[Vihari]

Well I should visit now. Why? For a long time I have been telling my family and friends that – It is easy to go to moon than getting a T-Bhp membership! That is why.

I came across T-Bhp when I was surfing on the web in search of some travelogues – specifically for a place called ‘Maredumilli’, near Rajahmundry in A.P. This was in 2009. Since then I have become a regular visitor to the Forum (Oh this is so routine) but never tried to get registered – hence I WAS happy. I read so many threads, went through so many reviews, enjoyed so many travelogues, became friends with HVK, Laluks, ADC, tsk1979, SS-Traveller, GTO, Rehaan, Rudra ..wait, wait. What is this non-sense? Do you think we are all fools to read this? No sir, this is true. I only told that I have become friends with them but they STILL do not know me. Reading their posts day in and day out, you conjure up certain images of them. Later on in some or other posts, you come across their photographs. Except for GTOs, none of my imaginations matched with the actual photos. Somehow, the image of the letters ‘GTO’ and the posts and the language by him, the rules on the T-Bhp, created an image of a well-built, strong, Head Master or Principal of a school with a CANE in the hand – in my mind. (Am I going to be banned even without becoming a Bhpian???). The only difference was that he is so young. I also found a Vice-principal, called DerAlte who will not not be satisfied and will sleep until he guides you to buy the ‘best of the best’ ICE, which suits best to your vehicle. If you do not follow his instructions properly, you will be definitely admonished. I have not seen any photo of DerAlte, but I will not change my image of the Viking, with the large moustache, impressed on my mind by his Avatar, if he does not sport one. I would refuse to accept his photo as original.

BTW, saw GTO, Rehaan and Rudra’s photos for the first time in the thread - the Team-BHP Story. Visited it so many times, since somehow that particular thread relates to my nostalgic moments with my batch mates, during my Araku Valley trip, when I was in my second year of B.Sc (Hons) in the year 1987. The same sort of mountains and the mist, hot tea and we did have Rothmans & Wills Flake then, no Marlboros.

So, I am already rooted firmly in the 'family' and sometimes talk to some of them in my dreams.

Now, I told you that I WAS happy. So what happened next to curtail my happiness and put me in to turmoil? I decided to get registered with T-Bhp. I registered so many times and accumulated so many rejection mails, I just became impatient. I remembered the words of wisdom – A person is either Happy OR Married. Now its like - A person is either Happy or trying to get registered with T-Bhp. During this period, I was declared as ‘insane’ by my family and friends. As if spending hours together reading something on the forum, is not enough, while driving, whenever a good looking 'attractive' CAR comes in the opposite, I was turning my head 180 degrees and trying to find T-Bhp stickers on the backside of the car, risking accidents and my wife started doubting my intentions. Some more memberships for Hydeez would have helped. This has become a habit which reached its monumental heights when I am looking for one on the CMs vehicle. I am not joking. I can file an affidavit that this has happened to me.

Now, to be serious, this whole thing highlights the ‘Elite’ and at the same time, ‘Egalitarian’ nature of the Forum and the longing people have, to become part of it. It is oft-repeated but worth doing so, Team-BHP rocks!

Initially I registered with a handle name – SS_Lanka. No, I do not own a ship nor I work in one - the SS stand for Sai Sekar - and I would like to clarify for all my Tamilian friends that I am not from Sri Lanka. (BIG GRIN). Lanka is only my 'surname'. In Telugu language, lanka means an island. Since my forefathers are from a place which is a delta area where many islands are formed due to river Krishna meeting Bay of Bengal and draining into the sea. So generally people from these areas have 'lanka' as one of the surnames. So the term Lanka in Sri Lanka may mean the same thing.

Later on I registered with a handle name called – Tangential_Life. This was supposed to refer to my psychological inclinations. A tangent is a line which runs perpendicular to the radius of a circle. Hence it simply deviates from a circle in the smallest possible angle. Sorry. That is my subject, mathematics, interfering with my narration as a matter of habit. So, tangential life necessarily means that I would like to get away from the ‘routine’ of life in a tangential path. This also tells about my likes and dislikes – no, NO dislikes - about cars. I do not much fancy the F1s which actually go round and round and round. Instead, I like rallying. That said, I do follow F1s and supported McLaren and hated Michael Schumacher for cheating certain times to win a race. He is a good mathematician in calculating the gain in a 'manoeuvre' against the risk of penalty. I also hated Ivan Lendl and Martina Navratilova. For me winning is not everything. You might have got an inclination as to whom and why I hate. Hence in keeping with the tangential philosophy, I like to travel. While travelling I like to enjoy the places, nature, people and their culture including food (Sociology being one of my favourite subjects when I attempted for Civil Services Exam which I failed in the Mains due to another boring subject called Telugu Literature and also an 'untimely' love affair which was also a failure). Hence my travel does not end with destinations; rather, destination is a part of the journey.

Finally, when I casually registered with a handle name ‘Vihari’, I became a member. Although Vihari – which means a traveller, bordering on being a Vagabond, does reflect my philosophy detailed above, somehow I have this feeling, that my handle name is not the one which I prefer to have. There is a feeling of dissatisfaction. I don’t know whether any other person on the Forum has such feeling. Now its history and the handle cannot be changed. So the only way forward is to maintain certain standards in my postings and earn a ‘good name’ for my Handle. (BIG GRIN)

So, whats in a handle, when I am so happy for being a part of the Forum?

The same feeling of dissatisfaction lies in my car ownership. I did a lot of research, for about one year, about various cars which mostly included hatch backs and some border line cases of Sedans (Ford Classic, Verito, Etios etc.) with respect to the budget being around 7 lakhs. It needs no mention that the research associates were all – T-Bhpians; albeit none who knows me, since I was not a member at that time.

In this matter, I went with my heart rather than my mind and finalised my dream car (you may laugh – i do not care) ‘POLO’ from VW. In fact when POLO was released into the Indian market – only the petrol version, in the year 2009, and saw the same with a friend, then and there I decided that if I buy a car I will buy POLO. At that particular time, the important factor was that I am able to buy a Volks Wagon car and that too, one available within my budget. Period. Somehow the idea of owning a European Car itself was fascinating. Nothing else - the engine, the specifications, features etc. etc., mattered. Only that it is a VW. Yes, of-course, the looks – I stupidly wrote in my ‘which car’ question, a car can be called a car only if it looks like a POLO (Not even Beetle, Passat or Jetta). I booked POLO Tdi on May 29th of 2012 and took delivery on June 20th. But as they say, the disposition part from ‘GOD’ was a little different. In the month of July I was suddenly down with lower back ache, which was diagnosed as ‘disc prolapse’ and I was under bed-rest for 4 and ½ months. During this period the car was driven by a driver, and the trips were only to NIMS Hospital. Finally when I recovered a little, I realised that my favourite car is not suitable for patients like me with a back problem because of its ‘low’ ingress and seating. As fate would go, I parted with that car, (my sister took it and is using it) and bought the car which I hated most for its looks – Maruti Suzuki RITZ! I had to go for a car with ‘high’ seating position.

The choice available was between Wagon-R, Santro and Ritz. Since I wanted a diesel car, I went for the Ritz LDI. Except for the looks, the car is great in performance. Each one of my friends and relatives, who have turned green with envy when I bought my POLO, heaved a sigh of relief! You may take a guess as to what I would have said about their vehicles, when I was a owner of the POLO for the few months. Now they can sleep easy. But Ritz has also a distinction. As far as I know, it happens to be the first car where Maruti invited Team-BHP for the test drive and review. Some solace.

So whats in the looks, when I am so happy with the car.

I also assume that I am a very lonely T-Bhpian, since I may be the only T-Bhpian, working as an employee of Central Government, apart from respected Faujis, since I found almost none, in the user profiles. May be I am wrong.

Well, that sums up my introduction. I have to hurry now. By the way, how far is the moon from Hyderabad? I have to call HVK sir for the route information along with RanjitP. Should also enquire Laluks for any photos of Hotels and Mobike008 for what food to eat in which restaurant there. Bye all.

P.S: Some smileys are in verbose due to the restriction of usage. Please bear.

[carzone]

Dude, you write well, and how!
Enjoyed reading the whole of your post and some lines do bear similarites between us.

anyways, seems you have already been through the formu rules(especially the smiley usage), waiting to read more of your write-ups in the forum.

Cheers
carzone(yeah, I too didn't want this, any options to change, GTO?)

[Octane_Power]

Vihari, your write up is very smooth and jocund. Read it full and loved it, and the "making up of images in the mind" part applies to me too

Tried but can't delineate your image in my mind.. lol
And I can really see why your friends and relatives called you "insane".
Just in this post one can see the passion with which you introduced yourself; can indeed imagine you looking out for T-BHP stickers and spending hours on the forum.

Great to have you here Sir!

-Bhargav

[Divya Sharan]

Wow, you have a certain panache for writing. Loved your intro.

Do pen down (or should I say key down) often and I'd mark my attendance over there for sure.
BTW, circumventing the smiley restrictions was a good idea. (Thumbs up)

[thoma]

Sorry to break your bubble, here is DerAlte for you

Welcome aboard, you write your mind.

Some tips:
- The search bar is so very useful. Search for anything you have in your mind.
- You might not have seen the best of the best of T-BHP until you dig deep on some old threads, especially some from Sam. And not to miss the vast travelogues section, that already might have enticed you.

[SDP]

Fascinating intrduction post!

I like these longish introduction posts significantly more than the standard template-inspired "I am <--name-->. Cars have been in the blood since childhood. I tried registering <--number--> times, got through now. Thank you Mods. I currently own <--car-name-->."

If there is a tadka of humour in the introduction, nothing like it!

So, welcome Vihari and have a pleasant stay! Would look forward to interact with you on some thread or another.

[Arch-Angel]

Vihari sir, your intro had me giggling, true instances along with the right amount of spice(lol) makes it a nice intro to read! As fate would have it, you now have the ritz which i feel is definitely a good car coming from the maruti stables. Also, some of your philosophies reflect mine and i believe in the journey rather than the destination as well. Have fun sir and please do go through the rules section lest the headmaster'ji with the cane do his rounds .

[navin]

Vihari, this has been one of the more entertaining intros I have read. Welcome to TBHP.

[Maverick79]

Vow Vihari garu!

What an introduction!
I was long since I read such an exhilarating intro in this thread!
Kudos and Welcome to The Forum!

So, when are you planning to visit Moon?

Regards,
Maverick79.

[DerAlte]

Welcome to TBHP, @vihari. A very entertaining intro!

Thank God you didn't conjure up a mental image of me as a Neanderthal with a spiked club in hand!

[SS-Traveller]

Welcome aboard, Vihari / Tangential_Life / SS_Lanka. It was fun reading your intro post, and your signature is interesting.

Please do not post your queries about travelling to the moon in the Route / Travel Queries section, because Mr. Neil Armstrong did not apply for a membership on Team-BHP, and is not on this forum (and in the world) to guide you. You could of course direct your queries regarding the same to 11 other people whom I can recommend, and whose names you will find here.

Enjoy your stay on the forum, and we look forward to reading some more equally great write-ups from you.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by Vihari

I have to call HVK sir for the route information along with RanjitP. Should also enquire Laluks for any photos of Hotels and Mobike008 for what food to eat in which restaurant there. Bye all.

Sai, you write well. Looking forward to more of such write ups and interactions.

And for the photo, I personally could not click any, but our on-line friends already have Enjoy!

[Ddrive]

A real passionate intro Vihari
Just 15 days in tbhp.. already 18 posts & 18 thanks - Godspeed !
Seems like the long wait is over and you are in a state of shock still !
Lookin forward to more of your posts.
Regards.

[Rehaan]

Hahahah Vihari!!

Welcome to the family mate

Super intro. You sure do know Team-BHP well!

Don't feel bad about the Ritz. It's a good car, and with a back problem, its better you concentrate on preventing your back from getting worse than having a car that just looks good!

Cheers,
R

[DieselDon]

@Vihari - Good to meet you during the Haleem Meet !

Excellent writeup ! & Again, Welcome to TeamBHP !

Originally Posted by Vihari

Reading their posts day in and day out, you conjure up certain images of them....... none of my imaginations matched with the actual photos.

Can you share what you thought about my handle 'DieselDon' ?

or or or ??

Cheers,