Devaiah Bopanna Profile picture
Co-founder, @ATSdotIn. Former Head Writer, @allindiabakchod. Former Ad Guy. Former Undergrad. Former School Goer. Former Newborn. Former Idea.
Apr 23 4 tweets 2 min read
India's obsession with SUVs is something I'll never understand. I've been a car enthusiast forever. A lower center of gravity and reduced body roll mean supreme comfort.

People rave about Innovas and Fortuners, but frankly, they're the most uncomfortable vehicles I've been in. Your body bobs from side to side, making you feel much more tired than if you were traveling in a sedan of a similar price range.

Fuel efficiency is better in sedans.

Sudden turns and the turning radius are much better in sedans.

Driving or being driven in a sedan is far superior compared to an SUV or micro SUV. It's not as if we are off-roading or traversing the jungles of Nagarhole daily. In fact, your Seltos, Creta, or whatever else, actually can't even handle 4x4 terrain.

The only explanation here is that Indians, being generally shorter, just feel good driving something bigger to compensate for their lack of height. It's a self-confidence thing and not much of an automobile thing.

This SUV mania has driven sedans out of the market, which is pretty sad because those are actually built for comfortable drives on uncomfortable Indian roads. How can the entire country collectively disregard logic over an expensive purchase that often ends up with a 9-10% loan? Everyone going on and on about tier 3 towns and ground clearance of sedans, haven't been in neither i feel. Sedans post 2010 are made with superior ground clearance that can tackle Indian roads and potholes easily in most cases. You'll be surprised by the number of Swift Dzires and swifts that are sold in a place like coorg.
Jan 11, 2023 6 tweets 1 min read
RRR!!!

Culture is a major currency for clout. US is a global superpower, not just because of its financial currency, but because they have had a solid frachise over culture. Our clothing, music, movies everything diffuses out of the States. Information asymmetry and media gatekeeping ensured nobody other than America could create culture.

What RRR has done for India is phenomenal. It is seeding India in the global cultural ecosystem.
Jun 30, 2020 13 tweets 3 min read
My first reaction (and pretty much everyone else's) when I found out that TikTok was getting banned was to make a stupid joke about it. It wasn’t shock or anger, but amusement. (1/n) Thousands of creators are the cusp of losing their accounts, and the first reaction from us woke bois are jibes and wisecracks about tiktokers. The primary reason why we are apathetic is because we don’t have a single follower on any of those platforms. (2/n)