Tata Nano: World's cheapest car unvielled

http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/jan/10tatacar.htm ^

[AmericanVictory]

Point well taken, but historically in India there has been discrimintation against the Parsees.

[CarrotAndStick]

I think you are mistaking the Parsis to some other group. Can you provide any links on Parsi discrimination? I thought the contrary was true.

[CarrotAndStick]

Oops, to = with

links = link.

[charles m]

Wow, that is a very 21st-century-looking Delhi Metro. If someone had asked me what public transportation in India is like, I'd probably think of the "Chaiya, chaiya" video ;)

Most people in Delhi can't afford to take the Metro.

[CarrotAndStick]

Parsis - the Zoroastrians of India

by

Sooni Taraporevala

About the Author:

Sooni Taraporevala was born and brought up in Bombay. She studied Film and Photography at Harvard University and  received her Masters in Film Theory and Criticism from the New York University, after which she returned to India and worked as a freelance still photographer. She wrote her first screenplay Salaam Bombay!, which was nominated for an Oscar.  Her second screenplay Mississippi Masala, won the Osella award for Best Screenplay at the Venice Film Festival. Her other screenplays  are Such a Long Journey, (for which she received a Genie nomination from the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television), My Own Country, and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. 

 

Brief Introduction
The contribution of this dynamic Indian community in all spheres of Indian life – arts, sciences, politics, business, and foremost of all – in social commitment and philanthropy - has been phenomenal. Despite their meagre numbers, the Parsi community did not seek any special privileges under the Constitution, and yet played a large role in the development of the country. Jamsetji Tata, JRD Tata, Godrejs, Wadias, Dr. Homi Bhabha, Zubin Mehta, Retd. Field Marshal Sam Maneckshaw, Admiral Jal Cursetji, Air Marshal Engineer, are all from this very distinguished community. Indira Gandhi married into the community and so did Mohammad Ali Jinnah's daughter, Dina Wadia.

Parsis are Zoroastrians who arrived in India 1200 years ago from Persia. They were fleeing persecution at the hands of Arab conquerors invading Persia. They landed in Diu, off the coast of Gujarat in India, carrying nothing but a holy flame from their Temple they had left behind. From Diu they went to Sanjan in Gujarat, where the local Hindu ruler granted them land and they began a new life. They were free to follow their own religion and erected their first Fire Temple soon after. They were called Parsis - to denote the region from where they had come - Pars, (Persia).

From these humble beginnings emerges a grand chapter of progress, growth, expansion, diversification, accomplishments and achievements unsurpassed by any other community in India. Through hard work and social commitment, they founded business empires, colleges, hospitals and research institutes – and in the process a very vibrant business culture in Bombay. Jamsetji Tata and JRD Tata, the Godfathers of India’s industrial development, were true visionaries – combining business with philanthropy. Dr. Homi Bhabha, Zubin Mehta, the Wadias, the Godrejs, Retd. Field Marshal Sam Maneckshaw, Admiral Jal Cursetji, Air Marshal Engineer, are all from this very distinguished community, which is guided by three principles in life – Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds. Today, their numbers are fast decreasing – the community faces the threat of extinction – for reasons that are linked to the belief structure of their clergy. Zoroastrianism is a non-proselytising religion – there are no converts. One can only be born into it. Marriage outside the community is not encouraged. Parsi women who have married outside their community are ‘derecognised’ and are not allowed into the Fire Temple. The birth rates are declining and the community is fast ageing. Inter-marriage within the community has increased the incidence of certain genetic disorders – people are marrying late, or not at all. 

This feature is a tribute to the contribution of this dynamic Indian community in all spheres of Indian life – arts, sciences, politics, business, and foremost of all – in social commitment and philanthropy. Despite their meagre numbers, the Parsi community did not seek any special privileges under the Constitution, and yet played a large role in the development of the country.

next page

 

The Early Years  

Arrival in India and the beginnings of a new life

According to Parsi lore they spent nineteen years on the island of Diu, after which they set sail again and landed in Sanjan also on the west coast of India, either in the year 936AD or in 716AD [many an intense battle has been fought amongst Parsis over which date is more accurate.]

Permission to settle was granted by Jadhav Rana, The Hindu ruler. These newly arrived strangers were called Parsis - to denote the region from where they had come - Pars, (Persia), once the birthplace of mighty empires, now the distant dream of a band of refugees.

Hindu India was kind to the refugees from Pars. They suffered no persecution, no fear. They were allowed to prosper and grow. They built the first fire temple in AD 721(Picture to the left), installed with due ceremony the holy fire which they called the Iranshah, the King of Iran; lived largely peaceful, obscure existences in various villages and towns of Gujarat as farmers, weavers and carpenters.  

For about three hundred years after landing at Sanjan, Parsis are said to have lived in peace and without molestation. By that time their numbers had greatly increased. Many moved from Sanjan to other parts of India with their families: to Cambay, Navsari, Anklesvar, Variav, Vankaner and Surat in the north, and to Thane and Chaul in the south. Pockets of Parsis were also found in Upper India, mentioned by early travellers: in Sind, Dehra-Dun and Punjab.

Whenever they left Sanjan to settle elsewhere, they carried a part of the Iranshah with them-the first fire they had consecrated on Indian soil. But not all climes were as hospitable as Sanjan. In Sind, Ibrahim the Ghaznavid perceived the Parsis as a colony of fire-worshippers and attacked them. In Thana, which was ruled by the Portuguese, they were seen as idolaters and put upon by missionaries to convert to Christianity.

However, Islam did follow them even to India. In 1465 Sanjan was sacked and destroyed by the Muslim Sultanate. Parsis fought valiantly, side by side with their Hindu benefactors. Many lost their lives, but the priests managed to rescue the sacred fire and carried it safely to a cave on a hill, where, protected by jungle and sea, they guarded it for the next twelve years.

Though they didn't completely lose touch with the Persian language, Gujarati (their version of it), started to become their mother tongue. They adopted many Hindu customs. Parsi women dressed like their Indian counterparts. They even wore nose rings.

Many settled down in the port town of Surat, in Gujarat, where in the fifteenth century, Europeans (the Portuguese, the British and the Dutch) had been given permission by the Mughals to establish trading factories. Unhampered by caste prejudices, Surat provided an ideal opportunity for Parsis to engage in occupations that they had never attempted before. Farmers became traders and chief native agents, carpenters became shipbuilders. An adventurous few left Surat and moved south to Bombay, then only a set of islands, in the wilderness. Here, they acted as brokers between the Indians and the Portuguese. They were in Bombay when it was ceded by Portugal to England in 1665 and three years later when the Crown handed over the island to the East India Company, Parsis were already a presence.

"They are an industrious people," wrote Governor Aungier in a letter to England, "and ingenious in trade, therein they totally employe themselves. There are at present but few of them, but we expect a greater number having gratified them in their desire to build a bureing place for their dead on the Island."

The East India Company had grand plans for Bombay. They had visions of making this settlement a vibrant trading and commercial centre. In order to do so they needed to attract Indian traders, merchants and craftsmen to settle in and develop this frontier land. The terms they offered to native communities were generous and to an immigrant community like the Parsis must have seemed almost heaven-sent. All persons born in Bombay would become natural subjects of England. All communities migrating to Bombay were guaranteed religious freedom and were permitted to build their houses within the fort walls, alongside the British, where they would be protected from any hostile attacks. Though the Parsis were quicker to recognise and seize this unique historical opportunity and came to Bombay earlier than most and in larger numbers, they weren't the only ones. There were Muslim weavers from Ahmedabad, Bohras, Beni-Israeli Jews, Jains, Armenians. And though the residential area was divided into the white and native parts, in the real life of the city, in the counting houses, markets, docks, everybody jostled together in a cooperative venture.

Extracted  from the book
'Zoroastrians of India: Parsis: A Photographic Journey' 
by Sooni Taraporevala. 
c 2000 Sooni Taraporevala. 
Reproduced with permission of Good Books, Mumbai, India.

 

 

http://www.the-south-asian.com/April2001/Parsis-Arrival%20in%20India.htm

 

[dave k]

If the enviromentalists who have hijacked the Democratic Party take control of this country, we won't be allowed to have a combustible engine.

Check this out:

Top Speed 25 MPH, Top Distance on 1 charge - 35 miles

The website is a dead giveaway to the whacked out ideology behind the creators of this vehicle.

[CarrotAndStick]

Most people in Delhi? Check again.

http://www.delhimetrorail.com/commuters/traveling_bymetro.html

1 Indian Rupee = 1/40 USD

PS: How many Chinese can afford the maglev between Shanghai and Beijing(?)

All of them?

[TalonDJ]

But what do you spend on maintenance and repair? Even if you have sweat equity, assume your time has value. Parts cost. Labor has worth.

Maybe 300-500 a year. Counting my time.

By your criteria, you're weighing a Porsche vs. a decent pair of sneakers.

A Porsche and this car both have enclosed cockpits and will get from point A to Point B in a city in the same amount of time with the same amount of physical effort by the operator. Operating costs and effort will also be similar. This is not true with a horse and buggy or a pair of shoes. I thought that was obvious. Unless you are comparing doing without leather seats and a CD player to being as bad as having to walk.

then again my '88 has leather seats and a CD player...

[50sDad]

If I still lived in Bowling Green, Ohio, where the glaciers of a million years ago have scoured the land flat as a pancake, I would buy one. $2500 is the cost of a replacement transmission...you could almost drive it till it died, and leave it by the side of the road for recycling...

I have to laugh when I look back at the reliable VW Bug of fifty years ago...$2,000, no heater, bare minimum, but it would get you through college. (And today, those once frugal college students, pining for simpler times, spend ten times as much on a luxury, fully-kitted copy of that bare-bones car.)

[charles m]

I know my facts. I'll repeat: MOST people in Delhi can't afford their Metro as their daily transportation. I didn't say most people in China could afford their Metro though. You are putting words in my mouth, buddy, and I don't appreciate that.

[CarrotAndStick]

There’s a difference between putting words in the mouth, and ASKING. Yea, I was ASKING you, and you failed to answer.

As for your Delhi figures, I could understand if you were saying most people in India couldn’t afford those rates, but this is Delhi... the per-capita income in the cities is several figures higher than that of the whole country. Perhaps you didn’t want to know that.

Finally, what’s true of Delhi, is also true of your beloved China.

[Jackknife]

This has been tried before .......

[CarrotAndStick]

What cost $3990 in 1986 would cost $7206.17 in 2006.

http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

[PsyOp]

I want to how it does in a crash test against a Lincoln Navigator.

Lincoln dealership mechanic: “Sir, we found out was was making that noise. You had Tata stuck under the front suspension...”

[redpoll]

I agree with you. God bless these folks on their journey into the modern world. This is the Indian equivalent to the Model T (or A) Ford - economical, basic, thrifty. I’ll bet riding around inside this during the monsoon will sure be a lot nicer than riding a moped in the rain. I noticed that they’ve scrimped on everything except air conditioning.

I could easily see these little cars zipping around as basic transportation for the poor, the first car for a family, the 21st century Dodge Dart for the masses. I think it’ll be the biggest selling car of the year. This is great news, not only for India, but also for all those other impoverished people who want to enter the modern world without bugs in their teeth.

[PsyOp]

Tata's prototype wooden Harley.

[PsyOp]

Tata's "Cab-over buffalo" work truck.

[InvisibleChurch]

it’d probably be laffed off the highway here in the states, except for the Keys and Hollywood, but it’s good for those in 3rd world countries so at least they can drive cars instead of goats and elephants

[bruinbirdman]

"I can see these cars becoming popular in cities or small suburban communities "

It will keep the rain off its occupants.

yitbos

[nomorelurker]

selfping