| Published on 16-10-2006 In General | | Viewed 1041 times | | A 'steal' for this Diwali! |
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| Written by
T. S. V. Hari | 
This being the age of advertisements and marketing strategies, I was advised against buying a new car.
"The Tatas will soon come out with a vehicle that will cost less than one lakh rupees, so postpone the decision," my automobile consultant Dayalan said.
"But it would be impossible to create a car for that price tag. Further, the central government will not forgo its taxes come what may," I protested.
"If I were you, I would still not buy the car now. Tatas are a big company. They can do anything they want," Dayalan argued.
"Really? What about all those advertisements about the mobile phones with the same brand? I still haven't seen much business in that sector. Further, they had advertised another car a long time ago, and it wound up nowhere very fast," I said.
"Why do you want to waste good money on a car so quickly? Why don't you wait for the new year?" The wife, always my critic queried.
"People may say all sorts of things. But when it comes to fulfilling their promises, they can always backtrack. Remember Maruti? In the mid-seventies they promised to produce an indigenous car for the cost of a scooter. When they finally delivered, it cost some Rs.50,000 or so," I said.
"If you buy a car today, you will end up paying thrice. And if Tatas keep their promise, your vehicle will have no resale value," my son Amar said.
"We have no parking space around our house," the wife continued her harangue. "Worse, we have a mechanic shop nearby. They will steal petrol from the vehicle left parking on the roadside."
"All this is hogwash. Maruti is an established company. They would have thought a way out of all this," I said.
"Really?" asked Amar. "Remember a car called Versa? Amitabh Bachchan and his son Abishek jointly endorsed it. Instead of saying that it has more legroom, they went into a spiel of giving two cars for the price of one in the same vehicle. Now Abishek has started advertising for Ford!"
"Come to think of it, Ford isn't a bad buy at all," I ventured cautiously. "I am sure Abishek knows what is good for us."
"Abishek knows who pays better," Amar interjected. "He doesn't mind being upstaged by a silly mobile phone just because he happens to get paid better."
"Come to think of it, even my mobile is too old. I should take the cue from Abishek and buy a new Motorola model which has a camera, FM radio and a huge hard disk to store music," I offered.
"A mobile is to be used for urgent telephone conversations.
And what is more, for the kind of pictures you take, you can buy a small camera for less than Rs.1,000, plus a radio for less than Rs.100 and retain your old mobile. Gizmos with too many things combined are strictly for the birds – the fleecing variety that is," Amar said.
"Do you mean to say that all those advertisements showing big products are a waste of time?" I asked, a little annoyed.
"Advertisements mean more money for the agencies who splurge it shooting the commercial in salubrious locales like Switzerland, because there are sucker companies that will pay them," Amar averred.
"So the car is out, a new mobile is not on. What more should I keep off?"
"I want a silk sari for Diwali and a gold chain," the wife snapped.
"You will be responsible for killing thousands of silkworms for just one sari and a reason for robbers to snatch your chain," Amar contested. "For our type of climate in Chennai, all we need is simple cotton attire."
"Is that all? Do you mean to say that all those hoardings and television commercials with pretty actresses showing off their silk saris are spent needlessly by all those big showrooms?"
"I am not saying that," Amar said finally after a little thought. "After all those demolitions – the showrooms have to recover their losses somehow. You will have to take the call as to whether you would end up as more currency in their cash chests."
"A car, phone, and good dresses are out, you say. What do I do with the Diwali bonus?" I asked to no one in particular.
"I have an answer to that," Amar answered with a strange glint in his eyes.
All of us including Dayalan turned to look at him once more.
After satisfying himself that he had all our undivided attention, Amar spoke.
"Remember the satellite city project jettisoned by the government? There will be large tracts of land in the outskirts of Chennai with virtually no buyers because the plan has been given up. Instead of living in a pigeonhole here, we could sell this flat and relocate to a farmhouse not far away from here and it will be a steal. Of course, you can't buy it with your Diwali bonus for this year, but you can always apply for a loan and book a plot of land. In a couple of years, that area will be as congested as here and we can make a good profit even if we sell it off later," Amar said.
"Then it will not mean a Diwali for me. It will be Diwala!" I said, ending the conversation. |
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