There was a time when the three-pointed-star of Mercedes Benz practically occupied an entire Indian mindscape as far as luxury car market was concerned. Today, the trademark metal grill of the BMW and the pristine 4-circle badge of Audi seem to be finding more takers. In recent years, luxury cars have increasingly occupied the Indian tarmac, especially so in nouveau-riche towns such as Gurgaon.

“Summer set lip on earth’s bosom bare, and left a flushed print in a poppy there.”, thus said Francis Thompson. Easy as it is to guess, I am sure the great poet wouldn’t have known the tropical Indian summers himself, because had he had, he wouldn’t have penned such serene notions. To an average Indian not used to living in-and-out of cars, airplanes and offices, the idea of summer is far removed from the warm, romantic suggestions that western poets have carved. Indian summers usually bring all ill-at-ease ideas; one …