Automobile Industry in India

So, from the title you can guess what the next article is gonna be about, right? Well, yeah, you are dead right! It is about the Cars Industry of India... And, my life's connections with it...

This might seem a bit boring to some people, i know.. But, I am dead sure, this will be interesting to a lot as well, especially guys like me... Well, to be really frank with you, I wasn't such a car "buff" in my school life or even in my college life. But, as I was studying through my rather boring and "redundant" courses in college, I was very fascinated by Engines and Automobiles and Suspensions and Transmission and what not. Movies like "Fast and Furious" series and games like "Need For Speed: Most Wanted" obviously just encouraged me further on. All the modifications that I could do on my Custom ride in NFS really fascinated me and made me think about the whole logic of things.
So, coming back to where we left it, in college, we had this course named "Applied Thermodynamics" which had a bit of Engines in it... Well, that was enough to hook me onto it. That just made me feel that i had taken the right decision in taking up Mechanical Engineering. It all seemed so easy and logical. Eventually, I got to score an "A" in the subject (allah ki dua se! ;) ). Which just made me more inclined towards going into this industry. After that, I spent 6 months training at a Tractor Company! There, I got to see a Tractor being made from scratch in front of my eyes. It was a totally encouraging and interesting time that I had there! Also, I got to gain a lot of technical knowledge as well as knowledge about the industry and the people and how to deal with...

Thereafter, we had the best subject of them all, "Automobile Engineering". Well, I totally enjoyed this subject. Hence I would like to make people know that my fascination was not just limited to AUTOCAR but also to the knowledge of the various parts and systems involved. In fact, I topped in this subject. So, with such an encouragement, i knew I really wanted to go into this sector. And, for anybody Research and Development is the best department because there, the knowledge is unlimited and the common perception was that there are no pressures.

So, I was delighted beyond belief when I got placed in Honda Cars India Ltd, a world renowned premium car maker. My happiness was floating beyond boundaries since this was precisely what I had wanted and wished for, all those 4 years that i was slogging it out in College... On my first day, I got to know that I had been allocated to the R&D division of Honda India, my joy knew no bounds....

Thereafter, when i was allocated to Advanced Product Planning Department, I was a bit skeptic, as I had imagined myself going into Designing or Research. But, after a month, during which i got to know what was actually the work of my department, and, more importantly, what the work of the Designing department was (:P) I decided that whatever happens, happens for the best..

So, now, let me start on the Automobile sector in India... This is all that I have learned from being a part of my present department!
Well, every man knows that in India, Maruti Suzuki cars sell like hot cakes. And, why not? It is an old established name which is associated with cheap, affordable cars.. And, well, in India, cheap cars have been selling the most since 2 decades now. This is why they say the Indian Automobile Market is still very immature. This is because the normal customer does not look at the various options and which option would be the best, they only look at the price and the mileage. Not the power/Luxury/Driving Comfort/Brand Image, etc. This is what sets us apart from every foreign market. In these markets, especially the Europe Market, which is very very mature and complex, people buy new cars and accept them for their utility and not just their price or fuel efficiency. In India, sadly, the conditions are often contrary to this.
And, to prove that Maruti Suzuki have not been successful beyond their cheap segments is the fact that their higher class offerings like "KIZASHI" or "GRAND VITARA" or "SX4" have not sold nearly as well as their compact cars like "ALTO" and "SWIFT". In fact, they have stopped selling Kizashi and Grand Vitara because of the really low sales.
Hyundai has been the most sharp car maker in India. It has tried to establish itself in each segment of the Indian Market, from EON to SONATA. Although all of their products are not as successful, but, they have proven to be a trusted brand in the mind of the customer. I, personally, love their "Fluidic" car philosophy.

Tata and Mahindra have, for decades, concentrated only on the UV market, and, Mahindra has slipped ahead of Tata, with its really smart UV offerings, like XUV 500, which has sold nearly 37,000 cars in a year.

Toyota is the world's highest automobile producer. But, sadly in India, it has not been able to replicate its worldwide success. Although it has guaranteed itself of a sector through INNOVA and FORTUNER, it has been unable to do the same with the Etios series. We might be looking for better offerings that might suit the Indian Market better.
Volkswagen Group is the second most automobile maker, after Toyota. So, there is no surprise that it came to India. But, I, personally have been really disappointed from the VW lineup here in India. They just have one hatch, i.e, POLO. I think they should have also brought their most successful GOLF and UP! series to India as well, and expand their customer base. Also, because of the fact that nobody can beat the Germans at Engineering, I had hoped for a way better lineup from the German pioneers. But, still the group as a whole has been really successful in India, especially SKODA and AUDI, which is set to become the market leader in the Luxury Car Segment. Audi cars are my favourite cars, so i might be a bit biased towards them. How can no one like their tail lights and their streamline flow dude. They are awesome!
Now, I come to my dear beloved HONDA! Well, to say that i am a loyal employee would be a joke. I am a very loyal and protective employee of Honda and its brand. Well, because i am so proud to be an employee of such a huge organisation. And, I am gonna be totally honest with you. Yes, Honda did make a mistake of not introducing a Diesel Engine at the same time as competition and that has led to a great decrease in market share. But, still, CITY is the most bought car in its segment, after Verna. There has to be something in the car to be at that position with just a Petrol Engine option. And, I think CIVIC is the most well designed sleek and classy car in its segment. And, Civic has always been my dream car! Therefore I am waiting impatiently for Honda to introduce diesel offerings so that the brand image and sales improve from its current position. But, still, I would always like to buy the less polluting and easy to maintain Petrol variant rather than a oil burning Diesel variant.I think, other than SUVs, where torque requirements are of utmost necessity, diesel usage is not just worth it. Petrol cars, according to me, give more feel of driving, more power and better Engine life. Not to forget that Diesel is carcinogenic and more polluting.

Well, my brush with this industry has been amazing and i have loved every moment of it. I hope more people come to join this industry because it is way more interesting than the IT Sector and way more stable as well. The "Evergreen" Sector, as they call it! And, if there is a new car buyer reading this, I would give you a very unbiased opinion... If you wanna buy a smart, fun to drive car, always buy a German or a Japanese car. German car for their engineering and Japanese for their refinement and quality. If you wanna buy a stylish car, but, with less driveability, buy a Hyundai/Kia car. But, my friends, unless and until you are in extreme poverty, do not ever buy a Maruti Car. You'd be surprised to know how unstable and unsafe those cars are. They must be counting their lucky stars that there are no safety crash requirements in India right now. Well, that might be a reason that Suzuki recently withdrew from the US market due to lack of sales. Haha. Thus, I end it by saying that my interaction with this industry has not exactly been like i had imagined, but, still, I have loved every moment of it and would like to expand my knowledge past existing levels.

The "CITY" People...

Hey!
Please do not judge that I am from a village/town and I am writing about my experience with a whole new set of City people when i relocated or something like that. NO!
This post is somewhat similar to what i wrote, but, in the sense that I was brought up alongside people who were hard wrung people, if you know what i mean. And, I am from a city. Born and bred! The biggest city in the nation!
And, then I came to college. And, quite obviously, I met a new collection of people. I met people who were as "gawar" as a person can possibly be. Without any scope of sophistication. But, that was pretty much expected, wasn't it? All of our's parents have told us that we shall meet new people and they shall be different. Well. I was a bit taken aback by the "difference". And i am not talking about the aforementioned kind of people. I am talking about the city people. People from the biggest cities of the nation. And these people turned out to be even more pathetic than the village guys. Even you might have encountered such kinds of people in your life? Schools, Friend circles, Parties, Workplaces, etc?
Some usual characteristics of such people are that they have been brought up in a hugely, i mean it HUGELY, protective atmosphere. Where every need of theirs, be it emotional or material, was catered to in a top priority manner! They sneeze once and their parents take them to the doctor for a possible case of cold or pneumonia. Excuse me guys, but are you SERIOUS?! Do they not understand that the more they protect their children, the more weak they'll turn out to be. Scientifically speaking, if they do not encounter any disease, the anti-bodies won't be manufactured by the natural system of their bodies. And, after they move out from their parents' gracious presence, they will fall sick in the outside. And, then what will these parents do then?! Hmm? They would be regretting the fact that they grew up their kids in this manner. At least that is what i hope. At some point of time, they should realize that they have been wrong in their upbringing! And, these kids are normally the softest creatures around. The moment you say anything not so polite in front of them (read: frank stuff) they start crying and just run away. They go home every weekend or whenever they get an opportunity to just get back into that protected comfortable atmosphere/ambiance that their home and their parents provide. These kids do not know how to have senseful conversations with other people. The outside people. With whom we have to deal for the most of our lives. They can't get their work done themselves and often rely on others for getting even the simplest things done. Often, they don't even mind bribes and other immoral stuff to get their work done. These people have problems in sharing and accommodating with other people. They turn selfish to a degree that they do not give their stuff like shampoo or a bucket to even their roommates or classmates. And, all the "natak" that they do when things are not happening according to how they want them to happen! My God. "Dinner is not tasty as it was at home, we won't eat healthy food. Instead, we shall eat junk garbage like chips and cold drinks and maggi". This all really infuriates me. But, what can the third person do?! If you approach them and tell them that what they do and what they are is not right for themselves, they won't take your criticism in a positive manner, would they? They will get mad. Abuse you. And, I can't blame them for that. Well, totally. They have been brought up in this manner. They have lived a good twenty odd years in every comfort possible. Do you know who is to blame for their condition? The parents. The people who were responsible for their upbringing. Don't you agree with me? If the children had been taught from the start that they have to adjust with other people, share your stuff and eat whatever is given to you, don't you think that these stupid children would have been different? And, better? Hmm? These people often are found in groups of their likes only. Only few people have the patience to deal with such selfish snobbish people.
Another recent thing that i heard. "I can't sleep anywhere new, because, it's not my bed." I was stunned upon hearing this. This is what happens when people are not used to sharing. Not used to suffering the hardships and difficulties in life. This, in turn, does not prepare them for the brutal life that lies ahead of each and every one of us. People who leave their homes and start living in PGs and hostels start cribbing after not a long time (the maximum was a week) about the efforts that they have to take, how they have to be outside of their comfortable homes, the not so tasty food that they have to consume, and the list goes on. They cry about living without their parents, siblings, usual friends, etc. And, all i can say deep inside is that look dude. This is life. You will never be able to live with these people for the whole of your existence anyways. You simply have to learn to live without them. You have to learn to not cry that "why is my sister/mother not here" and "i miss my home" and all the other rubbish things people cry about. You have to learn to be alone and self-reliant. Because, in life, you can never be with all your close people for the whole of your lives. You just have to know that you will live alone. And, you have to be strong and you have to prepare yourself mentally for such an ordeal. Because there is no other way, my friend. 
And, I literally thank my parents aloud that they made me aware of all the difficulties in life. That they made sure that I did not have a rosy comfortable protected childhood. So that now I can live the hard life without too many adjustments to make. Without crying unnecessarily. That now i can accept all the hardships in life with a chin up. Not fearful of the coming life. Not fearful of living alone, without my parents and the comforts! So, that i can live perfectly well in the hostile places that this world has. So, that i can know how to deal with all kinds of people. And, all this i have experienced. Painfully. I have been to a lot of places. Stayed there. Met the real worst kind of people. Who do not respect you at all. And i can gladly say that i survived!
I feel pity for the other kind of people. Well, because, they are not aware that a really hard life awaits them outside these walls, you can say. And that the life will blow the winds out of their mouth if they are not ready to adjust and live. I hope someone reads this post and maybe is able to get braver, stronger and is able to face the unkind world. I hope this helps someone...

Rain..

Rain! Aaah.. It brings so many varied reactions from different people. Totally different type of people. Each and every one of them! Generally, for people, it brings freshness, relief, happiness. A new beginning! An end to suffering.
I seem to agree with the latter. I think of raining as the nature's method of destruction and restoration. It rains to undo all the evil effects that humans bring upon this world. The rains kill people. It is a way of telling the people that our mother Earth can not support so many people exploiting its resources! There has to be a balance. And, hence, the nature does away with people and buildings to maintain this critical balance required for the nature to continue in an advantageous & positive manner. The rain brings relief because we had been oppressed by the extreme conditions (whether heat or cold). These weather conditions have been brought directly or indirectly because of the man's exploitation of the Earth's resources. This may also indicate why do we see irregular patterns of rainfall these days. This can be a way in which Nature is telling us that the usual rain pattern cannot undo the problems in the Earth! That we ourselves have to do the things ourselves. Or the rain will turn from its role of a "restorer" into "destructor".
For me, the meaning of rain has changed its meaning as I have grown older. When I was young, I used to enjoy every time rained to its fullest! I used to go and dance and do all those crazy things that children do. Or at least what children in our age used to do. I am not that sure that today's children do. But, that is a different thing and I shall come to it in a later post.
As I have grown older, the role of rains has changed from just mere relief to a graver role of a warning sign that i have mentioned earlier. It now just makes me wait for appointments, irritates me as I can't go out to do my jobs.
Sometimes, it still reminds me of my carefree childhood. But, the number of times that these memories come back dwindle in number...
I long to see how it will be when I get even more older...

Lets hope that it becomes positive!

The year that passed me by...

So, now that we are sitting in our razais, etc and another year of our lives comes to an end, I cannot help but ponder about the year that has gone by. Yes, it always seems like it passed away in a flash. Seems like you can imagine yourself being in a place which you had been in, last year, if you know what I’m saying? Like, that’s totally the case with me. And, as we come to the horizon of the new year, we know that life will be changing completely for us. Most of my peers will be entering a new phase of life as they start working and earning for themselves. Hence, I look forward to an exciting and fast paced year ahead and best wishes to everyone who’s going to enter this new phase alongside me.

So, for me, hmm, the year was a total roller coaster ride. For all science junkies out there, like a “cos” curve. :P. Hey, very co-incidental. Ain’t chussu dude! A great beginning, lots of new friendships and this year round, lost a lot of people too whom I had thought were my friends. Also, the worst part was the six months i spent in Bhopal. Please, it deserves a special mention! It can easily be the filthiest city ever, with all the worst people ever collected and thrown into one single garbage can. The people at Eicher were the worst that I’ve ever seen. But, you get up and learn from these experiences. I learnt foremost how to survive in the worst of conditions. Other than that, I obviously learnt that how work is done (getting it done would be the right phrase) in the Industry atmosphere and at the very worst of that.

On a more personal level, this year was so very much about losses and gains. There were new relationships forged during the course of this year. I lost a lot of close people. Atleast people whom I thought were close to me. I couldn’t have even guessed at the start of this year that I would be losing so many people. It would’ve been so hard to imagine that I would’ve laughed at the mere thought of it. There were people who had been “best friends” for 9 whole years, and yet, they were the ones to break trust, bitch about me right behind my back and make me look like a bloody a*#($&^e.  He should’ve always known what i was. What I thought. Everything. And, yet he went ahead and ruined another friendship for me. And, that loss is what affects me a lot! Like, there were a lot of ups and downs, but, never have there been so deep lows. And, what a shock it was all for me. Somebody I seemed to trust so much with all of a sudden turned its back on me and accused me of something where I was clearly not at fault!  All the people said let it be. That person always behaves like this but never means it, by heart. But, it was like limits. How many times should I forgive?! And, why the hell should I be the one who has to bend according to the situations?! I swore to myself that I would never ever forgive that person ever again. That is what was deserved! It was like. Sheer disappointment. So much so for all the thoughts of a good friendship to last a lifetime. :|
Those things, as they say, are just too good to come true, don’t they? And, thus, a good friendship collapsed. With it collapsing, there were so many other aftershocks. So many outbursts. But, there was this one word. Ego! It could’ve healed all those wounds but it just weakened everything even further! Driven to the point of no return. It led to so many friendships getting broken! So much shit. And because of what? Some stranger person whom we were both against at that time, coming there and bitching about me? Is that it? Is that how much I was trusted?! Feels so much like I was the only one thinking that I had a good friend and not vice versa. And, if you think about it, won’t you say that it is mean. Hated that the most. And, as days rolled by, I became okay with the fact that there was a person whose face disgusted me and whom I would never talk to! No apologies came either. Not to my surprise!

College life! Oh God, how much had I missed my college while away for 6 months! Made me realize the importance of College/Patiala and taught me to not crib about that town! It was refreshing to come back to the old routine life! And, with the final year of college came the fresh tension of campus placements. And, my god, how seriously depressing can it get?! You come about to regret so many things that you said/didn’t say/ wrote. And the whole thing keeps running in your mind over & over & over again! Very depressing! And, until you get one, you just have to learn to live with that heavy load on your shoulders and you are waiting for it to just subside and go away. I failed at many points. The main point of obstacle for me proved to be Group Discussions. Failed three times! And, then, after 7 times, that I cleared the written, I finally got a job. A very good and satisfying job (I hope)! Just the type of job that I had hoped for! And, as they all used to say, with due patience you do get something that you had hoped for and you deserved.

A great failure in the year that passed was the Metallica fiasco. Yes, many of you might be laughing at us, but, then you wouldn’t have been there, that’s why you’re laughing. It was, like, heartbreaking. I personally had placed a lot of hopes on it as it was one of my dreams to attend a gig of such a huge magnitude. Hence, it delivered a great deal of disappointment. Sigh.

Along this road of life, I met a lot of new people. A lot of acquaintances turned into best of friends. A/C room might get a special mention (:P). Met some really irritating selfish kind of people as well. The kind of people whose mere sight prompts you to give them one tight slap. But, can’t, for the sake of maintaining the social protocol. Then there were some a&*#%es who, per se were 20 year old but behaved like an immature 5 year old child! They did anything without realizing where the lines are drawn or when they should start acting their age.  And, those crybabies did not realize that their actions could have an impact on other people as well. If only they would have had the brains to think. Just a little. And, I sincerely hope that they really suffer all the consequences. And they remain as miserable as they have made others. Call me a sadist, but that is called justice and fairness of nature.

And, as the year came to an end, I realized again the horror of giving exams. Sigh.

This year was also an adventurous one at the family level with my sister getting engaged and all the preparations taking place at a hectic pace for her wedding. So much shopping and responsibilities were a new for me and I enjoyed all the functions and hope that I enjoy the wedding functions as much as I enjoyed the earlier functions and give my sister my best wishes for the future as she encounters this great milestone in her journey of life.

My best wishes to each and every one of you! May you and your family have an awesome new year ahead and have the joy and fun of your lives.