Tata Harrier : First Impressions

Tata's most advanced and the most awaited car is here. The Tata Harrier has finally made its way to the showrooms. The design hasn't changed much from the concept and I must say it looks absolutely stunning. I went to the Tata showroom here in Himayatnagar to check it out and I am thoroughly impressed. I was pressed for time, so I didn't get to take a test drive but I will go there this weekend for sure and write a detailed review. I didn't have my camera along either, so I couldn't take any high quality pictures but here is one I clicked on my cellphone and it sure is a stunner.

Please forgive the background and the poor image
quality. I promise to get better pictures and post them soon.

The interiors of the car were fantastic. I drive a Creta and I could see a world of difference as soon as I got into the Harrier. The whole instrument layout, the floating 8" touch screen, the wide seats and cushioning gave the car a very upmarket and rich feel. I simply loved it. As a lot of reviewers have already pointed out, I didn't really like the airplane style hand break lever and the center arm rest cubby hole which has to be pressed to get it opened. I sat in a parked car and could still make out that the A pillar and the rear view mirrors were too large and quite in the way of a clear view. A lot of cars I have driven don't have that problem so I found this to be a bit of an oddity. Another miss for a lot of people was the sun roof. I don't really feel its need so I don't miss it much. Its just a nice to have.

The rear seat was extremely comfortable. It didn't take too much of an effort to get in and the seats were wide and very accommodating. It is much bigger than my creta and I could feel that translate into space inside the cabin. The leg room and the head room were just massive. What I specially liked is the two level storage bins in the doors. It has space for the one liter water bottles and it also has an extra space to put your phone or other tiny items.

All in all it seems like a very good package. I am really looking forward to driving it this weekend. I heard about the engine noise and a few other little niggles but I would like to have a first hand feel of it before commenting further.

Tata seems to have gotten the pricing quite right as well. The Creta has been reigning supreme in the mid sized SUV segment since the past 3-4 years and it seems to have found the perfect rival. The Harrier is priced at around the same range, approximately 17-18 lakhs on road which is right around the Creta SX(O) price range. It is much bigger and more powerful than the creta and it sure promises to be its nemesis. Whats more noteworthy is that it will severely undercut the much costlier Jeep compass and is sure to hit its already dwindling sales. I havent seen to many new versions of the Mahindra XUV 500 but even that is bound to take a hit. Hyundai better pull up its socks and do something drastic for the next version of the Creta. If they don't watch out, the Harrier is sure to have their piece of the pie.

p.s. : I only compared the harrier to the Creta because I drive a creta. I will write a more exhaustive review soon.

Secret to being happy

I know the title is a bit tacky but I think its apt to what I am about to say below.

Life in general keeps kicking our butt all the time. Well at least that's the case for most of the people, unless you are filthy rich and have everything you want. You are usually working under a boss who is never really happy with you no matter how much effort you put in and while going on with the rigmarole of life, our only escape seems to be the world of social media (facebook, instagram, snapchat et all). Everyone does the methodical switching of different apps and scrolling through a few times and repeat it many times in the day only to end up a lot more frustrated than we actually are.

Facebook and for that matter even Instagram now a days has become a place to boast. Everyone seems to be having a better time than you, travelling, buying stuff and eventually they give you a constant feeling of inadequacy. A feeling that nothing interesting is happening in our lives. I've been the culprit and also the victim of this. I've been one of those who constantly posted about anything and everything I did and I have also been the victim of looking at other peoples posts and thinking that nothing interesting is happening in my life. I've had that uneasiness when I didn't get enough likes for my posts and went into useless self analysis about what might've been wrong with my post and all that. I'm sure a lot of people have been through it and must still be going through similar feelings.

Facebook had gone from a place to connect with old friends to a place to boast about anything and everything. I have a little more than a thousand friends on Facebook and if all of them were really "friends" every post I put should've ideally got at-least 500 likes which never really happens. That only means that the other so called friends are just there to snoop around to see what others are upto. It had become a sort of a authorized surveillance app.

I've had that feeling for a really long time and one fine day I had this amazing Eureka moment. I decided to stay away from Facebook for a month. I confess that it was a little difficult at first but as time passed, it became easier. I uninstalled the app from my phone which made it easier to not give into the temptation and over a period of time I noticed that I was much calmer. I stopped having the itch to click a pic of everything and post. Since I'm not looking at what other people are doing, I'm a lot more calm and best of all, my phone battery lasts much longer :) . I also noticed that I am more present in the moment rather than wanting to go live on Facebook or having to put up pics and thinking of fancy titles and hashtags.

Anyways all that aside, its been about 2 years since I've taken my hiatus from Facebook and I do not miss it one bit. I haven't deleted my profile as such but I do use it as a birthday reminder. Thankfully it doesn't need me to login and instead it just sends me a mail. The only social media app I use as of now is Instagram. I like this over other apps because you have the option to follow or unfollow people. You don't really have to unfriend anyone and that I feel is much better. Plus I use it only to promote my photography and Insta is an amazing way to get the reach provided we also use the right hashtags.

So, the gist of the story is this. We are usually unhappy when comparisons come into picture. The comparison between the haves and have nots and also between the pretty and the average. Facebook has inadvertently promoted this comparison which has lead to a lot of dissatisfaction and self loathing. I have kept away from it and I feel I am a much happier person. I don't feel the urge to post anything and neither to I feel bad for not getting a higher number of likes which unfortunately became the new sign of acceptance.

In conclusion, live and enjoy the moments, take pictures and look back on them instead of trying to be physically present and mentally absent. Disconnect to connect!

#Change, #Happiness, #Facebook