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Nano and the Fairer Sex: Smooth moves!
Nupur Chaudhuri and Corina B Manuel Photography: Kunal Khadse
The Nano can definitely make girls switch to cars from dolls!
With a slight turn of the key, the car comes to life. An easy shift from neutral to first, and I'm off. Three more easy gear shifts to second, third and fourth, and the Nano has won me over. I drive with a smile, the smile that spunkiness brings to my lips.
The Nano is just that -a blend of spunk and chic; the perfect car for the woman of today, I'd say. It scores right from the first glance. To add to its ultra cute shape, its colours are hard to resist, right from the pearly white to the modish yellow.
The first feature about the car's interior that gets a thumbs-up is the space. The Nano isn't here to cramp your style, no way, not with the leg room and sitting space it offers! Girls, you can wear your four-inch stilettos, and sit pretty with your legs crossed at the ankle without having to fight for space. There's absolutely no need of wrestling with the seat to get it forward or backward - you just sit there and enjoy the roominess.
It doesn't end there. Now, we girls have to admit we come with baggage - make-up, sunnies, cell phones, wallets, chocolates, flowers, clutch bags, etcetera, etcetera! If we have a large enough sling bag, then the problem of dumping the baggage is solved. But, on the occasions that we aren't adequately equipped, it's the Nano's dashboard that comes to the rescue! You can just throw all the stuff in the niches provided and drive without a worry about them things being reflected in the windscreen. Nice, huh?
What could be better ....
The Nano could run into a bit of potholes and speed-breakers in four key areas. One, the absence of a boot. When there're just two travelling, the back seat can fold down to accommodate luggage, but when you're a fashion journalist, and are off for a schizoid fashion shoot with wardrobe, make-up kit and technical artists in your wake, you get a little closet claustrophobic and end up wondering whom to pick and whom to dump! So, if the practical side of you comes awake, you might have to choose your wardrobe and your make-up kit along with two of your technical crew while the third one might have to hitch a ride with someone else. But hey, all said and done, the price we're getting the car at irons out the bumps in the road.
Coming to the drive, the Nano can dart through city traffic with an easy smoothness and with a great mileage of 20kmpl or so we're told. The ride may get bumpy, but then the car handles well and is sturdy. Its size makes it a perfect car to take out without worrying about parking space, because it would fit just about anywhere. But girls, you need to be prepared for a little struggle at the wheel as it ain't power steering. I don't mean grunting and groaning; just a little extra tug at the wheel will do, especially during u-turns!
The Nano downs its scores even when it comes to the power windows, or should I say, the controls of the power windows? They're between the seats, below the air-con, and the driver would have to look away from the road to find the control - not the safest thing to do right? So either the one on the passenger seat lends a helping hand or then the driver has to do some getting used to!
The specs also reveal that the Nano has a small petrol tank, and you can only fill her up to 15 litres, which could play spoilt sport for a romantic long drive with your better half. So, for right now, long drives are off the cards!
Like every car, the Nano comes with its positives and negatives, but unlike every car, the Nano is priced at a grabbing price! Would I buy it? Yes, without a second thought!
