Stranger's gesture changed how I saw my Tata Nano & develop a new habit

Whenever I see someone on the road with their newly delivered car I'd approach them with a happy & smiling face & congratulate them.

BHPian raptor_diwan recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

When I was young, my dad bought a second car - a new Tata Nano that had just been launched. At that time, we already owned a Maruti Suzuki Esteem VXI. I'm a fan of sedans and SUVs, not hatchbacks, and definitely not the Nano. I had a bad impression of it because of its small size. However, my mom really liked the car's design and its yellow color. They didn't care much about the engine's BHP or CC; for them, it was just a cute little yellow car. I wasn't impressed, but I went along with it.

We took delivery of the car without performing a PDI; we only checked for any scratches before accepting it and drove off. I didn't like the attention that the car drew to me at the time, but my dad enjoyed every bit of it, my mom is waiting for me at home.

Suddenly, a guy on a bike came close to us at a signal. With a wild smile on his face, he said something to us. My dad lowered the window, and the guy congratulated us on the vehicle. He complimented the car, saying that the color was perfect and compact, and it would be great to use within the city. This made my dad and me so happy. I had never encountered anything like this before, and it really changed our mood and the way we saw our car.

From that point on, I learned a great lesson from this stranger, which I am still following. I realized that I have the power to make someone happy on the street with just a few kind words.

Whenever I see someone on the road with their newly delivered car, with shiny flash and unwrapped cover and ribbon and garland, I would go near them if they have stopped at a signal. I would reach them with a happy and smiling face and congratulate them. I will compliment the color of their car, no matter what color it is. I will ask about the variant of the car and express being surprised by it, saying "good, good." I can even find the variant with the badge on the rear side still, and I will again congratulate them.

This is a habit I developed from that moment, and so far, I have wished almost 45-50 people in the past 7 years. Every time, I see the family inside the car and the driver is very happy about the words, it makes me smile. Their smile would make my day. I do this for both motorcycles and cars.

I've decided to steer clear of complimenting ladies on their scooties, not because I don't want to make them feel special, but because I don't want to end up on the next episode of "creepy guy following me", I can just see it now, me trying to give a lady a congratulatory she suddenly yells at me for following her, then getting chased down the street by a mob of angry bikers. It's just not worth the risk! So now, I stick to congratulating dudes on their bikes and cars.

But hey, it's your choice. But if you do decide to start complimenting ladies on their scooties, I suggest adding "professional risk-taker" to your resume. I mean, it takes some serious guts to put yourself out there like that!

Even with some cars I approach, the drivers can get a bit panicky when I greet them for the first time. Their faces turn blue with shock, probably thinking that they've accidentally cut me off in traffic and I'm about to go full road rage on them. So, to avoid any misunderstandings, I always make sure to keep a big, friendly smile on my face. After all, I'm not trying to scare anyone - I just want to spread some joy and positivity!

Here are a few pictures of my Tata Nano - I've really developed an emotional attachment to this vehicle! I've taken it on some pretty long trips, like from Chennai to Bangalore, Kodaikanal and Pondicherry.

And I drove this car so much during my college years that it practically became our unofficial college cab. From rides to nearby food joints to long drives to different cities, this car saw it all. We treated it like a workhorse, never bothering about the fuel level, simply saying 'fuel is low' when it was low and expecting one of our friends to pay for it. And of course, as college students with pocket (dad) money, it was easy money for whoever initiated the trip. By the time I sold it, the car had covered 80k KM without any major issues. I think I owe that car a lifetime supply of oil changes and tire rotations!

It can never go faster than 90, where the steering would shake so vigorously, it felt like I was trying to hold onto bull like a jallikattu! But, it was still a hilarious ride to take on ghat roads and terrorize the city.

Has anyone else ever developed this habit? I haven't come across anything like it on Team-BHP, so I thought I'd share this incident and the habit I've developed thanks to some friendly strangers.

How do you react when you see someone with a newly purchased car on the road?

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