ICE CREAM AND CARS--WHAT'S THE CONNECTION ?

WHY MY GUJERATI FRIENDS NEVER BUY A MARUTI CAR

Three of my Gujerati friends vociferously maintain that they would never buy a Maruti car .They voiced this feeling when I told them that I was considering buying a car of that make.

WHY MY GUJERATI FRIENDS NEVER BUY A MARUTI CAR

‘But why are you so opposed to a Maruti car?After all it is popular, very reliable and India’s first modern car’ I asserted.

Their reply shall go down as a classic on how to analyse problems.

They suggested that I travel with them in their many cars and see for myself why the Maruti is not the best choice for me.

One guy Hemant took me in his Maruti on a drive after dinner. We stopped at an ice cream shop .He went in to buy a vanilla ice cream. On return he found that the car refused to start. He tried for well over seven minutes till he threw up his hands and decided to first finish the ice cream .Once that was over he found that the car started.

‘You see this is the problem with Maruti cars’ he announced.

I was almost convinced.

The next weekend Nitin took me for a drive in his car, a Toyota. Like many Gujerati friends of mine he too loved Ice cream and stopped by at a shop. He ran in and a few minutes later emerged with cassata . The car ‘ magicaly’ started immediately

‘See how this car starts immediately.Hemant told me that the other day you had to struggle to start the Maruti car’ said Nitin triumphantly.

On another occasion my dear friend Hansaben took me for a ride in her Hyundai and again she also ran into an ice cream bar and bought an ice cream—a strawberry.The service was not very good and my friend emerged after what seemed an interminable amount of time.

The car started instantly

I was perplexed—how is it that such a popular car as a Maruti was giving such problems while Toyota and Hyundai served us so well ?

I decided to investigate. I tried several other cars under the test drive facility so popular these days .Each time I stopped at a parlour and bought ice cream. I took elaborate notes—the car maker’s name, the type of petrol used, the distance driven, the speed at which the car was driven , the time it took for the car to restart. etc

At one stage I began to wonder if the kind of ice cream consumed had anything to do with my experience of starting trouble.

But my training as a creativity teacher warned me not to jump to cause- effect conclusions so easily.

But the more I analysed the more I was convinced that there was a relationship between the kind of ice cream bought and the trouble starting the cars.

I finally found out the answer.

The vanilla ice cream was invariably kept at a more prominent place near the entrance ,being the most popular flavor. Thus when my friends bought this flavor they returned fast. The secret dawned on me—the short tine involved in buying vanilla ice cream did not give the car adequate time for the vapour lock to dissipate and for the engine to cool.The other flavours were kept deep in the shop and the time involved in selecting and paying for the ice cream allowed the car to cool enough to restart quickly!

THE MORAL OF THE STORY --EVEN THE MOST RIDICULOUS OF PROBLEMS CAN GIVE US GREAT INSIGHTS.

[adapted from a story that appeared in the US media]

Ha ha ha

Don’t hesitate buying a Maruti or any other car. The ice cream test is not the right test.

K.R.RAVI

WWW.KRRAVI.COM