A cobbler form Mumbai gets Nano

Maruti Bhandari, the celebrated Mumbai cobbler who booked the top-end Tata Nano by paying a cheque of Rs 1.4 lakh in April, is one of the one lakh allottees of the car.

“I am absolutely elated. It is a moment of pride,” he said on a day when television channels were trying to interview him.

Bhandari, who lives in a Mumbai suburb, had been saving money to buy a motorcycle. However, the idea of an inexpensive people’s car caught his fancy and he ended up zeroing in on the Nano.

He paid the entire booking amount from his savings at the Concorde outlet, a Tata Motors’ showroom in the city. Bhandari is expected to get the car within a few weeks when deliveries begin.

The Nano was designed for people like him who could afford the car and fulfil an aspiration in the process. “Mera family ko ghumane le jaunga (I will take my family around),” he said.

Bhandari lives in a small home with his wife and two sons. “Buying the Nano is a dream comes true,” he said. Asked if he was concerned about the imminent petrol price hike, he replied, “Yes, but we have to somehow run the car.”