Hip, Hot and Happening

What’s the matter with the car I’m driving?



Don’t you know that it’s out of style?


Should I get a set of white wall tyres?


Are you gonna do the miracle mile?


Now-a-days you can’t be too sentimental


Your best bet’s a true baby blue Continental


Hot funk, Cool Punk, Even if it’s old junk


It’s still Rock n Roll to me.

–from Billy Joel’s song "Its still Rock ’n Roll to

me"

Billy Joel would have been disappointed. His song was old

fashioned then. It is archaic now. The slug-out between the Fiat and Ambassador,

and later between the Premier Padmini and the Ambassador, seems as old as

Methuselah himself. A car is no longer four wheels, a chassis and a hood that

can carry a family of four or six in comfort. Since the slew gates opened in the

mid-90s, the Indian automotive market has been inundated with the best brands

the world has to offer. Ergo–like power dressing, we now have the era of power

driving. Today, the cars vying for visibility on Indian roads include the Opel

Astras, Mitsubishi Lancers, BMWs and Mercedes’ of the world.

They bring with them a strong brand, a great deal of style

and a lot of features. Prepare to be sneered at, therefore, if you don’t know

what MPIJ means, or if you are innocent of such knowledge as which car offers a

GPS (global positioning system). And sorry–you’re not getting the answers

here!

To kick off the new year a little differently, Dataquest

asked Indian IT’s top chief executives which cars they drove and why. What was

the first car they owned and what is it that they look for when buying a car in

today’s changed auto firmament? For more on that, read on...

Abraham

Thomas, CEO and MD, IBM India



Abraham Thomas has a case of the blues. The first car he bought at the age

of 18 was a Daihatsu Charade in light blue. The Honda City he has now is a dark

blue, as have been most of the cars he’s owned in between. He also has a beige

Mitsubishi Lancer, but that, he says with a wave of his hand, "is used by

my wife and children. Blue is the color I love".

Thomas changes his car every three years or so, looks at

safety features first and then comfort, when buying a new one, and while in

India, prefers to be driven around rather than drive himself, which is what he

does back home in Singapore. There he drove a SAAB 9000, which, he says,

"was a joy to ride thanks to features like acceleration, control, safety,

comfort".

Lakshmi

Narayanan, President & COO, Cognizant Technology Solutions



Narayanan bought his first car 16 years ago. And of course, it was a Premier

Padmini. "I exercised the choice between the two cars that were available

and I chose the Premier Padmini. You all know what the other choice was,"

he quips.

Today, Narayanan owns an Opel Astra Club and knows exactly

why. "I have a fancy for German-engineered cars. The best car I ever owned

was an Audi four-door sedan. German engineering provides a certain solidity and

reliability to the car," he says. Opel is a "German engineering

product," hence the choice. Narayanan is also a self-confessed backseat

driver. "I prefer to have a driver, but do the driving through constant

instructions to the driver. I dislike the traffic, and hence the driving."

He adds with disarming candidness–"My driver dislikes me. I’m a very

painful passenger."

Narayana NR Murthy Chairman and CEO, Infosys Technologies



Stories abound of Narayana NR Murthy’s simple lifestyle. One goes like

this–when Infosys got its first-ever order (from Mico), Murthy went on a

scooter to collect it. And someone suggested to him, politely, that it might

have been a good idea to hire a car. Infosys’ chairman did not, in fact, own a

car till 15 years ago and his first ever buy was a Fiat. Today, he owns a silver

gray Opel Astra because, he says, "It’s a great piece of engineering. I

am an engineer and I value engineering excellence." As for what he looks

for in a car, the answer remains disarmingly simple–comfort.

D

Kannan, Director & CEO, Pentasoft Technologies



Kannan is one of the few on this list who started out with an Ambassador 15
years ago, followed by various cars from the Maruti stable. Today, he owns a

Mitsubishi Lancer, which he favors for its elegance, comfort and features. His

car-buying decisions are influenced by some very basic considerations–brand,

compatibility with Indian roads and service back-up.

Pramod Khera, CEO, Aptech



The first car Pramod Khera ever drove was a Premier Padmini. He preferred

that over the Maruti 800 because it looked sturdier and he was told that

maintenance costs would not be too high. "These things were important 15

years back," he says. Today, he owns a Mitsubishi Lancer but his

fundamental requirements haven’t changed much. He likes the Lancer for its

steadiness and ease of maneuvering. As for speed, here’s his side of it–"Speed

is not of much help in Mumbai!" Khera employs a driver for week-day

travelling, but loves taking the car out by himself for long weekend drives.

ML Tandon Chairman, Celetron India



Tandon started out with an OldsMobile. Today, he owns a BMW 7 Series and his
"other car" is a Mercedes 500. Tandon has long been partial to the

Merc. He owned a 300 Series 20 years ago and has had the 500 for the last 15

years. "Both are fun to drive," he says. "The BMW handles better,

while comfort, legroom and reliability are better in the Mercedes." His

buying decision is influenced by "responsiveness, pickup, maneuverability

and prestige".

Manoj Chugh CEO, Cisco Systems India



No big surprises here. Manoj Chugh, like many at the time, was driving a

Fiat 15 years ago. Today, he owns a Honda City–a car he is partial to because

of its comfort and safety features. In fact, Chugh’s basic requirement of a

car consists largely of comfort and ease of driving. Like some others, while he

does prefer to drive on his own, he employs a driver. ANd that’s simply

because "you get more work done while on the move that way".

Balu Doraisamy Managing Director Compaq India



Compaq India chief Balu Doraisamy is an extremely private man and this is

not the kind of information he wanted to share. However, he made a one-time

exception, and here it is. Doraisamy drives a Mitsubishi Lancer, which he favors

for its size and comfort as well as an excellent AC. His first car was a Nissan,

bought about 20 years ago. From there, he moved on to a BMW and a SAAB. Given

traffic and road conditions, he prefers a driver in India and opts to drive

himself when overseas.

Suresh

Vaswani President, Wipro Infotech



Twenty years ago, Wipro Infotech’s head honcho was driving his father’s

Fiat. When time came for him to buy his own transport, he chose a motorbike. In

fact, it a wasn’t until a few years ago that Vaswai chose to buy and drive his

own car, his very first being a Maruti 800. Unlike most of his peers, Vaswani’s

been extremely loyal to his cars. The only other car he bought since his first

was a Maruti Esteem–which he still drives. He’s got utilitarian tastes —

the car’s overall performance is fine and it is comfortable to drive–and he

wants nothing more. As for the Esteem, "I don’t want to give it up till

it gives up on me," he says.

Rajeev Kaul Managing Director, Microsoft



Twenty years ago, Kaul was driving the scooter most of India was driving–a

Bajaj Chetak. Coming as he does from a younger generation from most of the

others featured here, no surprise that his first car was a Maruti 800 15 years

ago. Today, he drives an Opel Astra for the same reason he bought the Maruti a

decade-and-a-half ago–ease of driving and a comfortable ride.

Bhaskar Pramanik Managing Director, Sun Microsystems



Pramanik is a self-confessed gadget freak. No surprise, therefore, that he owns
and drives a Mercedes 200 CDI and also on occasion, an Opel Astra. Why? The

usual suspects, really, as far as the Mercedes is concerned–performance,

features, styling and power. As Bhaskar says, "the Power is fantastic... on

demand." Other things that he watches out for are speed, ease of driving,

suspension and road-handling, and the Mercedes performs superlatively on most of

these, though ease of driving may be a bit of an issue on narrow Indian roads.

Like Rajive Kaul of Microsoft, the first car Pramanik ever bought was a Maruti

in 1985. Since then, he has had a Contessa, an Esteem VX and a Merc 190E.

S Ramadorai CEO, TCS



The first car the TCS head ever owned and drove was a Volkswagen Beetle.

This was in his days before joining the company, when he was still in the United

States. When he moved to India, he had to abandon the Beetle for a Standard 10

and a while later, for the Padmini 118 NE. These days Ramadorai owns a Honda

City–a car he’s partial to because of its reliability and durability, though

he no longer drives himself. "I prefer a driver these days because it gives

me the time to read and reflect."

Ajai Chowdhry Chairman & CEO, HCL Infosystems



Chowdhry has very fond memories of the first car he every drove. "When we
started HCL, 25 years ago, we had to meet our delivery commitments to our

customers in IIT Chennai. I still remember picking up the first few desktop

computers personally from the airport and delivering to my customer in my Fiat.

There are fond memories of my first car." Today, Chowdhry owns a BMW. One

of the surest ways of offending a car enthusiast is to ask him "Why

BMW?" If he deigns to reply to this rather blasphemous question, he’ll

tell you–"Because BMW is God." Chowdhry didn’t say that, but

simply mouthed–"Engineering excellence." Now, what more can one add

to that?