Hello from Chennai


Thread Starter #1
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Puh puh!! It was suffocating in there. I hope its better out here.

Hi all: I am Chevy Spark owner from Chennai. The car is 2 years old and as I driver I am 2 yr old as well.

Driving a Car:

I used to shy away from driving a car though I had tried out my Dads M800 10 yrs back - driving a couple of km in a mid-size town and I used to tell folks the usual - "I know driving but..." implying I dont drive regularly, I dont have a car. Dad used to always ask me to go get a driving license and I used to avoid the conversation or tell him that I will and that its a piece of cake. I actually felt it was a piece of cake and it was just a matter of minutes. Really! But it was laziness you may call - taking pains to take photo, fill the form, go to a driving class so that one can get the car to show the RTO that you can drive, etc. We were busy taking the train/bus/bike to places. The travel bug is deeply embedded in there.

Primitive years:

Taking it a bit earlier than that it was only public transport growing up as kids. In a city like Mumbai these modes are good and so the urge to get a bike or drive a car is low. Navigational hazards - it appeared then. Dad had bought a FIAT. His brother-in-law, sister's husband and a friend drove the FIAT Premier Padmini - KLN220 a Kerala registered vehicle into Mumbai. It was at a later date re-registered or became a naturalized citizen of MH as MAP-455 like we all were. I remember pushing it along with my building cricket friends to make it start and run. Dad used to take us to our Aunt's place - which was one local railway station away. Mumbaikars are poor folks unable to say distances. Atleast they were then. I dont know the distance from my old Mumbai home to the school or from my home to my college. It was just bus route numbers and time. This I thought was very uneducated/unscientific way after I moved to the South where folks exactly knew kilometers and teenagers have bikes (even in those days during my vacation I used to see my cousin with a Yamaha in the south whereas we just used local transport. And Mumbaikars that we were used to have that "I am from Mumbai. The big city feeling." But looking at bikes and kilometers mid-size town folks were ahead in the game. We were like frogs in a well.) However folks around the world also use the term "its a 10 min drive." So its a big-city syndrome.

Later years:
Filled out the form and stood in queue. The inspector said which car will I use to show that I could drive. I said - "er..." Took the form and got out of the RTO. There stood a red M800 with a board on the roof "Chennai Driving School". I asked him - "Can you give me the RC of your car since I need to show it to the inspector now". He said "Hold on hold on. Please come to our shop on Thur and we can go thru proper lessons / procedure. Rs 2750/- for lessons/applying for Learners/getting a permanent license. Good deal I thought. I got the LL a week later and then I started the morning classes. I did a few and in between the few classes we made a trip to my parents place. I took the keys and said I would drive you around. Everyone had a puzzled look. We drove 250 odd km in 2 days! It was through 5 or 6 homes across the border through village roads. There were couple of tricky car-handling situations that I managed to come off during that trip. It was time for the driver in me to explore more.

I went back, got the driving license in Aug 2009. Got the Sparky on Sep 24th 09.

Now its 38K of driving thru 4Ls, rurals roads, hills, coasts, jungle with wifey and daughter alongside. Travels been that much more exciting with the Sparky. My major contribution or query areas would primarily be routes/travelogues. Other interests - car-interiors, navigation instruments, accessories, car grooming, city driving, driving etiquette, good driving practices.

To Dos:
Drive from Delhi to all places in Himachal/Uttarakhand/JK/Punjab and return to Delhi. Driving from Chennai all the way is another thing to explore. However it will eat up days and who gets to take that many days off from work?!

Drive in a different country, cross country - maybe the US from East to West coast thru friends/relatives homes. This looks very much do-able.

Also, go thru country side in a not so expensive country. Maybe Malaysia.
 
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Great intro jeev! welcome aboard on TAI! You have found the right place to be. Need some more pics on those delicious trips you have mentioned.
Wish you have a great time on board. [:)]
 
Thread Starter #5
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Thanks people for a warm welcome. So regards travelogues or routes or places in our Sparky its been primarily TN/KL/KA and once on the MH coast + Mumbai. There have been many. However some in the past 4 months have been:

Jul

MAS->Mysore->Hunsur->Kutta->Calicut via Nagarhole NP
Calicut->NH212->SH17->NH7->NH46->NH4->MAS via Bandipur NP

Aug
CBE-NH209-BGLR-NH7-NH47-CBE

Sep
MAS-NH45-NH68-NH47-CBE //Different than the usual NH4/46/7/47
CBE-NH209-Pollachi-Nemmara-Nelliampathy-Chavadi-NH47-CBE
CBE-Karur-Musiri-Perambalur-NH45-MAS

Oct
CBE-NH209-Udumalai-Munnar-Idukki-Thodupuzha-Chottanikara-MarineDrive-Cherai-Kodungallur-Mala-NH47-Trichur-Wadakanchery-Alathur-Kollengode-Pollachi-CBE

Some beautiful locations in some of those routes. Enjoyed driving.
 

350Z

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Nice start there. Welcome to The Automotive India, Jeev. I’m sure that you will spend a wonderful time with us here making new friends. Do not hesitate to contact us in case you need any assistance related to this forum. Have a pleasant stay and welcome once again. :smile:

Drive safe,
350Z
 
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Hi Jeev, considering you're a Spark owner, I welcome you and bow with all humility. The chaps in Sparks keep overtaking me, and vanish out of site all the time on the highways. I won't be surprised if you were the one who zoomed past mid Oct on the Salem-Krishnagiri stretch in a red Spark!
 

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