The Man Who Dreamt and Made His Dream A Reality

The essential difference between India and other countries like China, US, Germany etc is the absolute lack of self-esteem and capacity to appreciate succcess. I dont think there is any other community in this world which consciously derides achievements by fellow nationals and depreciate our own efforts.
Tata’s wonder Car Nano, is yet another example. It was not Suzuki Motors of Japan who faces the greatst threat from Tata’s car, or Ford Motors who ridiculed Ratan Tata’s dream. It was our own so-called Pundits and analysts who said the dream would never materialise. For years we have been hearing barbs about a match box with four wheels or a tin box with rattles as a description about Tata’s car. The cartoons were equally derogatory.
But Ratan and his team held on to their dream and made Nano a reality. But even after seeing it for real and knowing its price, critics in India have not shut up. Now they say the car will cost higher on the roads, it will not fit the bill of the much fancied “common man” etc etc. A piece in Hindustan Times today ( I am deliberately not recalling the writers name because he doesn’t deserve to be mentioned by name for his sheer lack of national respect) writes about crowded roads in India and roads becoming covered by cars, thanx to the Nano etc, all in myrth.
When Suzuki and others are raking their brains to bring out a model matching Tata’s wonder, it is unfortunate and even infuriating that Indians still ridicule the effort and the product.
As an Indian I feel proud of Tata’s dream and product. He has proved to the whole world that without Japanese technology and the Chinese cheap-gymmics, we Indians can bring out a car priced as low as Rs 1 lakh. Kudos to Ratan Tata and his team . May be the present budget would make Tata hike Nano’s price. Neverthless, here is an entreprneur who had a dream and made the dream a reality. He deserves to be the first name mentioned in this site.
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February 28th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
I think we Indians have a bit of “crab mentality” lets see what the wikipedia describes crab mentality as,
“The metaphor refers to a pot of crabs in which one tries to escape over the side, but is relentlessly pulled down by the others in the pot.”
Now there is a significant lesson to learn for entrepreneurs, which is that if you want to succeed then first ignore the negativity around you. All the naysayers who have fun discussing how you will fail in your venture, with others.
I remember seeing the movie “aviator” based on Howard Hughes. Howards parents die in an accident and he inherits all the millions. His relatives get scared when they hear about how he is “wasting” money trying to produce fantastic movies. So they send him their word through their financial adviser and this is how he reacts.
[There’s only one thing
you’ve gotta know.
My folks, they’re gone now.
So it’s my money. What I do with that money may seem crazy
to those…… in Houston I’m sure it does, but it all makes
good sense to me. You got that?]
February 28th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Its really beautiful to see how an individual’s vision ends up been a billions dream.
Such is the case with this true Indian Entrepreneur - Ratan Tata.
The Tatas have always been a role model for the Indian industry and with the rolling out of nano they yet again prove their ground.
Cheers for the Tata team.
February 28th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Karthik and Sunny,
Thank you for the commnts. The Crab mentality, described by Karthik aptly describes the typical Indian mentality. We notonly excel in pulling down fellow Indians but are also reluctant to give credit where it is due. The Tatas have been the pioneers in Indian Industrialisation.If their vision is to be understood, one should look at the “Steel- City” of Jamshedpur. The home city for Tata Steel Plant and TELCO, the forerunner of Tata Motors, was planned and developed into a city of future. If this city, now in Jharkhand has lost its charm the creidt goes to the city administrators. The Tatas are renowend not only for their social consciousness and commitment but for the concern they have shown for those who work with them. I am yet to meet a Tata employee ( a generic term encompassing blue-collared to Board memebrs of the Tata family) who has a grudge against the Comapny he worked for. May be the retirement of Ratan ( self -proclaimed) round the corner, I am sure the group will lonce again demonstrate its capability to bring out yet another business leader from its stables, who may not necessarily be a Tata by birth, or a Parsi by belief, but will positively possess the vision and passion of the Tatas, be it Jamshedji, J.R.D or our own Ratan.Nano is just a reminder to us that, here was a man who” dreamt big and yet realised his dream.”
February 29th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Wow,
I never knew that The Aviator was based on Howard Huges’s story.
I’ll watch that now!
February 29th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I’m thinking about writing some really simple posts about entrepreneurship. May come as a shock to you guys when you see those posts. But actually, there was a power cut and I didnt know what to do on my laptop and ended up with those 2 posts. I’m editing them currently. Will post them in another 24 hours.
February 29th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Yeah,
we got to see a lot of that ‘crab mentality’ when Nano was show-cased. It might be a too cheap product (in terms of quality too) for rich fellas. But for those who cannot really afford even a Maruti 800, Nano’s features and price make good sense. Its a people’s car. All I’ll say to those who criticize that product is “Go get poor and try to buy a car, you will buy Nano”.
February 29th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
nice quote!:D hmmm…..you had a power cur right! I think the post will still be saved as draft….and also Akash can you label your posts in keyword heavy terms…….and also did you know that the articles in this website get indexed instantaneously by google…..coz google loves great original content!
February 29th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
No Kartik I have not posted it yet. I was typing it in a word document. (I had a powercut, so no modem to access BhEn)
Will post in a few minutes.
March 4th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
hi guys,
totally agree with your viewpoints.it’s always a matter of pride when an indian does anything of this gigantic magnitude.this particular model has certainly created tremors not only in the domestic but also in the international market.
now let us look at the other side of the story.with the nano targeting the “huge” and ever expanding middle class(thanks to globilisation),people possesing two wheelers will be itching to buy the nano–which inturn will proliferate the number of fourwheelers on road.traffic management will be nothing short of a nightmare.are we prepared for such a scenario?can the present indian infrastructure standards meet the challenges posed by the nano?what about the safety standards?it being a “small” car, the distance between the steering whel and the driver will be comparitively less,which is only going to increase the dangers faced by the driver in case of an accident.
the need of the hour is to find solutions to atleast some of these questions if not all,before we bask ourselves in the glory of mr.ratan tata’s stupendous achievement.
i will be eagerly waiting for your replys .please do let me know.best wishes.
March 4th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
please edit my comments in case there are grammatical mistakes.
March 4th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Vivek,
You have brought out the real challenge.Will the Indian infrastructure be capable of the shift fromtwo wheelers to four wheeler? But I would like to see it in a different light. I would likr to believe that the Nano will expedite the sooner than expected streamlining of the Indian Road scene. The sheer pressure of this little wonder rolling out in large numbers will force the governments to spped upthe road projects and improve the road conditions. This would be yet another indirect contribution of Nano, nay, Mr Ratan Tata.
March 26th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
[…] firmly etched in golden words as a car that became ???a dreamer??s dream come true.??www.wikio.comThe Man Who Dreamt and Made His Dream A RealityTata??s wonder Car Nano, is yet another example. It was not Suzuki Motors of Japan who faces the […]
March 27th, 2008 at 2:10 am
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April 5th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
[…] is that he has not.http://www.business-standard.com/common/click_track.php?act=opinion&var=318553The Man Who Dreamt and Made His Dream A RealityTata??s wonder Car Nano, is yet another example. It was not Suzuki Motors of Japan who faces the […]
August 23rd, 2008 at 3:47 pm
i strongly believe india has the largest technology