One who likes taking the road less traveled (when possible)

[CaAT]

Hey Nilanjan,

That was quite an intro. Loved reading it.

Welcome to the forum and enjoy.

[Nitin]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

@Nitin: You must have heard about Fedor then if you follow UFC – amazing guy! By the way, my uncle is in artillery.

You mean Fedor Emelianenko? Guess I've seen him fight 1-2 times.
Interesting to know that you uncle's in the ART division too.

[NoMind]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

Hi

I have made a few posts in Team-BHP, and decided that it was time for an intro.

Since this is an internet forum, let me start with ASL. Am 33 (can't believe it! so many things to do, so little time!), originally from Calcutta, spent 9 years in Bombay, now in Bangalore. Graduate of Presidency College and IIM Calcutta. Am driving global marketing for a software product company based out of Fairfax, VA. Travel a bit, usually to the US. Am envious of their car choices + prices - but would not like to leave India and settle there.

Have a two month old daughter (getting used to the paradigm shift), and a frisky 4 year old Irish Setter (that’s his pic). Wife is an ex naval officer (Lt. Commander). We bought an Indica many years back (patriotic feelings when Indica first came out), and are still using it. Have been thinking about getting another car for quite sometime. Need a safe vehicle that can support our adventurous nature – and can go to most places. Thus a SUV makes sense (all terrain + baby + dog). Am seriously considering the Grand Vitara. Love the Pajero also – but it is too expensive. Mind says to go for a value(r) for money option and invest the delta, but what the heck – as Thoreau said, sometimes a man needs to go beyond leading a life of quiet desperation (that’s corpo life for you).

Interests: contract bridge, mixed martial arts (used to practice, now only follow; am a big fan of this guy called Fedor Emelianenko), reading, Himalayas (have traveled extensively – Kashmir to Sikkim; yet to do Arunachal), wildlife, dogs, military history and strategy. Love long drives. Not too knowledgeable about the technical aspects of cars though. Teaching myself photography (using a Canon S5 IS – will graduate to an entry level DSLR once I learn the ropes).

Miss Bombay, but like the weather in Bangalore. Still can’t figure out why people often drive on the wrong side of the road here (bikes/tractors/ cars coming the 'ulta' way), why heavy vehicles drive on the right lane, and why most people overtake from the left.

Plan to explore the hills and forests of Karnataka, TN and Kerala once the daughter gets ready for long drives. Have already been to many places in the South (coffee estates, forests, the popular hill stations) when I was younger, but haven’t driven here. Goal: to spend 1 weekend every month exploring the country. Let’s see if that is possible. Badly miss the Himalayas though – before I started working, I used to make 2+ trips every year to the mountains.

Have wanderlust, and have had quite a few interesting experiences while traveling; some examples:

• My wife and I staying alone in a Kumaon campsite (no other guests, the caretaker stayed 100 feet away in 1 hut) with a leopard calling through the night just outside our flimsy, torn tent. Imagine my plight after drinking a couple of bottles of beer and realizing that I had to go out in the middle of the night :-). Reading Jim Corbett so many times helped that time (and has helped at other times also) – one gets over the fear of big cats and knows what to watch out for in case of a 1/100 chance of a naughty cat.
• Snowed-in in Chail at the Army MES Bungalow; caretaker stayed a long distance away; the bungalow, built by the Maharaja of Patiala, was like a haunted house – just us, the snow, and monkeys outside that would wake us up in the middle of the night by banging the windows (or maybe they were the spirits of the Maharaja's many wives - someone said > 100?!).
• Traveling up to 18,135 feet in North Sikkim – way beyond Gurudongmar. Standing on top of the India-China border – a one foot wide demarcation made up of broken tiles. The army chaps are amazing.
• Walking across the border to Nepal to a trekker’s hut just to buy local booze (Thumba) – we had run out of Brandy at 12,000 feet.

This is an amazing forum. Hope to meet up with some folks in real life – and maybe plan some trips.

nilanjanray,
Nice intro. It's always hard to provide a insightful intro about yourself.

I'm into some of the same things myself (kendo/kenjutsu(8 yrs for the first)/ come from a family that used to own Alsatians(myself used to own a albino gifted by some nawab to my dad),Himalayas(have heavy duty ideas for it when I come back home permanently),backpacking/hiking(highest I've backpacked was to 10.5k feet in California),military history(avid reader of all continents),strategy(sun tzu,Clausewitz,Chanakya and musashi) and last but not the least... emmerson and thoreau.
The quiet desperation has oft been quoted in jest between my brother and I.
Glad to see you here and hope we can meet up for some trips.

[kARTIK IYER]

Hi ,

Nice Intro and am sure you are going to have a great time . Your experiences are worth mentioning as a separate posts .

Looking forward for these interesting ones

Regards.. Kat

[sudev]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

...Still have concerns about spares and servicing though. I wrote to a Maruti person after getting intro through an alumnus – let’s see if she gets back...

Considering what all I have heard of lot of other SUV's I would say spares on Vitara are relatively easy. I have been getting my car services at authorized guys only.

Having driven so much over rough tracks and wildly (no typo) I've needed radiator, suspension arm and air-con evaporator. All were available easily from Maruti. No more than two days in garage.

Past week the front windshield got a crack from a stone thrown up by vehicle in front. I am promised a wind shield coming week. Since it is just a crack on the left side of windshield I am not off road.

That said I have heard of major horror stories on higher end SUV;s off road for month plus due to no spares.

Go and make your choice....and promise to post you stories of travel here.

[nilanjanray]

Thanks Sudev - that's comforting to hear.

Loved your Raid de Himalayas story and pictures.

Where are you off to next?

Originally Posted by NoMind

nilanjanray,
Nice intro. It's always hard to provide a insightful intro about yourself.
.
.
.
The quiet desperation has oft been quoted in jest between my brother and I. Glad to see you here and hope we can meet up for some trips.

Nice to hear from you. Where do you stay in CA? I have a very good friend staying near Foster city - visit him when I can. Went camping with him near Tahoe.

[NoMind]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

Nice to hear from you. Where do you stay in CA? I have a very good friend staying near Foster city - visit him when I can. Went camping with him near Tahoe.

I'm based out of new york now. I have lived in san jose and mountain view and worked in san mateo(close to foster city). My brother works for the biggest networking company in that region for the past 8 years.Let me know your plans(if any) to travel to the bay area. BTW i have baby daughter too aged 10 months

[amtak]

Babumoshay! welcome aboard. With so many IIM and IITians on the forum, I see a big company coming up in the future. Take care and would like to meet you some day!

[sujaylahiri]

Hey Nilanjan
Nice to see you on the forum. Hope you like it.

Sujay

[zenx]

Welcome aboard - I'm sure with your interests and inclination, you'll enhance this forum like others with similar interests, and inspire many of us with your travelogues. Of course, the leopard-outside-the-tent-while-I-want-to-take-a-leak is something I'd rather just read about

[Samurai]

Wow, how did I miss this thread?

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

Interests: contract bridge, mixed martial arts (used to practice, now only follow; am a big fan of this guy called Fedor Emelianenko), reading, Himalayas (have traveled extensively – Kashmir to Sikkim; yet to do Arunachal), wildlife, dogs, military history and strategy. Love long drives. Not too knowledgeable about the technical aspects of cars though. Teaching myself photography (using a Canon S5 IS – will graduate to an entry level DSLR once I learn the ropes).

Your interests are very close to mine, martial arts, photography, travelling, military history, etc.

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

My wife and I staying alone in a Kumaon campsite (no other guests, the caretaker stayed 100 feet away in 1 hut) with a leopard calling through the night just outside our flimsy, torn tent.

While my wife and I camped at 14,000ft in DZongri, we too heard a strange snorting outside the tent and my wife was scared to the guts. Although I recognised it was a horse...

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

[*]Traveling up to 18,135 feet in North Sikkim – way beyond Gurudongmar. Standing on top of the India-China border – a one foot wide demarcation made up of broken tiles. The army chaps are amazing.

Hey, you should check out my Sikkim Travelogue(http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ngri-trek.html (Few days close to Heaven: The Dzongri Trek)).

Originally Posted by Nitin

Good to see a person with similar interests.Military history,traveling,dog-lover,MMA (had a chance to indulge in Shotokan & UFC-style ground fighting techniques to name a few). And the only connection with the Armed forces being my father-in-law, a retired Colonel from the Artillery division.

Originally Posted by NoMind

I'm into some of the same things myself (kendo/kenjutsu(8 yrs for the first)/ come from a family that used to own Alsatians(myself used to own a albino gifted by some nawab to my dad),Himalayas(have heavy duty ideas for it when I come back home permanently),backpacking/hiking(highest I've backpacked was to 10.5k feet in California),military history(avid reader of all continents),strategy(sun tzu,Clausewitz,Chanakya and musashi) and last but not the least... emmerson and thoreau.

When it rains, it pours, so many like minded individuals. My formal training has been in Kyokushin-Karate, Aikido and Silambam, informal in Nunchaku, Kenjutsu (bokken). Many of my Aikido classmates in NJ were into Kenjutsu and Iaido, used to practice after class with them. But that was 14-15 years back. I am mostly into weapons. My practice is slowly rusting these days.

Originally Posted by sudev

Considering what all I have heard of lot of other SUV's I would say spares on Vitara are relatively easy. I have been getting my car services at authorized guys only.

Having driven so much over rough tracks and wildly (no typo) I've needed radiator, suspension arm and air-con evaporator. All were available easily from Maruti. No more than two days in garage.

Glad to know that Sudev, I was worried after not getting a steering cover. Good to know they cover the basics well.