Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? ~Abraham Lincoln

You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Happy New Year 2014.

Skyline Magazine wishes all its readers, members, workers and well-wishers a very happy and prosperous new year. May the coming new year bring you lots of joy, success and luck.

H. A. Patgiri

The One Lakh car from Tata Motors launch by Mr. Ratan Tata, in 2009 “Tata Nano” may be considered as an automotive marvel. The car which is currently available in 625 cc rear engine configuration reminded me of a car commissioned by Adulf Hitler to Ferdinand Porsche in April 1934 “The VW Beetle”. The Volkswagen (German for People’s Car) was a rear engine mounted car. It was a simple car to drive and maintain. The simple air cooled boxer engine was very reliable and powerful enough to get the job done. The VW Beetle or affectionately called the “Bug” was popular car till its production ended in June 2003 in Mexico. Over 21 million bugs were produced in about 65 years of its production life.

So, with the above example of VW Beetle; what went wrong with Tata Nano?

Nano which some consider “The People’s Car of 21st Century” suffered from several “blunders” resulting in ever dropping sales. According to me the concept of selling the car at the price tag of One Lakh was not wrong. But marketing should have been done differently. “It’s not a poor man’s car”. Tata Motors provided the Nano at one lakh since it re-engineered the whole car from engine to the three wheel nuts. The base model of Nano should have had exclusivity. Tata Motors should have allowed the car to be sold on limited basis like Ferrari or other super cars. The first time when the car was given out on lottery basis was the correct move according to me. Said that; the car should have had better fit and finish. One must consider there are many people in India who wants to buy a car but cannot afford one, ‘but are not poor man’ since they have motor bikes and scooters or ever can hire Taxi for other transportation needs. The Concept of Poor man’s car is wrong. It’s subjective. I may consider a person owning 2 lakh priced car poor if I can afford 2 core priced car. The base model should have been targeted on this niche market.

But the other two models CX and LX should have been different. According to me, people of India who can afford to buy a car priced sub 2 lakh would arrange that little extra cash needed to buy that 2 lakh car. The two models should not have been called simply Nano. It should have branded differently say “Nano Vista CX and LX”. It should have been more luxurious, with music system, reverse parking sensors, air bag, disc breaks, ABS, better seats low NAV, Electronic Power Steering, Glove boxes, five speed gear box, Power Windows, internally adjustable outdoor rear view mirrors and most importantly that open able boot door. It’s simply not a hatchback without that fifth door. The battery under the driver seat should have been moved to the front and the space available should have been converted to a under seat storage box. They should have been built keeping in mind that people would buy this car as a luxury city car and second car in the family. No one would have bought this car as a “primary car” as it lakes engine power for the highways. Come on now, how many of us drive below 100 Kmph when open stress of road is available in the highways. Driving is all about speed and acceleration. Nano simply lacks both due to its small engine. Then said that; Tata Motors could have fitted a bigger engine. But then it would not have been a Nano!

The Fire Issue.

Tata Motors should have come out to the people of India to speak out about the fire issue. They should have made the investigation reports public. It is not merely a product but hopes and sentiments of a nation on the line.

Along with these, there should have been improvement in car dealers, after sales services, availability of spare parts, accessories and car loan’s particularly keeping young generations in mind.

There are many points that I have missed and I know after publishing of this article many will correct or criticize me. But my sincere effort here is to point out some things that could have been done in making this car successful. This car was truly an effort of Indian automotive engineers in having something new to provide that safe all weather vehicle for Papa, Mama and two children.

"Life is power, power is not life."

By Hriday Anand Patgiri.

To be famous; what is it? Is it a quality gifted by god or is it earned by the deeds of a person.

There are two ways to become famous. The first way is to do evil things to the human society and terrorize them to earn name and fame. This way the person becomes famous for short period of time.

The second way is to do good and needful things to the human society and civilization. The best way of becoming famous will only be judged by time.

Time is such a force that has the power to punish anyone. In past, there were many kings and emperors but due to their evil deeds they were punished by time and thus their names were lost some where in the horizon of time. But the kings and emperors who had done great works to the human society had been remembered through ages to come. For example Emperor Asoka, who wanted to rule the world, changed his way of living and started doing things for the betterment of human society. Thus his name is still remembered in this world of computers and information technology.

Life is very short. Days are numbered by nights. A person can only be famous and remembered by ages to come if he is successful in keeping his footsteps protected in the sand of time or he will be lost forever in time. The persons who have done good deeds for the human society can be successful in keeping their footsteps protected in the sand of time.

A person to be famous and liked by all must understand the true meaning of life. He should know that God is supreme and giving life (birth) and taking away life (death) are decided and controlled by God only.

We should follow the footsteps of Great People to be famous and successful in life.

To have a progressive life and to become famous, we should not be jealous to the other fellow human beings achievements. History gives us various kinds of evidences that jealousy and overconfidence are the root cause in the downfall of many societies.

All the human beings are formed from all the same basic components. But only few human beings become famous. This is because of their developed mind. Mind can only be developed when a person gets proper education both in formal and spiritual knowledge.

The people who have material comfort and money are not the persons who will be famous for a long period of time. There were many political leaders, with both money and power. This people excelled fame for a transient period. But their downfall made them unknown in short period of time.

In the other hand, Swami Vivekananda who did not had material comfort or money became famous for forever due to his high spirituality and uplifting of entire human society of the world for democracy.

We should remember; " Life is a valuable gift, we should not waste it."

"All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark." ~ Swami Vivekananda.