| The Humanist
A little over a year ago I started looking around to replace my car. I have owned a scorpio(2003 model) and after that had changed to a sedan which I have had for the last 2 years.
Moving from an SUV to a Sedan is possibly the worst decision that anyone can ever take. All those who have made this mistake would instantly know what I am talking about. Suddenly you are afraid that your rear end is going to touch the road because you are seated so low. You fear every auto and truck around you on the road whereas it used to be the other way around. You can see your feet because they are pointed forwards instead of down. And you miss ruling the road again every single day because you are always afraid that someone will bump into your stupid sedan and make a scratch, or a dent or someone in an SUV will drive overtake you while you are slowly negotiating the potholes watching SUVs glide over them like they didn't exist.
To cut a long story short, since I wanted to buy an SUV, I started hunting around for reviews and came across this website, which we all know as TBHP.
I read a couple of reviews and by chance happened to look at the forum. And there it was. The 4x4 Section!!!
Now I look back at that time and can actually smile from ear to ear just thinking about how I spent night after night reading, absorbing and obsessing over TBHP's various 4x4 threads and the awesome machines that they described.
THEN I discovered the classifieds section. Oh man! that was a goldmine for me. And I fell in love!!!! There was the green beauty owned by a Mr.Sabareesh. It was the same one that I had seen in a very enjoyable and interesting thread about a jeep restoration. Having seen Sabareesh's jeep restoration thread first, I was shocked to learn that his jeep was up for sale and he was based at Mumbai. I decided that I would buy it immediately.
In the middle of the night, I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling, imagining myself with my scanty hair blowing in the breeze and my balding scalp getting tanned while driving back from Mumbai in my new jeep.
I could imagine driving through the beautiful ghats and using my camera to take pictures of the picturesque locations that we would pass through. The sunsets would turn my jeep into a green-and-gold chariot with wings of fire and the heart of this tiger would purr softly to express its affections for me, its master.
I could see myself pulling into get diesel refills and the attendants there cleaning the windshield, washing the tyres, wiping off all the dust, admiring my enviable chariot and all this time there would be an thunderous background score by A.R.Rahman.
I spent a whole day planning the funds. I was ready to sell my soul if it was needed. But that jeep was to become mine. And I spent the day in a daze floating around like a feather in an upward draft.
Of course, all it took was one single phone call to bring me crashing down from the clouds like I was a very heavy object, well, like I was me (i am a pretty heavy object, except when someone takes a photo of me. then I am a heavy subject. hehe).
That call was to Sabareesh, the owner of the jeep. Sabareesh told me that firstly I should understand what is a jeep before deciding to commit to the purchase. He also said that it would be impossible to drive it back to Hyderabad considering that I would be on a highway, etc etc. He spent 30 minutes or so on the phone with me and I thank him for each of those. He was kind and helpful, and wanted to make sure that I don't take a rash decision. You all should realize, that I knew nothing about vehicles until that point (and as my dear friend Shams would testify, I know even lesser now).
That one phone call made me realise the following:
1. There are good people on this earth who will give you fair advice even it means they don't make a sale. That's Sabareesh for you. Honest as well as genuinely helpful.
2. Jeeps are not meant for highway driving and are best used for sport in their native environment, i.e. Any place where there is no road.
3. There was no more doubt… I wanted a jeep!!! And come hell or high water, I would get one!!!
Thus begins the story of 'The Humanist', my jeep.
somewhere up there i mentioned something about cutting a long story short.
Note from the Team-BHP Support Team : Please take the time to use proper punctuation as per Team-BHP rules. Avoid...typing...like...this. SMS lingo is also not allowed.
Last edited by n_aditya : 11th November 2010 at 20:49.
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11th November 2010, 15:53
