[DCIT_Prabodh]

Dear all

I am Prabodh Sharma, 36 years old, working in Delhi in the Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax).

Before coming into the services, I was working with Vodafone in sales and marketing for about 4 years and that was my first job (in 2010). Very first day into my job, I was told by my boss, "an area sales manager (ASM) is supposed to know his area - so how are you going to travel?" I said, "by autorickshaw!" And he had a heart in the mouth moment! He said, "at least buy a bike!". Well, bikes and my family had a terrible relation and so my family was strictly against that. They said go for a small car. And that was my first tryst with Teambhp - in 2010.

I went through all the car reviews posted in Teambhp during that time, and I remember having so many options from so many companies (which seem to have disappeared now). Anyway, most of my fellow ASMs had a Maruti Swift at that time. But I remember reading GTOs review on Maruti Ritz and was totally impressed. I shortlisted Ford Figo and Ritz and eventually went for the Ritz. My mom fondly named it "Rita" and Rita is still in the family. Any mention of selling it would make my mom, sis and dad well up - so I guess that's not happening anytime soon!

Anyway, life moved on and I was posted to Odisha in 2012. I requested my dad to send over Ritz, but he told me to buy a new car - Rita is not going anywhere! So Teambhp became a companion again.

I was driving my friends i10, Figo and WagonR in Odisha for sometime before coming across an immaculately maintained Honda Accord! I drove it and it was the best feeling I had in all my driving experiences so far! I unfortunately was so floored that I bought it without negotiating on the price one bit and ended up paying quite a lot more - but did I regret? Not a day! I drove in that car across Odisha - traveling to Balasore, Hirakud dam, Paradeep-Konark-Puri-Chilika-Gopalpur, naxal areas of Koraput, Rayagada, Araku valley etc (some areas were done multiple times) and had the best of my time there. My dad visited me in Bhubaneswar and he was thoroughly impressed with the car (not as much as Rita though, I suspect).

Life continued and I quit my job to prepare for the civil services. Accord saw 1.5 years of being parked in the Patel Nagar metro station before I eventually decided to sell it off after I got the result of my selection. I had great memories with the car (my friends teased me as it was bigger than the car of then CEO of Vodafone Odisha), and had hard time parting with it. However, my training was to be in Nagpur where the car was not allowed on the campus.

In Nagpur, I got hold of a friend's Ford Fiesta and loved it, especially on road trips in the nearby areas!

As an IRS, my posting was in Delhi. I had an office car for official duties - and for personal trips nearby, Rita came in handy. I was itching to buy a new car for long trips - and that started the Teambhp addiction again! The itch almost converted into a necessity as I found a great life-partner and we loved doing road trips! However, then COVID stuck and some life plans had to be put on hold.

We went for a study leave last year (she to London and I to Singapore). While visiting her, we got hold of a friend's Saab 95 Aero automatic. What a car - certainly the best I have driven so far! We had 2 long road trips in UK - one to the Cornwall area and one to the Lake district, Scotland and Moors and I couldn't help but fall in love with the handling, dynamics and acceleration of the car, enjoying it as much as the speed limits in UK permitted. The itinerary for the 2nd trip was planned through the BHPian mentalmaxout post on "sanskari family travel in UK"!

Apologies for the long introduction. It is just my way of expressing gratitude for this great Teambhp community which has been a constant part of my life since 2010.

I am back in Delhi recently. I love bird photography and mostly visit a bird sanctuary on any free weekend (Rita still serves her duty well). Hope to meet fellow BHPians on some birding trip near Delhi. Cheers and keep revving!

[Eddy]

Lovely writeup Prabodh

Welcome onboard and see you around!

[dailydriver]

Welcome aboard.

Apart from the minor inconvenience of having to occasionally see enthusiasts talking not too kindly about cloudwalking babus administering from the comforts of their ivory towers - especially in matters of automotive policy - you will gel in with the forum easily.

Having driven cars from two ends of the Indian luxury spectrum, you will have a lot of inputs to share; please do so frequently. Also, your experience of cracking the UPSC exams will certainly help the scores of young, upcoming and talented Bhpians currently on the threshold of their careers. Do drop in on the various career related threads; your experience will surely be of benefit to many.

Thirty Six is a beautiful age. It marks a stage where one is past his adrenaline pumping days but not completely spent. It provides a pedestal that allows a gentleman to look back at the past with longing eyes while also reminding him to be charting proper plans for the future: an age that is close to the mid stage of an average Indian's lifespan; but not close enough to ruminate about the lost opportunities, yet close enough to start thinking seriously about the ones available or need to be created!

Congratulations on your membership. Hope it gave you at least a part of the joy that you experienced when you got through the civils.

Have a productive stay on the forum.