I’m not going to lie to you – this is an incredible issue of the magazine. ‘He says that every month,’ you say! And you’re probably right – but this month, I mean it. No, really. You see, we slid some BMWs around the BIC this past month. We drove some Ferraris in the desert. We piloted a Nano with an auto box (of sorts). We trudged a Polaris ATV through the jungles of the North East. Now, before I continue to bang my chest about our collective achievements over these past few weeks, let’s simply take a look at the diversity of experience. And then lets compare that with the landscape of just a few years ago. I mean when we first started this magazine, a Ferrari was merely a wet dream. An M-car (leave alone three) at a Grand Prix circuit was a fantasy akin to seducing the Charlie’s Angles. And the preferred mode of transport in the far reaches of the North East was more likely to have been the back of a coolie rather than a state-of-the-art American ATV. And let’s not even talk about an Indian people’s car with an automated gearbox. Now that was fantasy akin to riding a Unicorn to work everyday (yes, the four legged type with a spiralling horn projecting from its forehead – not the Honda 2W commuter bike)! What I’m trying to say is that we’ve come a long way. But (there’s always a but), there are some serious issues that demand our thought and attention. For starters, I tried out a car air-purifier this month. Now, I don’t know if it worked but I want one – if no other reason than to counter the helplessness that we feel in the face of the fumes we inhale. What I didn’t test this past month was a .44 Magnum, but I want one of those too. No, I’m not a big firearm fan – but the levels of anarchy on our streets are going from bad to worse. And that’s simply because our law enforcement is stretched so thin that they can’t do anything to prevent otherwise – or they don’t have the inclination, I don’t know… What I do know is that it’s not much good having a Ferrari, an M-car, a Polaris, and a Nano (with an auto-box) if you’re inhaling toxins while dodging bullets at the same time. So, yes, while we have come a long way (pat on the back for good measure), there’s a long way still to go. And complaining about the 365-days in office of the present government isn’t going to prove to be much of a solution. Perhaps a little bit of introspection into our own attitudes can yield more tangible results? Again, I can’t say with certainty, but it’s worth a shot (the introspection that is, not the .44 Magnum…).
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