[mohan]

I read about your multiple thousand km sojourn with your Gurkha and I am impressed.
Your family too did enjoy the Gurkha experience.Mine takes to the Gurkha with great apprehension and for a reason too.

It so happened 2 months ago that I decided to take my brother ,kids and wife to Shirdi.It was a 750 km drive for us.While returning from Shirdi,I noticed that the fuel indicator was dipping at an unexpected rate for the last 25 km or so.I thought its the A/C guzzling up the diesel as well as the power.Even with the A/C off ,there was no improvement in the power.
I had the scent of diesel running thorugh my nose for a long time and we were passing through a small village and we did see a small time car mechanic so I decided to stop and check the problem.

I had read a lot of Gurkha stuff,especially from Rahul and I was hesitant to open the bonnet..its said that fear causes hesitancy and hesitancy causes your worst night-mares come true( So said Bodhi in "Point-Break").

When I opened the bonnet I found diesel all over the engine area.I was shocked and I decided to take the mechanic's help.On approaching him he proclaimed "I do only TATA's and Mahindra's, baaki saagle(saab) bakwas" which made my heart sink further.

Still I insisted that he should have a dekko at my stranded Vehicle.
It was 1900 hours in a small village with an uncooperative mechanic and miles of forest stretch further.

The mechanic ,my wife believes this,was probably prompted by Shirdi ke Baba to help us out.
On running the engine I found ,not a ooze ,but a gush of diesel,through the engine No.1 nozzle,more the acclerator push,bigger the gush.
The mechanic even did not have a spanner of the size of the nozzle head..said it was a very odd size.Off we went to his friends house to get the required spanner.
After 2 hours of hard work ,with my help as a mechanic's side-kick,finally managed to reposition the nozzle head,put a lot of teflon to stem the leak and we were ready to go.
As a parting comment the mechanic said"Arey 4 wheel drive leni hi thi to safari lete,yeh kya liya? to which all my family members strongly agreed ,rather vociferously,even the mechanic was astonished at the response.
I was the culprit that day,had coaxed them to let go the comforts of a Honda Civic and ride the cowboy way.
So we drove along the Highway uncertainly,made past Nashik and dropped the vehicle at the Dealers Workshop once in Mumbai and headed home taking a cab.
Next day,the dealer changed the nozzle,said it was faulty and profusely apologised for the inconvienince. They kept the Gurkha running for 8 hours that day to see for any new problems.
Rahul had written once that "...there are inital hiccups with the Gurkha...",but this one was a spasmodic gag.
So for me :
Family outing with a Gurkha= a Loud NO-NO.

I have done 1800 km since then,without any problems.

Me thinks,Rahul why dont you try your hand and Gurkha at the Raid -de-Himalaya.Its in October. What do you think ? I can be your side-kick if you want me to be.