[Sgt.Kamarov]

Just kidding, I'm not Russian. Well, I'm close enough . Namaskar, Team bhp, dev baro dis diu (literally, may God give you a good day) from Panaji, Goa. Relative to most bhpians, I'm a kid, and not just in terms of my sense of humour. I'm a mechanical engineering student, currently in my fourth year of B.Tech. My family has always been full of car enthusiasts, if not true petrolheads outright, and I've loved cars for as far as I can remember.

My obsession with cars began with one dark green 1999 Ford Ikon (the Zxi variant with the iconic 1.6 litre ROCAM Josh Machine under the hood) in which my dad would drop me and pick me up from school and take me for joyrides across the then empty countryside roads, with the needle often crossing the 120 kmph mark. Apart from getting the joy and awe exploring new places and seeing new sights, I used to ask him to accelerate hard from a standstill and squeal with excitement while getting buried in my seat. I would often beg for a crack at the wheel, but my father would have to turn down my request. I couldn't wait until the day I would finally be able to drive. I got Need for Speed 5 - Porsche Unleashed (the first and only true simulation racing game in the NFS franchise) for my fifth birthday and that was my introduction to tuning, modding, and developing those lighter, tougher parts to make your set of wheels go that tenth of a second quicker around a track or across a stage, as well as precision driving, racing lines, braking, cornering, and car control. I've also played Need for Speed Underground 2 (a.k.a. the ultimate rice simulator), Most Wanted, F1 2006, F1 2013-17, and Dirt (1) among other car-related video games. Soon, my desire to drive was overshadowed by an even greater desire to create my own car. Making at least one project car has been on my bucket list for a long time now. I suppose my love for cars is why I decided to be a mechanical engineer.

I've been following Formula 1 since the 2004 season - the end of the reign of Michael Schumacher and the era of screaming short stroke naturally aspirated V10's. My two favourite race drivers of all time would have to be Fernando Alonso and Ayrton Senna. I feel it's because of Formula 1 that I'm particularly greatly interested in specialising in race car aerodynamics, particularly, flow separation control (because anything else would be a drag ). I'm also a huge fan of the Holy Trinity of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May, and have watched a fair share of Top Gear, at least, enough to slip in a reference or two, or ape Clarkson's (get it?) sense of humour. I've also watched both seasons of The Grand Tour. As for driving itself, even though I've got my license after almost no test (it's India, duh), I'm yet to master my reflexes and car control at high speeds the way my father has (in my opinion, at least), and I sort of manage to not let my existing skills get rusty when I come home every vacation between semesters. Hey, as a kid, there's only so much you can do with driving, with the legal age being at a ripe old 18 years of age. In college, I'm part of a Baja SAE team (Team Jaabaz - check us out on Facebook and our website teamjaabaz.com, y'all) and working in the design department of said team.

Outside cars, video games, and being a nerd, I hear someone ask? Playing the piano, reading, sketching, photography, spending time with dogs (both my own as well as other dogs), and listening to a range of genres in music varying from classical rock to prog to djent to melodic death metal, in addition to jazz, blues, and Indian and Western classical music. I'm also a Rick and Morty fan, I'll throw that in my resume as well. Welp, that's all for now. I can't wait to get to know you guys as well as learn a thing or two perhaps!

P.S. Sadly, my dad sold the Ikon in 2008 due to reliability issues and it was replaced by a deliciously blue 1.6 litre Duratec Fiesta (the one that became known as the Classic) that has been in our garage ever since. He still fondly remembers the Ikon, though. Other cars my family has owned include the Premier 1.38 D (which is rusting away in our garage and which I plan to convert into my first project car), the HM Ambassador (sold), Mercedes-Benz W124 (sold), VW Beetle (sold), Hyundai Grand i10 (diesel), and Hyundai Elantra (the reboot, petrol).

[akshay380]

Hello, from a fellow Goan, Mechanical Engineer, owning a black Fiesta 1.6 of course inspired from the Josh machine, few dogs, mad fan of NFSPU, Ayrton Senna and #44 and not to forget the Holy Trinity.

My gut says we will catch up pretty soon.
-Akshay, Margao

[Sgt.Kamarov]

Nice! I can't wait to meet up.

[pedrolourenco]

Hello from another Goan. Which engineering college are you studying? Lets plan a meet. The Goa BHPians haven't met in a while.

[Sgt.Kamarov]

VIT Vellore. I'll be home in November.

[fergus]

Hi Guys.Nice to connect with other Team bhpians from Goa.Never knew that we had meets.Nice.i still have my first bike a tvs ax 100.currently driving a Toyota Corolla.

[CaptainPrice]

Well well well, look who we have here. Welcome to the forum, Kamarov!
Thank God it's not Makarov, else all hell would have broken loose. Just kidding.

I'd quote your whole post if I could because it bears quite a resemblance to my own, and my life experiences. Big fan of Porsche Unleashed, Underground2 and Most Wanted, and you can read about their influence on my driving, in my own introduction. Also, Call Of Duty

Looking forward to more interactions.

"Let' Do This"

[akshay380]

Originally Posted by fergus

Hi Guys.Nice to connect with other Team bhpians from Goa.Never knew that we had meets.Nice.i still have my first bike a tvs ax 100.currently driving a Toyota Corolla.

If you are from Margao, Peter, you and me can meetup