A new era?

Afshan Khan, the something-lady from Shell Pakistan, proudly claimed on stage in Germany last year that Pakistan's participation in the Shell Eco Marathon was the beginning of a new era.

What new era was she talking about? In the time since she spoke these historic words, all that has changed in the country (holistically speaking) is...well nothing. The same cars, the same fuels, the same technologies, the same dependence on foreign cars and car-makers...

In view of the current exuberance among undergraduate students about the Shell Eco Marathon, the question springs to mind, what is all this suppose to change? How is it making progress a reality?

We can all make tall claims about what our vehicle can do, but the ground reality is that those vehicles are nothing more than a hundred-odd-kilograms of blatant impracticality. What good are cars that can't do even 40 kph? What good is technology that won't be implemented? What good is 'ingenuity' that would run down the drain?

In fact, these are real questions, that demand real answers to be a generally accepted phenomenon. At the moment, however, the Shell Eco Marathon seems to be raising more questions than it answers. But, we must realize that these answers can only be attained in the future. The onus is on the younguns of Pakistan to deliver.