India is aspirational and perhaps it is only because of this quality that we have been making progress against all odds. We try and fight against draconian laws, red tape, corruption and everything else that stands in the way of simple development. Our country is in the process of being called developed, as a result, our desires are still stuck at looking at needs as wants. And we can’t be blamed, because something like the motorcar, which should ideally be a basic tool to get by everyday, for a majority of us, is still a luxury and an answered prayer. In a lot of cases, as ridiculous as it might be, it still is a reason to get married.
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So on one hand, we have manufacturers, who’ve been innovative and have brought the price point down to a bare minimum for the masses to be able to afford a car, on the flip side they have had to use metal as thin as an edible film, skimp on life saving features and lure the bride’s father with new lows. Why does that man not care for his daughter or his son-in-law to be? You’d say ignorance and we’d agree. But then where he himself, his family and the future groom have been travelling atop dangerously packed buses, hanging for dear life next to the driver of an open Jeep, or inadvertently perform in the circus of the Great Indian commuting scene, just being able to sit on a chair of their own inside the confines of their own car is being rich enough. There is demand for bare minimum, the supply has to come from somewhere and it will. Who do you blame?
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Education hasn’t helped matters either. I know this man who used to work with a very large petrochemical outfit and is now at the helm of affairs in my neighboring office. He recently bought a particular car’s base model which was devoid of any airbags or the works. When asked why did he not pick the variant which at least offered airbags and ABS? His response, “Since I have a driver, I sit in the backseat whereas the airbags are at the front. What’s the point if they won’t save me anyways? It has an AC, is compact and does its job. What more would I want for an everyday commute? Moreover, my driver has served me for the last 20 years without a single crash. I trust my life with him and God. When it’s my time, I’ll have to go anyways. Not even 10 airbags will save me that day.” He then smiled, walked away and I did not know what to say to a man who thinks like that.
The government must make it mandatory for all car manufacturers to infuse all their products with world class safety features. That’ll be great, but then there will be some other repercussions. It will mean that prices will shoot north and for that bride’s humble father who is most certainly under a burden of other debts, he’ll have to part ways with a bigger chunk of his land to fulfill the wishes of his sick son-in-law. That family of four who has been braving rain, sun and the cold on a motorcycle, their balancing act will have to continue. Their skins will have to wait a little longer until the harsh sun stops burning it. The earning members will have to skip on one necessity to be able to afford that higher EMI. What is an affordable dream now, will become an expensive purchase. But for that milestone shifting its position into a higher orbit, at least the possibility of a nightmarish incident wiping off that happy grin of having realized a dream will be lesser. But then if that family has to extend their daredevil act of commuting together on a motorcycle, their goalpost moves further, that relatively safer haven on four wheels becomes distant, does it still make sense?
The opinions expressed within this article are those of the author. The article does not reflect the views of Motoroids and Motoroids does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.