Cars I Drove Over the Years

Since I am not a zillionaire, these are quite modest and do not include the Ferraris, Mercs and the like, but I just realised that it is an interesting list nevertheless. For example, I started driving at age 18 on a vintage Ford Prefect 1955, which has that old world look, complete with a cranking "handle" to start it like the Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi car, and a floor gear. It also had a footboard on both sides, and we as children used to enjoy standing on it on the drive from the gate to the garage while my father or mother was driving. Great fun! 

The next car was a humdrum "Fiat" which was an official car (parents'), which I did not drive much, as it came with a driver. My next one in the US was a giveaway from Alok, my friend who had finished his PhD and bought a new Toyota Celica in 1986. His old Datsun (from Nissan)- 1976 I think, was what I drove for a year. It was a zippy car, by Indian standards, though it had a leaky cylinder which meant one spark plug constantly needed cleaning, much to the amusement of our American friends.

I then bought a 1979 Ford Granada, and we made our first around-the-US yatra in it, going from Clemson to Los Angeles and back. We later made another longer round trip in a similar Ford Lincoln that we hired. The Ford Granada was a luxury car, and was fantastic for long rides, though a gas guzzler compared to the Datsun. But then, petrol was cheap enough for us graduate students to go gallivanting. So we covered around 25 states of the 50 US states in that tri[.

I celebrated my PhD with another used car, a Subaru with a hatchback, station wagon style. (Pic above- black one), This was a great car for its handling, and carrying capacity. We could stuff almost anything, (though we never tried a small elephant, maybe we could have) at the back and we used it for many short trips, including to the Tennessee mountains in Fall season to see the multi-

coloured leaves. (Above- the Ford Granada)

My first car back in India in 1995 was again a Fiat (Premier Padmini), which I liked a lot for its hand-gears and seating capacity. Six was a comfortable fit. It saw me through Harihar, and my Lucknow days, where I sold it. Next I bought a new car for the first time, the good old Maruti 800. Lasted me 2 years, and I exchanged it for an Esteem (pic above, Silver-coloured) when I moved to Bangalore. I drove a lot of the 800, and I drive a lot less of the Esteem, because I am mortally scared of Bangalore traffic. But I did make a couple of trips to Goa and to Salem, and enjoyed the comfort of the ride.

All in all, an interesting bunch of cars.

My Avatars on Earth- 2

Being earthy, I have had multiple avatars on earth. This is an attempt to capture some of them.

 Above. Second from left, acting in a play "Waiting for Lefty" at IIMB.
Sudhir Goel Robin Thomas and Sivaram are with me in the scene.

 Above- posing on my parents' Ford. Below- Backseat driving at Jaipur.

Preparing for a political career, at least dressing up for one.

Brands I Grew Up With

As a user, the first brand I recognised was Philips, most likely. Our radio was Philips, though Murphy was probably around at the time too. The next one that I became aware of was Colgate, which had a dominant market share, followed by Binaca and Forhans.

When I had to wash clothes in the hostel, it was always the blue Rin detergent bar that would be the preferred choice. The restaurant brand was the Hilton (not THAT Hilton) cafe at the corner of Osmania University campus. (there was a branded women's college called Andhra Mahila Sabha pretty close by, and I was aware of that too).

We had a club branded as Yellandu Club in the mining towns we lived in, and I spent a lot of  time playing Badminton or swimming there. Theraja is a great author brand in Electrical engineering, and we worshipped him.

Among the Hyderabadi hotels, Kamat and Taj Mahal were the most frequented for their south Indian meals, followed by Alpha or Garden for their biryanis. The theatre brands were awesome in Hyderabad, with Ramakrishna 70mm being the pick of the lot, till Maheswari and Santosh came in. Royal in Koti was also a good theatre. Sangeet was very good for English movies, with an upmarket crowd.

My first camera was a Pentax, though I learnt photography on a German folding camera my parents had.

Cars- I drove a Datsun, a Ford Granada (huge) and a Subaru while in the U.S., and a Premier Padmini and a Maruti 800 before moving on to an Esteem later (still drive it).

Through the Window by Julian Barnes - Book Review

This is the third book by Julian Barnes that I have read (well, most of it). Each one was different. Only one was fiction.

This one is a collection of essays about authors. George Orwell, Michel Houellebecq (Atomised was the title his novel had in English, translated from French) , Hemingway, Flaubert (rather, Madame Bovary), Kipling, and a few more.

This is an intriguing book, because writers rarely write about other writers- at least not that much. Rather than a traditional review, I will give you a few passages/quotes from this book.

Michel Houellebecq

"It is in our relations with other people, that we gain a sense of ourselves; it's that, pretty much, that makes relations with other people unbearable."

"Anything can happen in life, especially nothing."

Orwell

"All art is to some extent, propaganda."

Ernest Renan, quoted in the chapter about Orwell

"Getting its history wrong is part of being a nation."

Some wonderful anecdotes, and more, about the lives and inclinations of some well-known (and some not) authors. If you are into this sort of reading, wonderful stuff. Well-written.

Made in America by Bill Bryson

Bryson has been a favourite (British spelling- my salaam to the CROWN) since I first read his non-travelogue exposition of all the science in our world's history. But his travelogues are good too. This one is a mix of sorts, that traces the history of everything American- mostly meaning the U.S.

For instance, he tells us that lots of food stuff that's known as Italian was actually invented in the U.S.- spaghetti with meat balls, fettucini something or the other....and so on. So were lots of phrases, including (gasp) Keep a stiff upper lip, phoney, baloney, and lots of others. Thanks to the Perry Mason stories, I am familiar with many of these.

He also traces the history of the modern retail stores, and of malls. The original idea of a mall was a comfortable place to hang out in, like European streets. Shopping was secondary. I still practice that, but I am in a minority. Mall owners have removed, as Bryson astutely observes, most benches or made them backless, to prevent hanging around.

There are chapters about movies, education and its state in the States, immigration and its role in U.S. prosperity, and inventions like the first plane ride in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina- which I have visited once. All in all, a good ride.