What's with these newspaper car advisors ? Goof-up by even 'The Hindu' is shocking!!!

Among the English dailies in India, 'The Hindu' is considered top-notch in terms of quality, content, error-free reporting, lack of bias, newsprint, lack of Page3 content etc. In my
opinion, it is the best English newspaper in India and this is after sampling various dailies available in different parts of India.

So every Wednesday, I do not miss the 'Metro Plus' supplement which has 2 pages dedicated
to cars - new models, vintage and ofcourse the 'Virtual Mechanic' which can be called the print equivalent of www.team-bhp.com's (my favourite car forum) "What car?" section.

Yesterday's 'Virtual Mechanic' had this query by a reader (D. Adarsh) :
Q : Can you tell me about the brands that are likely to be launched within the next year, in
the same segment as the Maruti SX4? What about the VW Jetta? Will it be competitively
priced like the Fabia Diesel? Are there any other VW brands likely to be launched in the
Rs. 6-9 lakh range? Will Honda come up with a diesel version of either the new City or the
Jazz?

And the answer was :

A : The next six months will be quite exciting in terms of launches. The new Toyota Corolla is expected in September 2009 & will be priced between Rs.10-12 lakh & the Fiat Linea
is expected at the same time and will be priced between Rs.7-9 lakh. The VW Jetta is expected in July 2009 and should cost between Rs.13-16 lakh and will come with a petrol
and diesel engine. There is no model from VW expected in the Rs. 6-9 lakh range this year,
but the Polo will come out next year. There are no plans for diesel engines for either the Jazz
or the new City.

To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I first checked the date of the newspaper, thinking that maybe I am reading an old paper. But no, it was a supplement dated 18-Feb-09.

The Corolla Altis has been launched only few months ago. So I wondered how a new one is expected just 7 months later. I ignored this bit thinking that the Altis was anyway a minor makeover. So maybe Toyota will bring in a fresh new Corolla, though I don't remember
reading anything about this on tbhp.

But then he goes on to say that the Linea is also expected in Sep 2009. We have reams of
pages on team-bhp detailing Linea test-drives on the forum and people have booked it and
some have even brought it home. And these guys are telling the reader to wait for it.

And then the article says that VW Jetta is expected in July 2009. I had read about the Jetta being already in the market, but since I am not much interested in 10lakh+ cars, I was not
too sure. So checked the VW site online and yes, they have the Jetta on sale.

I just can't believe that 'The Hindu' had this on their pages.

P.S. : Here is the full article.

While for most, the recession is a nightmare, for a few it is welcome, due to being a leveller.

Almost everyone you meet or talk to is worried about the recession and global slow-down.
Even autorickshaw-drivers cite the slowdown for not reducing fares inspite of the price of
petrol going down by Rs10 per litre. These were the same guys who hiked fares to the sky
when the government hiked petrol prices due to international crude-oil prices hovering in
the 140$ range.

However, there are some who think a recession is actually the best thing that could have happened to India. They see it as a big leveller. These people were horrified by the absurd increase in the cost of living that was a result of the IT boom. They were amazed at the
atrocious prices at which tiny 2-bedroom apartments were being sold in even Tier-2 cities
like Cochin or even in much smaller towns like Kollam.

Initially the slowdown was not impacting Kerala like it affected other parts of India. This
was because the economy of Kerala is not very much dependent on the US or EU. It is highly dependent on the Middle Eastern Arab countries (referred to as the 'Gulf' in local parlance) where most Keralites work.

But the Arab countries began to take a hit when the price of crude oil plummetted to the level
of 30-odd dollars. For the Arabs, the biggest revenue grosser is oil and when its price falls to around 1/5th of what it was few months ago, their spending naturally takes a huge hit. The after-effects of this were seen in salary cuts of immigrant workers, freezing recruitment and even layoffs.

While it is mostly the IT crowd that is the reason for over-the-top spending in the major
Indian cities, in Kerala, it is the Gulf crowd that lead this surge. You can easily make out this crowd from the normal Keralite. Apart from flashy dressing and the ubiquitious gold chain around their neck, what mainly distinguishes them is their "throw money around" attitude.

If you are at a fish market bargaining for a kilo or more of some fish that costs around 300
bucks per kilo, what can easily spoil your party is one of these guys coming over. If they like
the fish, they will buy it without bargaining and paying the asking price. And you will be left standing there wondering why for the fish-vendor, you almost do not seem to exist when a "Gulfie' is around.

Fish is Priority No.1 for almost all Keralites - well it is closely tied with Gold. I say 'almost' because I am not much of a sea-food lover and possibly the only 1 in the family who leans
more towards meat than fish. Even my 16-month old son who is just about learning to speak,
is crazy about fish and there is no way he would eat lunch or dinner without Mi-Mi (his term
for 'Meen" which is what is Mallu-speak for fish).

So, last Sunday when my FIL came in from his morning visit to the fish market, he was not
in a good mood. It seems he had identified a particular fish to buy and while he was bargaining
hard on the price, in walks a 'Gulfie' who pays the asking price and vanishes with what my FIL thought would be on his plate for lunch. :-)

My FIL & MIL are retired government employees living on a fixed monthly pension plus
savings from their lifetime of work. While they do like their fish, they cannot afford to throw around money like either the 'Gulfie' or the 'Techie'. After yet another disappointing encounter with the way these 2 groups of people were contributing to rising prices of fish, this was a brief summary of the conversation at my wife's home :

FIL : I am glad about the whole recession thing. I would say let it continue for some more
time so that these 'Gulfies' & 'Techies' would know how to value money without throwing it
around, not only making life difficult for the common man, but also contributing to an absurd
rise in prices of most food items.

MIL : You might be right, but if the recession continues, many people will lose their jobs not
only in the Middle East, US but also those working in India.

FIL : Who cares ? Let them lose their jobs. Atleast post-recession, they will learn to value
money, to save for a rainy day and to spend wisely.

MIL : Maybe they would. But I still think you should be careful about what you are wishing
for ?

FIL : Why should I be careful ?

MIL : Pretty simple. Because both your sons-in-law are techies. :-)
FIL: !!!

And like everytime, my MIL had the last word.

How can adults behave like total assholes ? Have they lost it ?

I am sorry about the title of this post, but what I read in the newspapers yesterday has left
me so angry that I cannot help it. Yesterday's Deccan Chronicle had this photo in it. I could
not believe my eyes or actually take in the fact that some people can stoop so low & behave
like animals.



A 6-year old kid was thrashed by a couple of cops in UttarPradesh (a state in India), which is referred to as the cow-belt of India. Literacy rates are abysmally low there which would obviously reflect in the way people behave. But still ? How can someone kick around a small
kid, a girl at that ?

Quoting from the news report,
"Six-year-old Komal was brutally thrashed by the police at the Etawah police station on
Monday evening. The police pulled up the Dalit girl by her hair, twisted her ears, slapped
her repeatedly and kicked her around. The girl screamed with pain and sobbed that she
was innocent but the cops continued to laugh and subjected the girl to intense physical
torture even as local TV channels recorded the event. "

All this because she was suspected to have stolen Rs280 (less than 6$). Even assuming
she stole the money, is this how you treat a kid ? I wonder whether these idiots don't
have any kids of their own. If it was their kid, would they have behaved in the same way ?
Heck, even if it is someone else's kid, would you kick a kid or slap her ?

The cops have been suspended, which is no consolation. I just hope someone thrashes their backside and kicks their sorry heads like a football. That should make them understand.

Many Happy returns of the day, Divya.

My favourite niece is 10 years old today. As I think back to 4th Feb, 1999, I can still vividly
recollect the small baby that I held in my arms, who is now a young girl. It was her arrival
that made me an uncle for the first time and she was such a trouble-free baby in the first
few years of her life. I don't think I can say that about my other nephew Dan or niece Ann
or even about my son.

Talking about my son, yesterday I was thinking that I should have named him 'Calvin' given
his antics that seem to have a connection with the Calvin of "Calvin & Hobbes" cartoon fame.
Or even 'Dennis" from the "Dennis the Menace" series. :-)

Divya, like any other kid, is changing by the day, becoming more mature. More so, after her
baby brother was born a year ago. On earlier birthdays, she would be so excited about the
whole birthday party thing and about the presents she would like to get. But this time, all
she was bothered about was throwing a grand party on her brother Dan's birthday.

I called to wish her on her birthday and asked what present she would like me to get her.
To my surprise she did not have anything in mind and said, "Let me ask Mummy", to which
I replied that, "The present is for you, not for your Mummy. So you tell me what you want".
When she still could not come up with anything, I told her to think and let me know.

It is so surprising how kids change over time. In the past, Divya could never be found tongue-
tied when asked what she wanted. On each of my visits abroad on work, she had a list ready
of things she wanted me to get her from there. But now, she is not sure any more.

Have a great day, Divya. Love you lots.