[Rajjay]

Excellent news. It is very rare to see women entrepreneurs that too in the automobile field. Kudos Ms. Chaudhary. Keep flourishing.

[allinbalance]

Really peps you up learning about such pluck and passion. Congratulations to Ms. Chaudhary and Motorheads team! Yes, the Covid situation was a bad setback, but as they say - there is always light at the end of the tunnel. I wish the Motorheads team courage and lots of luck ahead and will definitely spread the word around with my friends in Chennai.

[deepfreak15]

Its threads like this that really confuse me. First off I am extremely happy when someone starts a new venture and always wish them the very best, whoever he/she/they (I learnt this is a classification recently)may be.
But here is where I get confused. These days at work and thanks to social media we are all reminded about diversity and being inclusive, yet those that say they are the biggest proponents of these values try their hardest to say otherwise. As a forum of automotive enthusiasts we should be celebrating the start of a new venture and not try our best to highlight the fact the person running it does not conform to the perceived stereotyped gender. So are we celebrating the fact that there is a new garage which promises to take care of our vehicles or are we celebrating the fact that as men we are thrilled a woman is doing something? If its the former we should be announcing on our homepage and hot threads every time a new garage/venture is started.
Before the knives and pitchforks come out, ~30 years ago when my parents felt the need to supplement their income, out of sheer naivety my Dad set up a tyre dealership in my Mom's name and since he had a 9am-9pm job they had no other option but for her to run the shop. There has not been a single generation in my father's or mother's side where anyone ran a business. So while most kids grew up watching their mom's cook food in the kitchen I literally grew up in a tyre go-down watching my mom dealing with haggling customers (tyres are a cut throat business), trying to move tyres around (all in a saree) etc. No one batted an eyelid back then, its something she had to do and did. I know for a fact, it would have embarrassed the hell out of her if someone said "Hey...wow.. thats a Lady doing all this". Trust me to the recipient it feels demeaning and condescending . So when a large and popular forum like ours collectively says, "Wow we are so happy a Lady is doing this.." I get confused with what kind of message are we saying.
I strongly felt the need to say this from the point of view of a Lady trying to run a business without the added burden of being reminded of her gender. I know its very easy to offend or get offended these days so Im sure most of you will have something to say about my post but I wont engage in it. Just thought I would say whats on my mind and thats it. End of rant, peace out!

[PearlJam]

Originally Posted by deepfreak15

So are we celebrating the fact that there is a new garage which promises to take care of our vehicles or are we celebrating the fact that as men we are thrilled a woman is doing something?

Neither. I think we're only celebrating the fact that the society has reasonably evolved (atleast in some parts of the country) from being conservative, to reach a stage where a woman now has the opportunity, and safety provided by the society, to start a new venture from scratch, on her own.

I don't think we're talking about the merits of the venture itself, nor the fact that it's demeaning because the women themselves are doing something. It's mainly about the opportunity - and I think this messaging has somehow been lost in the multiple posts in this thread.

[no_fear]

Before the debate continues further on the gender and diversity topic, what pleases me the most is this venture allows the disenfranchised and marginal section of the society (those with poor or no education skills, underprivileged) to get good training and a chance to pursue their passions.

This is something worth celebrating. As a society, we often look down on those working in garages / workshops as "mistri / laborer" types.

I know it because I experience it first hand. At my warehouse, I often lift packages myself and I am often taunted by relatives and society folks with comments as "worker class", "mazdoor", "workshop wala".

I also appreciate deepfreak15's comments. It is a very good take on how we tend to glorify achievements at the expense of gender. There is no right or wrong answer, just individual opinions.

[TheHelix0202]

Originally Posted by PearlJam

Neither. I think we're only celebrating the fact that the society has reasonably evolved (atleast in some parts of the country) from being conservative, to reach a stage where a woman now has the opportunity, and safety provided by the society, to start a new venture from scratch, on her own.

+ 1

Not to go OT, but having seen first hand, how differently rural people think about things we city slickers take for granted, I have come to learn a lot about society. It takes one to know. Easy to adopt a detached “what’s-surprising-in-this?” attitude about topics like these when the ground reality is actually sad.

[livelyyoungman]

Wow. That is really nice. Seeing a women turning into entrepreneurship is truly amazing and welcome as well. And folks from Chennai get Good Neighborhood Garage as well. Make passion your profession is the mantra for excellence and hence success.

[kamilharis]

So happy reading this news. I hope she joins tbhp if she hasn't yet!

Motorheads employs school dropouts, I loved this thing a LOT. There are so many of them who might not be having a certificate or degree but has passion in them which even a graduate can never match.

[jithin23]

This is amazing! Kudos to the lady for braving the odds in a male dominated field and setting up a garage. Passion will always yield excellent results if one channelizes their focus correctly.

[roy_libran]

It would be great if a BHP-ian uses the services of this garage and posts some feedback/opinion on the same.
Or, has there been one already?

[Sivasankar]

I have been using Motorheads for the last 2 years for my Fiat Linea T-Jet. Affunissa was referred by a friend after I had completely lost faith in Fiat's Authorized Service in Chennai.

The biggest problem with Authorized Service centres is the inaccessibility of the technician / mechanic who is trained to work on the automobile. In most places, the client is handled or mishandled by a Service Manager who is only good at checking the dents and scratches or writing random notes in the job-card. Fiat has specialised this art.

Being a car nut, I liked the way Affunissa took time to TD the car patiently and kept it for a day to pin down the problem. After a couple of interactions, I understood that passion for her work was the reason behind the confidence that builds in her clients. It is so influential that her crew throbs with the drive too.

[dravis]

How are the charges when compared with authorised service centre? Are we allowed to be on the floor and inspect when they work on our car?

[Sivasankar]

Originally Posted by dravis

How are the charges when compared with authorised service centre? Are we allowed to be on the floor and inspect when they work on our car?

They are very responsive to questions on every aspect of the work being done. Am sure they would allow you on request to watch while the job is on.

I can tell you they charge fair for the quality of service given. My opinion is from the poor experience I have had from Fiat ASS.

[dravis]

Originally Posted by Sivasankar

They are very responsive to questions on every aspect of the work being done. Am sure they would allow you on request to watch while the job is on.

I can tell you they charge fair for the quality of service given. My opinion is from the poor experience I have had from Fiat ASS.

Thank you for your reply. If you own a fiat you can try "world of service" in kolapakkam. you can find their reviews in T-BHP. They do a decent job, they have a garage in noida , hence they are able to procure spares for fiat vehicles which are hard to source in chennai .