May 3rd, 2007
Mercedes and Maruti 800
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Stuck in morning rush hour traffic on Mumbai’s Marine Drive, on way to work, I found myself next to a Mercedes and a Maruti 800.
In slow-moving bumper-to-bumper traffic, the bigger Mercedes was at a disadvantage to the much smaller Maruti 800. The Mercedes stood still in its lane, while the Maruti 800 maneuvered itself into small openings and got ahead. I found myself calculating how much costlier it was for the Mercedes to be stuck in heavy traffic because of higher fuel consumption. I also found myself thinking what a waste it was for the Mercedes to be stuck in rush hour traffic on Marine Drive, when it should be doing 150 km per hour on the Mumbai-Pune highway. In fact, I almost felt sad for the Mercedes because it was on the wrong road.
Now, think of people instead of cars and careers instead of roads. Or, think of businesses instead of cars and industries instead of roads. I’m sure you have heard of hundreds of brilliant people who are stuck in the wrong career. I’m sure you have read about dozens of interesting businesses that don’t do well because the industry they are in is too crowded.
Now, ask yourself this question: are you a Mercedes stuck in a rush hour traffic jam on Marine Drive? If your are, then, maybe, you should try to find the right road for yourself.
Disclosure/ Disclaimer: I work for Tata Motors. All the views on this blog are my personal views and not the views of the organization I work for. In this or other posts in the series, I do not intend to discuss the merits and demerits of the brands I have mentioned, but only use them as a metaphor for people and companies.
Thought-provoking post! Thanks for sharing
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very nicely thought of, Gaurav. If I had a Mercedes, it would be the CLS63 AMG and I would be on the freaking Autobahn!!! Just like your blog, I am trying to become the CLS63 AMG of a person and I am taking my career to the Autobahn!
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If I had a Maruti 800, this is what I would do: link
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Does it also not show that the person who owned the car had enough money to sit still in traffic.
Besides, I am sure WRT. the Autobahnd, he has “been there done that”.
Hell I have.
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@karthik,
What is ‘WRT’?? I did not understand that paragraph. What did you drive on the Autobahn? How fast?
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I am the Mercedes that thinks everyone else is on the wrong road!
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@ZZ top
That is speaking like a very southern american, which means you are not a mercedes, but a 1985 ford pick up truck!
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@Everybody: Three thoughts and a request -
- Thought 1: It seems that some of you could identify with the ‘find your own road’ metaphor. Great!
- Thought 2: I’m thinking of developing this post into a series. Watch out for the posts!
- Thought 3: I think I need to put up a disclosure/ disclaimer on these posts. The perils of blogging under your real name!
- Request: Since I’m not sure if I’m treading on thin ground here, I’ll request all of you to limit the comments to the idea of ‘finding your own road’ and not discuss the merits and demerits of any brands. You have my deepest gratitude in advance.
The next set of posts will answer some of the thoughts in the comments above, so watch out for them.
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