Thread Starter
#1
Hello, fellow members !
First off, thank you TAI for accepting my application for membership - its certainly a pleasure! I am Shashanka Choudhury, a 62 year old, young at heart, semi-retired marine engineer. I still do the odd contract on OSVs (offshore-supply-vessels) around the Indian coast - to keep my hand in, so to speak! The last stint I did on a blue water flag was a 10-year tenure (no pun intended) as Chief Engineer on Mitsui's car career fleet, ferrying cars (mostly Japanese) round the world, usually to the U.S., Europe, Central and South America.
I have been an automotive ******** (I prefer the term over the more popular petrol head as I've worked with Diesel engines all my working life!) since I was first smitten - by a little Renault Dauphine - as an 11-year old, cycling my way to school in the early sixties. From that, I (and my fellow felons) graduated to surreptitiously peeling the Motoring centrespread from the Illustrated London News in the British Council Library above the old Mayfair Cinema in Lucknow. I was doing my Inter Science from Christ Church College at the time and our coup-de-grace was a blowup of the Maserati Ghibli (the original, not the current iteration) which was one of Georgetto Guigiaro's earlier and most spectacular successes. I must still be having the cutting somewhere.
Over the years, very fortunately, my wife and I have been able to indulge our abiding interest in touring the country by road. It started with a trip (in 1997) from Mumbai>Lucknow>Uttaranchal>Lucknow>Mumbai, spending time both in Lucknow but mostly touring Uttaranchal. The route: NH3 to Shivpuri and then NH25 to Lucknow via Kanpur. Our steed of choice on that first trip was a white Maruti Omni which we had bought in 1988 and on which we lavished a great deal of TLC!
Since then there have been many more trips to Uttaranchal (have lost count to be quite honest) as well as trips from Mumbai>Madikeri(Coorg district in the Nilgiris) and back as well as trips from Lucknow>Kolkata and back. There have been other cars too - the Tata Sierra, M & M Scorpio and the Hyundai Getz - the last two of which we still own.
We are also serious dog lovers - we have had boxers, and only boxers - for the past many years. One of them - Daisy, may her soul rest in peace - was the B-O-B Champion at the INKC show in Mumbai in 2004. And they have also been our travelling companions for most of our trips.
I also have an interest in the paranormal, including UFOs and the alien abduction
phenomena. This last has often resulted in a certain amount of ribbing from friends and family members. But then, as I have always maintained, to each his own!
I'll wind up here and once again thank TAI and hope that I can contribute to the fun and enjoyment of this forum.
With best regards,
Shashanka Choudhury
First off, thank you TAI for accepting my application for membership - its certainly a pleasure! I am Shashanka Choudhury, a 62 year old, young at heart, semi-retired marine engineer. I still do the odd contract on OSVs (offshore-supply-vessels) around the Indian coast - to keep my hand in, so to speak! The last stint I did on a blue water flag was a 10-year tenure (no pun intended) as Chief Engineer on Mitsui's car career fleet, ferrying cars (mostly Japanese) round the world, usually to the U.S., Europe, Central and South America.
I have been an automotive ******** (I prefer the term over the more popular petrol head as I've worked with Diesel engines all my working life!) since I was first smitten - by a little Renault Dauphine - as an 11-year old, cycling my way to school in the early sixties. From that, I (and my fellow felons) graduated to surreptitiously peeling the Motoring centrespread from the Illustrated London News in the British Council Library above the old Mayfair Cinema in Lucknow. I was doing my Inter Science from Christ Church College at the time and our coup-de-grace was a blowup of the Maserati Ghibli (the original, not the current iteration) which was one of Georgetto Guigiaro's earlier and most spectacular successes. I must still be having the cutting somewhere.
Over the years, very fortunately, my wife and I have been able to indulge our abiding interest in touring the country by road. It started with a trip (in 1997) from Mumbai>Lucknow>Uttaranchal>Lucknow>Mumbai, spending time both in Lucknow but mostly touring Uttaranchal. The route: NH3 to Shivpuri and then NH25 to Lucknow via Kanpur. Our steed of choice on that first trip was a white Maruti Omni which we had bought in 1988 and on which we lavished a great deal of TLC!
Since then there have been many more trips to Uttaranchal (have lost count to be quite honest) as well as trips from Mumbai>Madikeri(Coorg district in the Nilgiris) and back as well as trips from Lucknow>Kolkata and back. There have been other cars too - the Tata Sierra, M & M Scorpio and the Hyundai Getz - the last two of which we still own.
We are also serious dog lovers - we have had boxers, and only boxers - for the past many years. One of them - Daisy, may her soul rest in peace - was the B-O-B Champion at the INKC show in Mumbai in 2004. And they have also been our travelling companions for most of our trips.
I also have an interest in the paranormal, including UFOs and the alien abduction
phenomena. This last has often resulted in a certain amount of ribbing from friends and family members. But then, as I have always maintained, to each his own!
I'll wind up here and once again thank TAI and hope that I can contribute to the fun and enjoyment of this forum.
With best regards,
Shashanka Choudhury