Author: nova

Since we heard home minister Amit Shah with his speech in upper House of Parliament we have seen reactions from almost everyone. Many in “rest of the INDIA” welcomed the decision and had raving reviews on this biggest decision on fate of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. However, we had other side as well from so-called liberals, they think that this decision is un-democratic and doesn’t comply with the UN resolution. I would like to provide my views on the decision. Since the decision of abrogation of article 370, I have answered many questions like “How do I feel about the decision”, “What does people of Jammu feel ?”, “How are things back home ?”, “Will things improve for you guys ?” etc., from my friends.

I thought of writing my views on the decision and share it with the world because I think it is really difficult to know the raw emotions and feeling of people for whom this really matters. I feel in the media its always filtered emotions with some propaganda behind the news. Political parties will always have biased answer to these questions and everyone one else doesn’t know the background to understand the situation.

Before passing judgement on the this decision it would be wise to know the history and some facts about it. Let’s test your knowledge on Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh matter. Have you read the UN revolution on Kashmir matter ? Ok, stop reading now for 2 minutes and think about it. Well, I know …. I know this is a difficult one. Now, think about what you know about the UN resolution ? Do you know it is 3 sequential steps approach and key to the resolution actually lies in Pakistan’s hands. If you didn’t know about it then here are some facts about it.

The UN resolution on Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh conflict. In brief, during the Independence King of Jammu and Kashmir refused to pledge his allegiance with neither Secular India nor country created on the basis of religion – Pakistan. You might think that why didn’t he decide, it was an easy decision for him. Joining the Union of India was the obvious choice. However, things in reality were not so black and white. There is a long story about his decision to refuse both the newly created countries (If you want me to cover this topic please let me know in comments section). To stick to the question on this present decision, just keep in mind that there were four main protagonists in the story. The King himself, Pandit Nehru, Shiekh Abdullah and Mountbatten. The king didn’t like Shiekh Abdullah who was a pro-India Muslim popular leader and Sheikh was a close friend of Nehru whom King did not get along well either.

Everyone knows that when Britishers left, Pakistan planned a coup against the Hindu King of Muslim majority region and Maharaja Hari Singh was advised by Mountbatten to sign the Letter of Accession with India in favor of Receving military assistance from India. But, the thing that not everyone know is that, it was Nehru’s decision to add a clause that “The there will be a referendum conducted which will decide the fate of the disputed region”. He was confident that he has support of people as Shiekh Abdullah was his friend and a close compatriot. Coming back to the question of UN resolution which states that:

1. Pakistan’s should demilitarize the region it holds (PoK)

2. India should demilitarize the region after that but with limited force to fend of any attack from Pakistan.

3. Referendum should be conducted to decide the fate of the region.

These three points are in sequence. Pakistan who complaints about this decision and points to UN resolution on this matter never agreed for point one and that is the only reason the referendum never happened.

So, let’s talk about my views. Being an Indian first with the dream to see this conflict resolved, I welcome the decision. We have had article 370 for so many years and the ground reality is not good. There are no jobs for youth, higher education institutions are average and too many people with free time and as elders say empty is devils den.
Just sitting idle and hoping that things will one day be better is just plain stupid. Something has to be done, without trying we will never know if things will improve.

Although, I like the decision I still think it could have been done in a better way. I know all those people will say that “I am giving Pakistan a leverage to use it in international forums” but why are we even talking about our noisy neighbor. If you have a problem at home you don’t think that lets not argue because neighbor might hear us. We argue so that we become better, we learn about other peoples thought process and if required handle the situation better. You agree to me or not but the fact is not everyone supports the decision and I believe it is totally fine to have different point of views. I am sure that all those people who doesn’t agree with the decision will agree that they want to make sure people rights are not violated and in the biggest democracy there are no decision without consensus. Just because some people doesn’t agree it is not wise to label them as anti-national. Irrespective of your religion, caste, gender, skin color, hair color and status no-one wants bad thing to happen to our nation.

I do not want to comment on the timeline in-order to avoid any political bias, since when protesting against government decision has become anti-national movement. We are a democracy and we use to protest about everything be it corruption, oil/gas prices, government policies etc. But, nowadays if you just say that you don’t agree that demonetization was good or bad for our economy you are labeled as anti-national.

Again if you agree or not with me, but the fact is not everyone in Jammu, Kashmir and Leh are ecstatic about the decision. History has reminded us at every opportunity that sense of identification and association with the motherland is very formidable force. This the reason we get so many divisions and revolutions. Everyone deep down identifies themselves with their country, family, region etc. There is nothing wrong with that, it is something that builds patriotism and brings people together.

We promised Kashmiri’s that we will preserve their identity and with this decision we have taken away their identity. They were promised that they will have their Nishaan(flag) and kanoon (law). And, with this decision we have taken that away from them.

“Right to react” – Don’t take this away from people. Just don’t make good things visible, hear everything. How many times in our lives it has happened that we thought something is bad for us but later on after listening to other side we changed our minds. It happens all the time in our daily life for trivial decisions. What about the most the important decision of someone’s life and they are not allowed to react. If we believe in what we are doing convey it to other party. I am not saying that don’t take decisions but let people react with what they feel until they are not violent.

One last thing, everyone is calling this a historic decision. We cannot decide in present whether it is a historic decision or not. Only, future will tell us if this was “historic”.

I was at the Tesla store in Raleigh, NC in 3rd week of June 2019. Before this day I had never thought of buying a Tesla. The event of actions were something like an impromptu one. My girlfriend’s friend totaled her car in June first week and she was looking to buy a new car. As it happens in California, she bought a red multi coat standard plus model 3. For her it was an obvious choice, she was eligible for $3750 federal credit rebate and $2500 California state rebate. Additionally, access to HOV lane was a cherry on top. That night we were coming back from a dinner when she called and showed us her new car. She also mentioned that “federal credit of $3750 will be cut by 50% on July 01, 2019”.

Reason 1: At that moment I did not think too much but later I randomly visited their website and began customizing the model. Not to mention that this was my first time to Tesla website. I was shocked by the simplicity of their website and ordering process. This is reason number 1 for their growth – simple, elegant website with well thought out and sorted ordering process. It literally takes 5 clicks to customize your car and enter your payment information to place the order. In my view this is the most under rated aspect of Tesla’s growth. People talk about all the other stuff like autopilot, self driving, dog mode etc. but does not pay attention to this.

Reason 2: I was still not convinced that I want a Tesla as my second car. So, I did what every millennial will do 🙂
I went to the Tesla store for test drive. Even at this point I was not planning to buy the Tesla. I own a Ducati Monster 1200S and it was due decimo maintenance. I had an appointment for the Ducati maintenance and Tesla store was close to that service center. I reserved a slot that would work for me and we went to the store after dropping Ducati.

First surprise, the so-called Tesla showroom was a smaller than an apartment. We waited for our turn for a while till our salesperson showed up. He was friendly, knowledgeable and welcoming. Soon after meeting him and scanning our driver license ids we went for a test drive.
After basic instruction to the features and driver settings I started driving.

Oh my god!!
Yes, that was my first reaction. Although, I knew it is going to be fast but believe me if you have never driven an electric car it will be an experience of a lifetime.
What the hell!!
Yes, that was my second reaction. Again, I knew about regenerative braking, but it took me off guard when I lifted my foot from the pedal. It was strong just like a brake. You have to drive it to believe me what I am talking about.
We went to the NC 540 with speed limit of 70 MPH, and he showed me the demo of much talked about autopilot. It was trying to keep the car in the dead middle of the lane and keeping safe distance from car in front etc.
So far it was just like better adaptive cruise control that’s what I was thinking in my mind until we took the exit and the car literally took exit on its own managing the lane changing, turn signal etc. and slowed down at the stop sign.
This is the second reason. I always say that, if you do not plan to buy a Tesla then don’t drive it. There is no way you want to buy it after test drive.

Reason 3:

Federal Credits: As I mentioned previously in the introduction, federal credits were diminishing to $1875 from $3750 as Tesla has sold more than 200,000 cars. This is literally a saving that you will get when you file your tax return next year based on how much you owe in federal taxes.

Reason 4:

Dealership experience: This in my view is one of the most important reason. Tesla sales persons unlike other dealerships do not push you to make the decision right there and  pressurize you to buy today. Best thing about Tesla is that you can book your car for $2500 and then go back home discuss about it. If it makes sense to you based on your financial state you can move forward with financing options (assuming most people would finance $45,000 car ).
We paid $2500 and booked our Tesla Model 3 Red multicoat color because it was difficult to get it delivered before 30^th June 2019 if we take more time.

Well, I hope this would give you an idea why Tesla sold so many cars in Q2. I am sure the number will go down in Q3 of 2019 as there is no federal credits change. However, in my view if it makes sense to you financially then there is no point in taking decision just based on federal credits. Just the fact that it will cut down your carbon footprint by at least 50% – 60% and save you at least $70 per month (if you drive gas car for 1200 miles in a month). I am not even calculating the cost of maintenance at this point as I am still waiting for true cost of maintenance as years go by.
Conclusion, Tesla is a great car manufacturer who just transformed the auto industry with its innovation in technology and dealership experience. They will continue to thrive and succeed as world demand more use on renewable energy sources and less reliance on fossil fuel.

Tesla Model 3 is a beautiful car but there are few things that are missing. Here is the list of best accessories to get when you a new Tesla Model 3. I have reviewed these products with multiple Tesla owners and they can vouch for it.

1. Tempered screen protector : The most important thing in any Tesla is its central control screen. If you have just got your car or if your had it for few months now, this is the first thing you want to buy for your car.
You would be using the screen for every little thing and will be touching it thousands of times each day. Surely, you don’t want anything to happen to it.

Tempered glass screen protector will not only save you from scratches but also take some unfortunate blows and save the screen from breaking.

In our review, we found this tempered screen protector works well without any touch issues and good viewing angle. They usually retails for $15 and this will be the best $15 you would spend on your car trust me.

2. Wireless charger : Model 3 comes with usb charging option which in 2019 is kind of archaic way of charging your phone. Out of few wireless chargers that we used, we liked the updated version of these from TapTes on amazon. These usually retails for $49 on amazon.

If you do not have a tight budget then I highly recommend Nomad Wireless Charger for Tesla Model 3. They usually retails for $129

3. Center Console Organizer : If you are one of those who wants to keep everything organized in center console then this is the what you need. It is a custom fit organizer and will ask you to check if it will fit based on your model/make/year. In our review we found that it fits well for any Tesla Model 3.

4. Floor mats : Well not the must have for every one but if you are one of those who did not get all weather mats from tesla then surely this is must have for you. There are 2 options:

Budget floor mats, retails for around $60 and covers almost the whole floor.

Best quality option from 3D MAXpider, retails for around $200 but they have some fan following and are the best reviewed floor mats on amazon.

5. Sun shade : If you live anywhere in southern US and were facing the heat wave then you know why this is a must have. They will literally save you from a sauna feeling and reflect sunlight from rear and front roof. There are few options available on amazon but these ones are probably a better deal for $75 and gets you a set of front and rear.

Let me know in comments if you think there should be some other product in this must have list.