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! 

Criminal waste

Film spools at NFAI, Pune

Place: PUNE

Original spools of Ritwik Ghatak's Meghe Dhaka Tara lying on the floor along with many others at the National Film Archives of India in Pune.

As you can see, the condition of these irreplaceable parts of India's cinematic history, indeed contemporary India's history, are in such a pathetic condition. This visit had brought tears to my eyes, and I wanted to shout at the head of the institute, who happened to be there at the time. But I guess the government of India has appropriated numerous national assets that they did not create, and therefore know not its real value. And only half hearted efforts at preserving them. 

Some private initiatives are doing film restoration of Indian films, but considerable parts of our cinematic history are gone already :(