws of time and distance never valid. It is also that when you for direction, they answer in minutes of travel and not in distance.
2. the mentality of people. These people in the services industry are well-educated and more than that they are ecologically aware. They chose to contribute in this way though they know that they are paying more.
3. Reva is based in Bangalore. Hence, easy access to spares and service.
Well, things are going too much in detail .let me draw a stop line here. We went on discussing about France implementing electric cars 30 years back as their Public Transport, Toyota prius being popular in Hollywood, few concept cars,superleggera meaning super light(it s not the name of Lambo car, there is a Ferrari superleggera too),lambo naming culture, his trip to Italy, fiat palio…….. and so much more ….
Coming back with non-auto article soon…..
Title may be:
How Nitt ians become POACHERS …….. (based on a true life story)
2 comments:
Electric Bicycles and Electric Scooters
Elmo The Electric Bike and Electric Scooter Guy
This is an excellent blog for electric bicycles. There are not too many around like this. Thanks for making this such an interesting subject. Oh, by the way, Wired Magazine has a great article on hybrid cars this month. (Jan 2008 issue).
God Bless,
Elmo
hey thank you !!!
will give out max info on these topics soon...
keep checking...
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