Introduction-
The press conference of the Tata Nano took place in the Crystal Room of the Taj Mahal Hotel. The crystal room was the very same place which was set on fire by Kasab and Co (the terrorists allegedly from Pakistan, who in a shocking incident, intruded into the hotel, taking innocent lives and creating turmoil in the country very recently)
It was merely a matter of time before it was restored, and about 100 media companies were present in the room during the press conference where Mr.Tata and his men set a different kind of fire, in the hearts and minds of Indians.
The Taj Mahal hotel is quite some distance away from the Mumbai airport. It took me a little more than one hour to navigate through the trafficated roads of Mumbai before I reached my destination. While I was waiting for my flight in Chennai, TV screens running popular news channels had begun showing clips of the Tata Nano and flashing headlines that the car was merely hours away.
At the Taj Mahal Hotel- An interesting event
The venue was filled with security personnel, and tourists who wouldn't be bothered to stop and take notice otherwise, asked me what was going on. The Taj Mahal hotel was surrounded by Media vans and satellite dishes. It bore a sight which can be witnessed during a speech by a high profile Politician or world leader.
I was required to screen my baggage twice before I entered the hotel. When I went through the metal detector to the entrance, my friends at Vaishnavi Communications informed me to register at a badge that mentions both would be handed over to me.
Interestingly, the girl at the registration desk required my name and the company which I represented along with the invitation. When I told her I was from Indian Autos Blog, she glared at me and verified the name one more time.
Before she put that down on the badge, she looked at me once again. And one more time into my invitation.
This indicates blogs are still very new to the world of media, at least here in India that is the case. Indian Autos Blog is visited by people who are part of the Automobile industry, enthusiasts, people who are in search of a particular brand or car, people from the television and print media similar to the readership characteristics of any magazine or viewership of any Auto show on a TV channel. Nevertheless, as it is new, people don't recognize us as part of the media, something which we are going to take up as a challenge and transform in the very near future.
So, that's it for now. What happened in the Crystal room, and then on will be discussed in Nano story Part 2. Stay tuned to Indian Autos Blog.
