Celebrity No More
Well they didn’t call me up for the radio show but that’s okay since all the things I wanted to discuss were brought up anyway. One guy who works for TATA Motors was talking about how Singapore made Maruthi 800 cars cost six times more and used the extra money to develop covered walkway and public transport systems. Now this is the perfect solution.
I’m listening to the show now.
Quote from an American/European guy living in Chennai:
“An apocalyptic vision of traffic choked Europe has already happened in Chennai… There are no pavements anymore…” Hahahaha!
Some arrogant guy called Philip suggested that we import second hand cars from Europe since they are of better quality and safer. You think we want to buy your trash? Why don’t you bastards import the Nano? Or make a cheap car and export it to us?
January 11th, 2008 at 8:14 am
I thought they called you and told you to be ready?
January 11th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Ah, no harm done. That they even called you in the first place is worth it.
Singapore has really good laws. But I am afraid that they can never be implemented in India. Some typical laws include:
1) Bubble gum/chewing gum is banned. Now I can’t live without gum.
2) You are allotted a house only as big as your family is no matter how much money you have.
3) Buildings (even skyrises) are brought down every few years to generate employment.
You think these things can happen in India ? I think it’s time that we chuck national laws and start making regional laws to suit the geo-political situation. It does come at the price of confusion and chaos. But maybe regional laws will help.
You are right about this Philip guy. Buy second hand European cars ? European cars claim that they are engineering marvels. But then either they drink up petrol like crazy or (some cars like renault) look as bad and perform just as badly as Indian cars. It’s better not to talk about American SUV’s and all that.
Bottom line is Nano is great, but it should prompt the government (or even private agencies for that matter) to build better infrastructure. Maybe this can be done by bringing the car owners into the tax net. Buy Nano get PAN card free. But I guess the fuel will anyway be taxed. So that does add money to the coffers.
Another issue we need to address is not that of road congestion but of traffic. My flat has about 7 cars and parking inside is like a race. First come first served. All current mall, theatre..etc builders should provide atleast 2-3 storeys of parking.
January 11th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
correct the first sentence of the last paragraph to “Another issue we need to address is not that of road congestion but of parking.”
Sorry,I just woke up and am a bit groggy.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
No matter. You can treat us all the same.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
It seems like Singapore has sensible laws. Banning gum entirely is preferable to seeing it everywhere in the city. But then, they did solve that problem with biodegradable gum. You only a need a decently sized house to live in. Singapore is a small country. Land comes at a premium.
These things will never happen in India, of course. It has to do with people’s thinking more than corruption.