<p>The book, Small Wonder — The Making of the Nano, manages to tell the story of the toil that went into making the dream come alive. The book is written in a style that is more in line with that of a documentary than anything else. <br /><br />Through the book, you come to know personally the key people behind the nano project. It describes their commitment and dedication to the project, and the sacrifices they made along the way. Snippets of the personal lives of the people who ran the project provide an interesting counterpoint to the narrative, which is otherwise largely technical. <br /><br />However, from an engineering and design standpoint alone, the book is worth a read, as it describes very clearly, in layman’s language, how the Nano was built, piece-by-piece. <br />For a complete technology and mechanical ignoramus like me, the book was an eye-opener, especially in terms of the effort that goes into each individual component of something as complicated as an automobile. <br /><br />Lessons in organisational behaviour also emerge from the book. Putting together a team of people as un-blinkered and as dynamic as the team that made the Nano must have been a task in itself. Motivating and inspiring that team against all odds, over a period of several years, is as daunting a task as the latter. <br /><br />Enabling that team of diverse people from different functions all over the organisation to work together as a cohesive whole must have been the hardest task of all, and the book manages to recreate the spirit that went into how the project was carried out. <br /><br />Similarly enlightening is the entire chapter on Singur, and the kind of problems that the team had to cope with from a political point of view, in operating out of Singur and Sanand.<br /><br />What I didn’t like about the book was that it seems to repeat itself. The central theme of inspiration and perseverance is enough to hold the book together, so it wasn’t really necessary to put down so many instances and incidents that built up the central theme. <br />In some places, the book seems to lose its flow and meander for a while before returning to the programme.<br /><br />The fifth chapter seems to bring the book together, as the entire story culminates in how the Nano was unveiled at the Delhi Auto Expo in 2008. The hype around the car became sensational at that point of time, and after reading the book, it is easy to see why. This chapter is the highlight of the book, and really turns the whole book into a fairytale.<br /><br />However, what makes the book truly captivating is the inspirational thought that runs through the tale. <br /><br />It is about how the Chairman of TATA Motors believed in something badly enough to make it happen, how he inspired his team to look into the future and build a car of the future from scratch. <br /><br />How he remained true to his promise and brought to the world a car that was affordable, and yet, a car that did not stint on anything. It is a true story of achieving the impossible.<br /> It tells the story of how a group of people said, “Why not?” and truly thought out-of-the-box to reach their goal. So, when the Nano team decided to go with three bolts on a tyre, instead of four, the story is captivating enough to make you believe that they have done something truly out of the ordinary.</p>.<p><em>Small wonder — The making of the Nano<br />Philip Chacko, Christabelle Noronha & Sujata Agrawal<br />Westland <br />2010, pp149<br /> Rs 295 </em></p>
<p>The book, Small Wonder — The Making of the Nano, manages to tell the story of the toil that went into making the dream come alive. The book is written in a style that is more in line with that of a documentary than anything else. <br /><br />Through the book, you come to know personally the key people behind the nano project. It describes their commitment and dedication to the project, and the sacrifices they made along the way. Snippets of the personal lives of the people who ran the project provide an interesting counterpoint to the narrative, which is otherwise largely technical. <br /><br />However, from an engineering and design standpoint alone, the book is worth a read, as it describes very clearly, in layman’s language, how the Nano was built, piece-by-piece. <br />For a complete technology and mechanical ignoramus like me, the book was an eye-opener, especially in terms of the effort that goes into each individual component of something as complicated as an automobile. <br /><br />Lessons in organisational behaviour also emerge from the book. Putting together a team of people as un-blinkered and as dynamic as the team that made the Nano must have been a task in itself. Motivating and inspiring that team against all odds, over a period of several years, is as daunting a task as the latter. <br /><br />Enabling that team of diverse people from different functions all over the organisation to work together as a cohesive whole must have been the hardest task of all, and the book manages to recreate the spirit that went into how the project was carried out. <br /><br />Similarly enlightening is the entire chapter on Singur, and the kind of problems that the team had to cope with from a political point of view, in operating out of Singur and Sanand.<br /><br />What I didn’t like about the book was that it seems to repeat itself. The central theme of inspiration and perseverance is enough to hold the book together, so it wasn’t really necessary to put down so many instances and incidents that built up the central theme. <br />In some places, the book seems to lose its flow and meander for a while before returning to the programme.<br /><br />The fifth chapter seems to bring the book together, as the entire story culminates in how the Nano was unveiled at the Delhi Auto Expo in 2008. The hype around the car became sensational at that point of time, and after reading the book, it is easy to see why. This chapter is the highlight of the book, and really turns the whole book into a fairytale.<br /><br />However, what makes the book truly captivating is the inspirational thought that runs through the tale. <br /><br />It is about how the Chairman of TATA Motors believed in something badly enough to make it happen, how he inspired his team to look into the future and build a car of the future from scratch. <br /><br />How he remained true to his promise and brought to the world a car that was affordable, and yet, a car that did not stint on anything. It is a true story of achieving the impossible.<br /> It tells the story of how a group of people said, “Why not?” and truly thought out-of-the-box to reach their goal. So, when the Nano team decided to go with three bolts on a tyre, instead of four, the story is captivating enough to make you believe that they have done something truly out of the ordinary.</p>.<p><em>Small wonder — The making of the Nano<br />Philip Chacko, Christabelle Noronha & Sujata Agrawal<br />Westland <br />2010, pp149<br /> Rs 295 </em></p>
