THE STRANGER IN MY HOME
  • Home
  • Vignettes
    • Encounters
    • Events
    • Experiences
    • Epiphanies
  • Stories
  • Fables
  • Translations
  • Miscellany
  • Now/Then

now  /  then

blogs and blends

Chariots Of Fire

2/20/2016

1 Comment

 
​The car has become, said Marshall McLuhan, an article of dress without which we feel uncertain, unclad and incomplete.

I grew up in an eastern Indian city which had few cars. My parents never had one; they were average middle-class educators. I do not remember ever feeling deprived: I went everywhere in public buses and trams. The ticket cost less than a US cent.

When I came out of the university, a large European company recruited me and within two years I was a well-heeled executive. I still patronized public transport. It was only when I started dating regularly, I began to feel less well-equipped than other executives who had cars. I longed for the privacy and easy mobility of a private car. So I saved and bought, for what seemed a princely sum, a previously owned Fiat. It had occasional problems, but on the whole it served me well.
​
Yet, in a short while, my sights changed. I longed for the proud ownership of a new car. Within a couple of years, I had saved enough to afford a brand-new Fiat. Fiat was one of the only two brands made in India then, and I didn't care for the other. I chose a striking new color the manufacturer had introduced that year, and it pleased me that others immediately recognized its newness.
Picture
Picture
When I immigrated to the US and joined an international organization in Washington, D.C., I impulsively bought a new Mercedes. The very smell of the interior felt captivating the first day. I kept buying Mercedes models for several years, till I switched to BMW. I noticed, however, that, after the first momentary lift of spirits, the new possession seemed to do less for me than earlier purchases. I really couldn’t get excited about an acquisition that appeared only to excite others.
​
The next time around I disregarded the importunings of my friends at the Mercedes and BMW dealerships. I went ahead and bought a previously owned modest compact Japanese car.
1 Comment
Alpana Ghosh
2/20/2016 09:19:30

To me the story ended rather abruptly.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Manish Nandy

    Writer, Speaker, Consultant
    Earlier: Diplomat, Executive


    Archives

    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015

    RSS Feed


    Categories

    All

Proudly powered by Weebly
© Manish Nandy 2015  The Stranger in My Home