Hi everyone,
I'm Aniket Sengupta, 27 years of age, corporate banker by profession and recently married. Avid interest in automobiles, music and reading (in that order).
The passion for anything on 4 wheels has been there since birth. An unshakeable reading habit (and a supportive dad) meant that by the time I was in secondary school, I was well-conversant on most legendary automobile marques in the world - their history, their landmark models and their positioning. My favourite marque of all is Mercedes-Benz, and my favourite car (all time) is the 1954 Mercedes Benz 300SL (the famous Gullwing coupe). Other favourite production cars include the Plymouth Road Runner Superbird, Jaguar E-Type, Jaguar XJ220, Nissan GT-R and the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO (Road going version).
Of racing cars, I've always favoured Le-Mans and GT Racing over F1, probably because these are closer to road going models. Favourites include the Porsche 935/78 "Moby Dick", Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR and the Audi R10.
I am a reasonably fast driver, although I rarely cross safety limits. Leart driving in a 1972 Amby at the age of 15, and I believe anyone who's mastered driving in that car has a special ability to drive any other car in future very well! If for nothing else, the sheer effort required makes you a master driver forever!
Thankfully moved on to better machinery in the future. The family owned a M800 and an Indica (still there in the family). My own car is a Hyundai Verna CRDI SX ABS (black) which I bought in Sep 08. Quite a monster. I test drove 9 cars in the C & D segments before deciding on the Verna.
Long drives are my favourite, and I'm ready to do a 1000km trip at a moment's decision. Just FYI, our ancestral village is near Siuri town (close to Shantiniketan). Its a 550 km return journey, and I've done the entire trip in a day several times without breaking a sweat.
Also happened to be an avid biker for some years. Learnt riding at the age of 19 and bought a Pulsar 180 DTSi in 2004. Was associated with Xbhp and attended a few of their GTGs in Kolkata. In 2005 I moved to Goa (Goa Institute of Management) for my MBA, and found a group of like-minded bikers. The number of exhilarating trips we've done there are memories I'll carry till I kick the bucket. Right now the bike is 5 years old, and I still earn compliments from mechanics on how immaculately its been maintained.
My objective in Team-Bhp will be to meet up with like minded auto enthusiasts, share opinions (hopefully also offering mine
) and generally just enjoy being a petrolhead. To borrow an oft-used term, May our tribe increase!