Industrialist Anand Mahindra has shared an image of the “original Tesla vehicle” from India that was fully self-driven and did not require navigation assistance from Google Maps. And he has sought Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk's reaction to the post.
The defining features that Tesla takes pride in are cost-efficiency, being an electric vehicle, and its self-driving features. The image that Mr Mahindra shared showed two bullocks pulling a cart without guidance as the people aboard it slept through the journey.
“Original Tesla vehicle. No Google Map required, no fuel to buy, no pollution, FSD (fully self-driven). Set home to workplace. Relax, take a nap, reach your destination,” the text on the image read.
“Back to the future… @elonmusk,” the Mahindra Group chairman wrote.
On Mr Mahindra's post, several people shared how they grew up watching bullocks pulling carts in their villages.
One user shared a video that showed bullocks pulling a cart with no one on it. But it appeared as if the animals knew where they were heading.
“We had one in our home. My dad kept the bull very healthy. He used to spend a lot of money to keep them healthy,” another user said.
While not many raised the issue of animal cruelty, one user did try to make a passing reference to the issue as well, calling those who complained about the atrocities on the bull “woke”
Another user reminisced the days when bullock carts were in use, and said that they had lost two buffaloes when the animals had gone out grazing. Even searching in the neighbouring villages didn't yield any results. Finally, after a couple of days the animals came back themselves.
When bullock carts were widely in use, people would train the animals in following directions and also in identifying the route. Once trained, these animals would take the route on their own, without guidance. Although slow, these modes of transportation were immensely cost-effective and also among the only few available in early times.
