Despite a great deal of bravado here from our Indian contributors, their vast country - with its billion or more people - is still nowhere on the Fortune Global 500 list, and their car makers are still a laughable match for any U.S., Japanese and European counterpart in terms of overall quality, safety and desirability. No question that there's potential for them to succeed, but not in Jaguar's or Land Rover's markets.

The point this article was trying to make was that Tata desperately need the input of designers and engineers from Europe, America and Japan - NOT the other way around - to succeed in a marketplace where successful people want status symbols such as Astons, Bentleys, BMWs, Porsches and Benzes. You're deluded if you think an Indian manufacturer best known for cheap and functional transport can overthrow the European old guard simply by writing large cheques!

Phil, Brentwood, Essex

To digress slightly. You talk about postimperialist bout of muscle-flex-ing. Please take some time to read som pre imperialist facts.

India was the richest country on earth till the British invasion in the 17th century.

India has never invaded any country in her last 10,000 year history.

Sanskrit is the mother of all European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software (report in Forbes magazine, July 1987)

Albert Einstein said: We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.

Mark Twain said: India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most structive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.

French scholar Romain Rolland said: If there is one place on the face of the earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India.

Hu Shih, former Ambassador of China to USA said: India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border.

When the Maharaja of Patiala was snubbed by snooty British salesmen at a Rolls Royce showroom in the U.K., he hit back by buying up the entire consignment of 50 vehicles on display and turning them into garbage trucks back home. An English paper printed a picture and the story that made company representatives scurrying to Patiala with an olive branch.

Rana, London, UK

Eason, you seem to be a typical below average British brat who wants to bask in the past glory of your forefathers!! But, as our Ex-Prime Minister said in the late 1990s, Britain is a 3rd grade world power and is a Lap Dog of the US and will remain so in the decades to follow.

FYI – Zero was conceptualized in India, 1st Intel chip was designed by an Indian, there are more engineers in NASA of Indian origin than of any other Nationality and to increase your knowledge, India has the largest pool of highly skilled techies that conceptualize, design and produce state of the art products from batteries to cars and soon spacecrafts.

So, STOP whining and STOP living in the glass castle. At least, try to increase your knowledge if nothing can be done about your IQ!

AR, MUMBAI, INDIA