Flowerworld

Place: DELHI

This is the annual flower show at the Garden of Five Senses, organised by Delhi Tourism. It used to be earlier held at the Talkatora Gardens, but has since shifted. This is in 2009, one of the first years at the new venue.

This is a flower show rather than a garden show, so basically there are a lot of potted plants. Lots of spring flowers multihued, in many shapes and sizes, make this a great visit for the average visitor. For a flower expert, not so much!

For more pics click here 

Auto pilot

We shall be Mercs soon! The CKD factory at Chakan near Pune

Place: CHAKAN 

A view of the Mercedes assembly line at its Chakan CKD plant near Pune.

It was amazing to see the extent of precision and detailing in the cars. Especially as this was just a factory where the parts are assembled, they are not manufactured here. Sales in India do not still justify a manufacturing facility.

It took us hours to see a various car parts from one assembly to another in as each little part was added. There was testing too, and it felt a bit like the movies to see these fancy getting tested. The 100 acre plant was one the fastest automotive greenfield projects completed in India, and Mercedes had in on priority as it was getting overtaken by competitors in the Indian luxury car space. Well, whether they catch up or not, this is a new benchmark for Indian auto factories. 

Test drive

A Nano on a test drive ahead of its launch

Place: PUNE

Early bird. An early Nano on a test drive on the roads of Pune. There was such enormous curiosity about the car then, and it was thrilling to see it up close. The flimsiness was apparent even then, right?

As Tata's gift to the lower middle classes, it alternately had the dream of making every Indian who earned even a little a car owner and the nightmare of Indian roads getting clogged by these little beetles. Well, neither happened, or rather the clogging of cities had other reasons, and the dream of the lower MC buying cars remains unfulfilled as not many bought into the dream.

Yes, Ratan Tata bemoaned the missed opportunity, but then selling a substandard product had not prevented the group from selling well before!