The Nano Diaries
There are those of us who crave the open road. And then there are those
of us for whom a road trip means ensnaring oneself in some of the
world's most notorious traffic. One such person is Vanessa Able,
an aptly-named British journalist who set out from Mumbai and has been road-tripping through
India for the past several months. Her saving grace? The journey is
taking place via a bright yellow Tata Nano. This Indian-designed car costs about $2,500 and is the cheapest in the world, and has the potential to
revolutionize the way the country travels. Able is blogging at The Nano Diaries, and I asked her to share some experiences from the not-so-open road.
Why did you choose to drive across India, and why in a Tata Nano?
The idea of driving across India and doing it in a Nano surfaced at the same time. I was thinking a lot about the Nano, and what it means in India and in the world to have such a cheap, accessible vehicle on the market. And how that affects and reflects India's social and economic development and the recent boom of its middle classes. After all, with money comes leisure time and the luxury option of a holiday: the freedom of the road is suddenly open to many thousands of Indians. And there are so many tales about crossing India in every form of transport, from camels to rickshaws to Enfields and Ambassadors, I figured it was appropriate to add the Nano to that list.
Why did you choose to drive across India, and why in a Tata Nano?The idea of driving across India and doing it in a Nano surfaced at the same time. I was thinking a lot about the Nano, and what it means in India and in the world to have such a cheap, accessible vehicle on the market. And how that affects and reflects India's social and economic development and the recent boom of its middle classes. After all, with money comes leisure time and the luxury option of a holiday: the freedom of the road is suddenly open to many thousands of Indians. And there are so many tales about crossing India in every form of transport, from camels to rickshaws to Enfields and Ambassadors, I figured it was appropriate to add the Nano to that list.
Date: April 30th, 2010 @ 14:30
Categories: Independent Travel
This post was originally posted by Marilyn Terrell @ Intelligent Travel Blog.
> Read the original post here
> Read the original post here
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