"Does your excellency have a Requirement Analysis?"

"Oh Yes, and a very simple one too. I can assure you that I was not very proficient when it came to changing gears while driving back in India. So I am going for an auto transmission here. I seem to have taken some dislike to two door cars hence the choice for a four door one. As I am perfectly incapable of distinguishing between different sections of the anatomy of the car under the hood and want a car that will run for an entire duration of H1B visa without any trouble, I think I will go for a new car. Last but not the least, a car for me is no more than a means of starting from point A and reaching point B - all in one piece if you may please - I am not going for any sports car."

"Hmmm....have you given a thought to whether you want just a cassette player inside your dream vehicle or need a CD player too? What do you think about having power windows? Surely you admit that power steering wheel is a necessary thing. What about sun roof or moon roof? Do you need any security package at this point? Keyless entry? ABS? One year, two year or three year warranty? And last but not the least, a Ford? Mazda? Honda? Acura? Toyota? Mitsubishi or Hundai?"

"Huh?" was the only word which could roll out of my Mouth Wide Open.

A malicious chuckle and then "carpoint.com, Edmunds.com and autobytel.com" said my Oracle and hung up on me.

If you had been there for the next fortnight, you would have seen at least three windows open on my PC in the office. "What are you up to these days? Not a single forwarded mail from you in a long time." Complained all the friends. But I was too absorbed in my hunt for the car to pay any attention.

I needed all the skill of a magician to juggle all permutations and combinations of different options and power packages. Help came from unexpected quarters though - the monthly payment for the car loan from the credit union. The moment I realized that majority of the cool options were driving a hole - big enough to drive an entire herd of African elephants - in my purse, I decided to have only the most essential of them. Out went the sun/moon roof, keyless entry and security package and CD player. I prayed that I should get a good car with power windows and power wheel.

And so it was a fortnight later that I was again talking to my friend after doing my homework on the net.

"So?"

"I have decided to go only for power windows and power wheel. I can get most of the things installed later except for sun/moon roof, right? That is fine with me then. And I am going for a '97 Toyota Corolla."

"A desi to the core!! May I ask how have you arrived at this conclusion?"

"Elementary my friend!! I told you that I want a car which will run without trouble for a long time. So I decided to go for a Japanese car - Honda or Toyota. I think I like Toyotas better than Hondas. Then I made a survey of the office parking lot and discovered that there are three kinds of Toyotas plying on roads - Tercels, Corollas and Camrys. Now, Tercel is a bit too small for my taste and Camry is a family sedan. So I settled down upon a Corolla. As far as the year of the car is concerned, well… since the '98 models are already in the market, I have heard that last remaining '97 cars are sold at a lesser price."

Next task was to draw up a list of the Toyota Dealerships around the neighborhood. Two of my colleagues came to my rescue and we zeroed in on 3 dealerships nearby. I was more fortunate than any of my friends in this car hunt. The first dealership told me that they did not have any '97 Corolla models remaining.

The second had 3 of them. First among them was a green one. Though I admire greenery all around me , I can't say that I fancy that color on my car. Still, I took the car out for a test drive. At the end of that drive, I was of the opinion that I heard a distinct hum while driving. One of my colleagues thought that pickup was not that great and the other one swore that somewhere something was wrong with the car but he confessed that he could not nail it down. Both of them however agreed that they had not heard any hum. So we went for a second test drive with the end result that all three of us confirmed our previous conclusions.

The second car in this dealership was a nice one. It had all the power options but it had a mileage of 5000 and the price that they were asking for was something that my purse could ill-afford. Now a dealership representative is a species that I will do anything and everything under the sun to avoid in future. They are gifted with an uncanny ability to press forward their own point and at the same time turn deaf at any that we might venture to make. His favorite tune was 'You will never get a better deal. I can promise you that much'. I had half a mind to tell him that his words would be the last thing I was ready to believe. So we let go of this car.

That brought us onto the third remaining car. This one was a shining red one - what is generally called blood red. As it glistened in the afternoon sun, something within me told me that this was my car. But don't you have to trust your brains and not your heart in these matters? I took this one out for a test drive. All three of us drove it and all of us thought that it was a good one. What's more? Besides being well within my budget, it fitted my list of necessary options down to the last detail.

"I think I will go for this one" I said to the dealership rep.

And as I looked at the car again,I realized for the first time that a car is more than a heap of metal with four wheels and a steering wheel.