[ChiragBasu]

Greetings all! I have for long, been a window shopper at team-bhp of sorts. What that means is that I compulsively read practically everything on here, and have been doing so for years now. Never applied for membership because I didn't know how much I'd be able to contribute to the collective knowledge base of this community. It was only a couple of years back that I scratched that itch and finally became a BHP-ian. This being my first proper post, despite being a member it still took me some time to actually pen down something.

This post is about our journey to Purulia in West Bengal, apparently to look for the Palash flowers, which blossom in the short Indian spring and are quite a sight to see. However just as much (if not more :P) importantly, it was an excuse to take a moderately long drive to stretch the legs of our new car - a 2020 Petrol Nexon XZ+(O), christened Gabbar by me. Please excuse the plebian naming choice. xD

I apologise beforehand for the paucity of pictures, I was having too much fun driving to click pictures haha.

Day 1 (8th March):


The distance between my home till the resort (an ambitious title, as I shall explain later) was ~350 kilometres or about 8 hours of continuous driving. Since this trip was also to double up as a father-son road trip, the plan was to split the driving equally. We had three routes as options-


1. Via Bardhaman
2. Via Kharagpur
3. Via Arambagh



The first route was undoubtedly the quickest. The last one while undoubtedly the most scenic, was also the slowest, as a major part of it was through really narrow and under-construction roads. We, therefore, chose the second route which seemed to strike a healthy balance between the two despite it being the longest distance wise.


We left at 9 AM sharp in the morning, after a light and perfunctory breakfast. It took us roughly 40 minutes to exit the city through Kona Expressway onto NH16. While we did get the expected traffic bottleneck near Santragachi railway station, it was smooth sailing after that. After getting onto the highway, we stopped at a petrol pump to tank up on fuel, and reset the trip meter. On setting off, the onboard average fuel efficiency display opened its account at 12 kmpl, which went up to approximately 17.5 by the time we were done with our highway run. As many BHP-ians have testified before, the Nexon's 1.2 Turbo Revotron isn't a rev-happy engine, neither is it likely to get any podium finishes at the drag strip. However, it is an effortless highway cruiser and munches miles like nobody's business. On this trip, the user-selectable engine maps came as an absolute boon. The Nexon when put in Eco mode feels somewhat like a lethargic, slumbering beast. It takes its sweet time to build up revs and feels almost reluctant to move from traffic signals. This mode is truly best reserved when the fuel meter is pointing in the wrong direction. While City mode sharpens up response marginally and moving from standstill becomes slightly easier, it too feels like someone has his foot on the engine's throat leaving it gasping for breath. The differences between Eco and City are minute and only intelligible to the most observant. Putting it into Sport mode, however, is like injecting life into the engine. Throttle responses sharpen immediately, and the car feels agile and lithe. Putting it into Sport mode also ended up improving my highway fuel efficiency, mostly because I didn't have to constantly downshift to effect overtakes.


Technicalities aside, it was a relaxed if uneventful drive till around 12:30, which is when our rumbling stomachs informed us it was time to stop for lunch. The breakfast was clearly a little too perfunctory. :P We stopped at a seemingly up and running dhaba called Mannat Dhaba, which can be spotted on the left almost immediately after crossing Pochakhali. We didn't want to take too long a break, so we ordered seemingly simple things that could be brought quickly - Roti and tadka. These seemingly simple things must have been incredibly complicated for the kitchen hands because it took them nearly 45 minutes to bring it to us! Anyway, with our stomachs full and about half an hour behind schedule, we set off again - this time with me at the wheel.


A particularly beautiful stretch on NH16

We continued on the main highway for roughly half an hour until we reached the Galudi-Ghatshila crossing, from where we took a right onto NH116B, which would take us to Purulia, sometimes crossing state boundaries into Jharkhand. This is the point from where the roads stopped being butter smooth and started becoming narrow. While some stretches had construction work going on, some times the road disappeared altogether! Those situations had us relying on the Nexon's ground clearance to go over rocks and boulders to get back on tarmac! A little less than half the journey was on this road. While one would think that this would make for irritating driving, it was actually very engaging and I thoroughly enjoyed putting the car through its paces, and working the gears to ensure that it stayed in its optimum rev range for me to do quick overtakes on single-lane "highways". To me, this road was where I started discovering my car, so to speak. I'm sure many bhp-ians will know this feeling of "discovery" that I am talking about. About an hour into this road, we began to start spotting Palash trees left, right, and centre. With the sunroof open, this stretch of the drive was undoubtedly my favourite.


Gabbar among the Palash trees

Roughly around 5:30, after crossing Balarampur and the Matha forest, Google Maps told us we needed to make a right. Assuming it to be a crossing, I continued at the speed I was at, thinking I'd surely spot the right turn when I came to it. Imagine my surprise, therefore, when Maps told me after 5 minutes to take a u-turn! After doing so, I started driving slowly with my dad keeping an eye on the left for the turn. When we finally came to it, we saw it was a lane so narrow, it was hardly a surprise I'd missed it. I was a little worried about the car fitting into the lane, since the Nexon is a fairly wide car, especially considering the segment it is from. However, it fit just fine, with roughly 5 cms as a gap on either side. Going through this lane, we found that after a 1-minute drive in this lane, the road widens up into...a forest! Believe me, gentlemen - the road just stops. One has to make their way through the trees, almost as if this is an advertisement for an SUV! We did this for around 5 minutes until we reached our destination - Moonrise "Resort".

As a place of lodging, it is decent enough for two nights and two men I thought. Rooms are basic, bordering on spartan. But the bed was big, the fan was working, the bathroom was clean, and the room was hygienic. As such it wouldn't be a problem for my father and me, for we have stayed in a whole gamut of accommodations - from 5-star hotels to less than ideal lodgings. Still, it would be a stretch to call it a resort. On top of this, given that tariffs are 1800 a night for rooms that do not have AC, I would refrain from recommending it to anyone just yet. However, the place is in the process of adding AC rooms, after which I believe it would become slightly more habitable. Even then, the tariff is steep in my opinion.

On reaching, we met up with my father's college friend, and one of his friends. They had taken the train the previous night and had reached in the morning. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. We sat around, chatted, saw the sun go down the side of the Kuka-Bura hill, had some country chicken for dinner, yada yada yada. It was decided that the next morning, we'd have breakfast and then drive out to do some "tourist-y" things.

Day 2:
After a hearty breakfast, we decided we'd drive out to the top of the Ajodhya hill via the Lower Dam and Upper Dam, and stop by a waterfall on the way. A lot of this road, as one would expect, was on hilly ghat roads - a great opportunity to test the dynamics of the car, as well as its torque. Needless to say, it was on Sport mode the whole time. I must say, I was absolutely floored by the ease with which Gabbar tackled those roads. With hardly any body roll, the chassis is fantastic and gives a great sense of confidence when chucking the front tires around the next corner. The steering while not the best in the business, weighs up nicely and provides good road feedback. It is sufficiently direct. Coming from a Toyota Etios Liva with its infamous lifeless steering, the Nexon steering felt almost as good as a previous-gen Ford! After stopping at a number of places to click some pictures and have some chikki, we reached the top of the hill. Given that we were in no hurry, we stopped there for quite some time - drank some tea, talked to some locals about the upcoming Bengal elections, played with some dogs etc. After an hour, we decided to get back to the "resort" for lunch. My father wanted to take the wheel on the way down - he must have gotten intrigued at my gleeful reaction to the way the car behaved on the way up! :P


View of the city from the hill


At the Upper Dam ft. yours truly trying to figure out the onboard What3Words navigation system. :P

On coming back, we had an incredibly heavy lunch. After that, an afternoon siesta was unavoidable. The parking lot of our car had a tree nearby, under which there were some khatiyas. The four of us went over promptly to the khatiyas and became completely horizontal on them. xD



Parking lot with aforementioned khatiyas in the background

After a deeply satisfying nap, we woke up after an hour or so. Over a cup of tea and some pakoras, we decided to visit a village nearby called Mukhosh Gram - or Mask Village. The masks in question are the ones used in the famous Chhau dance which is famous in the Purulia and Bankura region. A folk dance form, these performances involve dancers telling the story of the Ramayana through their dance, with colourful masks on them to depict various characters. These masks are known as Chhau masks. For Bollywood buffs, I am attaching a scene from the movie Barfi! which showed a Chhau mask.



The village was about half an hour's drive away - no sweat at all. Before leaving, I decided to hose down Gabbar with some water to give her a quick bath. The famous red soil of Purulia had lodged itself all over, which was giving me a headache. After finishing this, we went over to the village, went to the local museum, bought a small mask as a memento for back home, and were back by around 6:00-ish. The agenda of the evening was to partake in a local *ahem* delicacy *ahem*. My father's friend was deeply invested in trying out Mahua - a liquor made by fermenting spirit distilled from the Mahua flower. It has historically been a cultural heritage of the Santhal tribe, and is therefore a common fixture in Santhal paraganas like Purulia. Frankly we thought it tasted beautiful, mildly sweet, a little pungent, but very nice on the whole. After this, we sat around and chatted some more till dinner was served - mutton curry and paratha. Aah! If heaven exists, it must be like that evening! With our plates clean, we decided to turn in at around 11:30-ish, as we had a long drive back to Kolkata the next day.

Day 3:
There is nothing much to report about this day. We had our customary breakfast of Luchi (a puri made of maida, which is SO MUCH better than Puri) and Alu, and drove back to Kolkata. We went back the same route by which we came, so we knew what to expect. We stopped at Kolaghat to have lunch, apart from 2 stops for some chai-sutta. It took us a little longer on this leg of the trip, presumably because we got heavier traffic while entering Kolkata than we had faced while exiting the city.

Epilogue:
Attaching a last picture of Gabbar, as a parting shot. I intend to write an Initial Ownership Review soon, after I recover from the embarrassment of this post. :P

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing!

Will go to our homepage sometime this week .

[arjab]

Very well written, nice and balanced travelogue. Lovely pictures too.
The Nexon performs best in Sport mode. I have a BS-4 2019 model and endorse your observations. After you pile on the kilometres the engine will "free-up" more and you'll get to experience it fully after 4000 odd kms on the odometer. The long travel suspension, short overhangs and the humongous ground clearance makes sure the vehicle never bottoms out, even under full load and traversing unpaved surfaces.
If only the power train was a bit more free revving and smoother it would've made things more enjoyable.

The Nexon is quite enjoyable on twisty mountain roads too. Next time plan a road trip to the hills of North Bengal and you'll enjoy the drive in your new steed.

[haisaikat]

Very nice and precise travelogue Chirag. We visited Puruliya last year just before the lockdown started and my take was that the best Palash bloom is seen from mid of March onwards, we visited early March.

But Puruliya is an amazing place and I left out Ayodhya last time with plans to cover it in near future. You have an amazing machine and I am sure as much as it made you proud of owing it, your father enjoyed the ride too meeting his long time friends driven by his son. Keep doing it even more in days to come. Wish we could be nomads with Khatiyas by the roadside frequently to stop by and enjoy the nature and the moment like you did.

We took the NH-2 route during both onwards and return leg and from past experience of going to Bishnupur, the Arambagh route can land you up in serious traffic jam of commercial carriers unless you cross that post noon.

Here are few clicks from our last trip, whose full account is recorded here (To the Spring time Wonderland of Garh Panchkot, Baranti and Maithon in an Innova Crysta)

[soumiksett]

Very nice log. Beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Some snaps of our trip in January 2021

Line up near Sirkabad



Line up on Upper Dam



Line up beside Murguma Dam

[clementw]

Nice crisp post. As a Nexon owner the smiles that come in Sport mode on the highway cannot be explained. The diesel engine in Eco mode while not a slouch manages adequately in the city and after the engine has warmed up is comfortable on the highway too but then switch to Sport and you have a car raring to go! The high ground clearance is a boon in bad roads and the suspension seems to absorb it all.

[Sujoy76]

Welcome to the Nexon family. Nice travlogue and Gabbar looks stunning. Two years back I had also visited Purulia, the memories are still fresh. Good to see another Nexon in TBHP with WB-06 registration.

Wish you many more happy miles with Gabbar.

[TrackDay]

Nice write up and Beautiful pictures ! The Nexon is a beautiful vehicle capable of doing bad roads easily. Looking forward to your travelogues.

Originally Posted by ChiragBasu

to stretch the legs of our new car - a 2020 Petrol Nexon XZ+(O), christened Gabbar by me.

Gabbar ! What a name. Just like the on screen character yours too, wears green

[ChiragBasu]

Originally Posted by arjab

The Nexon performs best in Sport mode. I have a BS-4 2019 model and endorse your observations. After you pile on the kilometres the engine will "free-up" more and you'll get to experience it fully after 4000 odd kms on the odometer. ... If only the power train was a bit more free revving and smoother it would've made things more enjoyable.

Is yours a Petrol or a diesel, arjab? I agree completely with you on the free-revving part. But honestly, as far as refinement goes, I think it is a fairly refined motor by 3 cylinder turbo standards. North Bengal remains on the bucket list for sure.

Originally Posted by haisaikat

Very nice and precise travelogue Chirag. We visited Puruliya last year just before the lockdown started and my take was that the best Palash bloom is seen from mid of March onwards, we visited early March.

Originally Posted by soumiksett

Very nice log. Beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Some snaps of our trip in January 2021

Beautiful snaps, soumiksett, and haisaikat! Thank you for sharing them with us! Going by your feedback, I sure am glad that we didn't take the Arambagh route. :P

Originally Posted by clementw

Nice crisp post. As a Nexon owner the smiles that come in Sport mode on the highway cannot be explained. The diesel engine in Eco mode while not a slouch manages adequately in the city and after the engine has warmed up is comfortable on the highway too but then switch to Sport and you have a car raring to go! The high ground clearance is a boon in bad roads and the suspension seems to absorb it all.

Absolutely, clementw! I do think that the Nexon's suspension is a tad stiff in the city, but it's not too bad. And if that is the price we pay for the excellent highway manners, then I'm not complaining!

Originally Posted by Sujoy76

Welcome to the Nexon family. Nice travlogue and Gabbar looks stunning. Two years back I had also visited Purulia, the memories are still fresh. Good to see another Nexon in TBHP with WB-06 registration.

Wish you many more happy miles with Gabbar.

Thanks a bunch, Sujoy76! I have to thank you specifically, because your posts and reviews of Falcon, and Reinhardt's reviews of Ironhide were key factors in zeroing in on the Nexon as the car to buy. Hope to meet you at a T-BHP meet in Kolkata sometime in the not too distant future!

Originally Posted by TrackDay

Nice write up and Beautiful pictures ! The Nexon is a beautiful vehicle capable of doing bad roads easily. Looking forward to your travelogues.

Gabbar ! What a name. Just like the on screen character yours too, wears green
Attachment 2136690

Hahahhahahaha, good eye TrackDay!

[arjab]

Originally Posted by ChiragBasu

Is yours a Petrol or a diesel, arjab? I agree completely with you on the free-revving part. But honestly, as far as refinement goes, I think it is a fairly refined motor by 3 cylinder turbo standards. North Bengal remains on the bucket list for sure.

Mine's a petrol. BS-4 model.
As far as Tata's experience in building petrol motors go, well - the 1.2 L may be considered to be a "refined" motor. But when you compare it against the competition, viz; the Hyundai Venue's 1.0L turbo petrol, the Ford's 1.2 and 1.5L naturally aspirated "twin Dragon units" and the VW Polo's brilliant 999cc direct injection turbo petrol, suddenly the Nexon's indirect injection turbo gasoline engine seems to falter. It's not a bad powertrain per se, but there are better one's around for roughly the same amount of money, and dynamically the competition cuts a fine figure as well.

Tata MUST improve its petrol powertrains. For example, going slightly off - topic, imagine what a Tata equivalent of the silky, smooth Suzuki K-12 series powered ALTROZ could have been, instead of the present humdrum unit pushing the ALTROZ along. Heck, even the turbo ALTROZ is stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea!

When an OEM is launching vehicle's in some of the most popular product segments, it's imperative that the basics of the product are equal if not better than its competitors.

[ChiragBasu]

Originally Posted by arjab

Mine's a petrol. BS-4 model.
As far as Tata's experience in building petrol motors go, well - the 1.2 L may be considered to be a "refined" motor. But when you compare it......some of the most popular product segments, it's imperative that the basics of the product are equal if not better than its competitors.

Fair enough. I did test drive the Venue with the 1L turbo powertrain when I was shopping for the Nexon, and I have to say I was truly impressed. The Polo's engine of course is the stuff of legends, so not even going into that territory hehe. I know that this is subjective, but as far as my personal experience goes, the only time I have felt the lack of the fourth cylinder is on starting up the car - the usual telltale sign of steering wheel jitters. Apart from those 2-3 seconds, I have genuinely not missed the fourth cylinder much in the course of my ownership. Of course, it's still a brand new car, so only time will tell how the engine fares in the long run.
On a different note, I feel so bad for the Altroz man. It's such a good car in every aspect, except for the glaring lack of power in the engine. It's almost as if the car is crying for more power. I'm sure it'd be able to handle it also, given how beautifully sorted it is dynamically.

Originally Posted by GTO

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing!

Will go to our homepage sometime this week .

Thanks, GTO! In the hurry to read the rest of the comments, I completely overlooked yours.

[ABHI_1512]

Purulia never disappoints in the Palash season. Nicely done report and crisp pictures as well. Wishing you many miles with your Gabbar ChiragBasu, will be looking forward to your travelogues.

Regards.