[nibedk]

A warm hello to all TBHPIANs

I am Nibed Kamal currently residing in Hyderabad. I hail from Cuttack in Odisha but my job has taken me places including out of the country as well. I am into IT world managing teams in one of the Indian MNCs for livelihood but am a traveler by choice. Photography being another area where I am deeply interested. Whenever I have some time to spare one can find me on TBHP, TFI and DPReview. I am hardly into Facebook, twitter and stuff. The world of automobiles, photography ,travel and wildlife is what I am passionate about. Recently started reading through financial stuff not because I am interested but to find out the best ways to save enough for life after 60 so that I can spare enough to continue my travel to far off places. Want to die with memories of having travelled to best places across the world rather than to die with unfulfilled dreams.

My job has taken me to a lot of places. My father was a banker before he retired few year back and hence we have been to a lot of places. My father is an avid traveler and we have travelled all over India on roads. Road trips has been such an integral part of growing up that by the time I started my professional life I had already travelled close to 20 states in India. We had a Maruti 800 for close to 15 years before we sold it off with 100 K on the odo. We bought a Maruti Swift later and had it for 9 years which was sold with 110 K on odo. Our Marutis have taken us to various parts in India.

Besides that I have owned a Hero Honda Splendor which was my travel partner throughout my engineering life and a little there after. Extremely reliable and highly fuel efficient it took me through 60 K odd kms. A knee surgery in 2006 slowed me down for a few years and I had to sell it off in 2006. I wasn't able to flex my knee completely and the range was limited as well for few years so riding a normal bike was impossible. I am a biker at heart and will remain so I guess for the rest of the life. I had to find a way and found my next travelling companion in Bajaj Avenger. It’s an extremely comfy bike and stayed with me till I covered another 35 K kms. With the foot pegs ahead of the rider I didn't have to flex or bend my knee but the only issue was the weight. I learnt to manage it with my weak knee. Besides with physio and regular gymming the knee was perfectly back in shape in 3-4 years’ time. My younger brother used it for a few years when I travelled onsite in 07-08. It was sold off later and I bought another Avenger in 2008 which I still continue to ride daily to office.

A steering/handle or a camera in my hand is what gives me a kick. These are the things I do to de-stress myself other than playing with my 4 yrs. old daughter. Having driven a lot of cars in India and my multiple stays in USA I have developed a strong liking towards cars which handle well. Last year I bought a Fiat Grande Punto 90 HP after considering almost all cars up to a million of rupees. Having short listed Punto, Linea and Fiesta went ahead with Punto as I wanted a hatchback. As a driver's car I guess nothing comes close to Fiesta and Linea TJET. The TJET just nudges ahead of Fiesta being more spacious and better built. Had I been in the market today I would have bought Abarth Punto eyes closed?

I wanted a hatchback so that my wife can drive as well and hence Fiesta and Linea went out of contention. No other car in the segment fulfilled my requirements of a good driver’s car with good build quality and superb braking to go with the dynamics. Swift comes close to being a good driver’s car but iffy build quality and uninspiring braking lets it down.

We have had multiple trips already and the car has clocked 31 K kms in 21 months. This is just with road trips and weekend family outings. Road trips are a breeze though as my wife shares driving responsibilities as well. We have done close 1-1.2 K kms per day multiple times. I and my wife both ride our bikes to work and car is completely used for road trips and in the weekends. Better half is a travel enthusiast as well and our kiddo has been travelling by car since she was 9 months old. She has turned out to be a good traveler as well. No complaints from her side to get belted up on her car seat.

It took me three attempts to clear the TBHP registration test. I took me just one attempt to clear CAT/XAT and my job. Was I glad?? I was happy that the mods finally allowed me to be a part of such an esteemed community. The amount of information this forum has about almost anything under the sun is just astounding to say the least. I have been following TBHP since 2010 and it feels great that now I have a chance to give something back to the forum. I have searched this forum for any information related to automobiles or otherwise and have always found answers to my queries. Be it electronics or finance or even Snakes and one always finds some information.

Even my decision to buy a FIAT was decided after going through the TBHP official review thread as well as long term ownership thread of @CrAzY dRiVeR @KarthikK @arun_josie @nkrishnap. Some of these are Linea's ownership thread but there is hardly any difference as far as ownership experience in concerned. I have read almost all the ownership threads on FIAT cars in this forum. My decision to go ahead with a FIAT had to do a lot with all the positive reviews from owners on this forum.

I do hope that I can add some value to the forum with whatever limited knowledge I have when compared to esteemed TBHPAINs.

[Zappo]

Wow! It is a pleasure interacting with fellow enthusiasts new to the community. Welcome onboard.

As you noted, we are a bit of a stickler when it comes to the board rules and guidelines. Take your time, read through the announcement section and then start participating in the discussions. Enjoy your membership.