Durga Puja 2020 - Dashami 2020-10-26

My first outing during Durga Puja 2020 with Diksha by scooter to FD block in Salt Lake and to our favorite Mio Amore outlet at IA-265 was only on Dashami (2020-10-26). 

As if the pandemic wasn't enough reason, the reverse gear of my VW Vento couldn't be engaged from Saptami afternoon after the Varta battery was fitted after recharge. 

Reason for reverse gear of my VW Vento not engaging was diagnosed and rectified

A humongous 5 kms in 7 months 7 days, viz. 2020-03-23 to 2020-10-30 😀

That's a record drive for my boy with a German pedigree. 
Some critical illness of my boy diagnosed and rectified after an overnight stay at an 'Indian Roadie Preferred Workshop' in Kolkata. My boy remaining stationary for a long span of time was the reason for reverse gear not engaging. 

Having recovered from illness was reason enough to celebrate. 
At 6 pm drove it to my favorite Mio Amore (The Cake Shop) outlet at IA265 Salt Lake, Kolkata straight from the workshop. 
My boy is raring to roll more. 
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* Volkswagen Brand Admirers

Tram restaurant, new attraction in Kolkata

 

A new attraction for Kolkata residents and travellers to the city.

It's a 28 seater restaurant in a refurbished tram.
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#MustSee
#MustVisit

On the intervening night of 13th and 14th October 2020, Hyderabad received unprecedented rains. 

Baleno crushed between trucks

Baleno crushed between trucks in Haryana. Occupants safe. 
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* Mishap And Calamity

Bangalore to Delhi in 4 days in October 2020 by Mayank Bansal

Here is a brief itinerary for the Bangalore to Delhi drive followed by Mayank Bansal with wife in October 2020. 

Day 1: started from 7 am from ecity. Had some buns packed and that helped us to stay filled during the trip to Hyderabad. Had a small pit stop at cafe coffee day for the shot of caffeine. Reached Hyderabad at around 5.30pm and checked in at holiday inn express, Hi Tech City. We booked this place as half boarded so our dinner and breakfast was included. Distance travelled 586kms. Route is kind of scenic. 

Day 2: After having ourselves filled with heavy breakfast left the hotel at around 9am. Hotel guys were too sweet to help us pack some sandwiches for our way made out of loaf of bread we were carrying. Reached Nagpur at around 5.30pm again. Checked in to the hotel called the legend inn. Decent hotel. Do not expect a lot. Distance travelled - 494kms. A bit of scenic route till Adilabad 

Day 3: Left Nagpur at 7.30am with just a cup of coffee and couple of toasts in our stomach. Hotel guys were again kind enough to pack sandwiches for our journey. We had to travel the most on this day and covered around 626kms to our destination of the day Orchha. This is the most scenic route. The most enjoyable route which we never expected. The roads were awesome. We reached our hotel at around 6pm- Bundelkhand riverside - heritage property. This is by far one of the best property we stayed in. The best part about the same is that it was adjacent to the river betwaa and one can hear the river flowing through from the room itself. This is the best place to stay in orchha and a must visit. Food was amazing too here. Your will be treated with utmost royalty here. 

Day 4: We went out to explore early sun rise and the scenic beauty of the river betwaa. This place was like the picture perfect. With heavy heart and heavy stomach left orchha and our beautiful stay at around 11.30am and reached Gwalior by around 2pm. Wanted to checkout the Gwalior fort but couldn’t as we were getting late and the way to the fort was quite busy. Then we reached Agra by around 5.30pm and had our lunch / snacks. The route to Agra was extremely busy and bad due to traffic and chaos. Post Agra we entered Taj expressway and headed to our home , Delhi. Reached home by 9pm. 

Attached are approx expenses and details. 

Road trip to offbeat Benapur, near Bagnan, West Bengal

বেনাপুর চর। Road trip to Benapur, near Bagnan, West Bengal. 

Drive on NH16 upto Bagnan. Drive on rail over bridge to reach Antila. Ask locals for direction to reach Benapur. 

Photo courtesy: Arnab Polley of Uluberia who rode to Benapur on Ashtami evening, 2020-10-24. 

Rourkela to Ranchi - Indian Roadie Preferred Route

Indian Roadie Preferred Route for Rourkela to Ranchi: 

Rourkela - Simdega - Koleibira - Khunti - Ranchi = 160 kms/ 4 hrs. 

Jharsaguda Sundergarh Kutra Simdega Khunti Tamar Chandil Jamshedpur 

Asansol - Neamatpur - Kulti - Barakar - Kumardhubi - Nirsa - Govindpur (Exit NH19 for route via Dhanbad railway station or Exit NH19 at Rajganj to avoid driving via Dhanbad railway station) - Bokaro Steel City - Gola - Ormanjhi - Mesra (Birla Institute of Technology) - Ranchi - 

Simdega - Kolebera - Khunti - Ranchi - 

Asansol - Neamatpur (Exit NH19 and turn left) - Sodepur - Dishergarh (Paschim Bardhaman district) - Damodar River bridge - Parbelia (Purulia district) - Nituria - Garhpanchakot - Gobag - Raghunathpur (college on left of road) - Shanka - HPCL Narayani Filling Station on left) - Anara - Baraseni - Charra Petrol Pump - Gurguria - Purulia Ramkrishna Mission Vidyapith on left - Purulia town - Lagda - Sindri (WB) - Jaypur - Kotshila - Jhalda (Birsha More, WB) - Tulin (WB) - Subarnarekha River bridge is also the WB/JH border - Muri (JH) - Angara - Ranchi (Lalpur)

Ranchi - Doranda - Hinoo - Sithiyo - Lodhma - Bingaon - Karra - Timra - Bashia - Konbir - Kolebira - Taisera - Biru - Tamar - Simdega - Khairantoli - Ambapani - (Jharkhand-Odisha border) - Litibeda (intersection with Sambalpur/Rourkela Highway. ROL: Jharsuguda 85 kms. ROR: Rourkela) - 

Suresh Joseph Sir's XUV500 completed 100000 kms with OE battery and tyres

Suresh Joseph Sir had bought a Mahindra XUV500 from a dealership in Cochin on 23 April 2016 for the Trans Siberian expedition. It has now been a trusted companion, despite some early glitches, for the past 54 months. On Friday, 2020-10-16  during the drive from Gundlupete to Chennai his Champion crossed the magical 100,000 km milestone. 

The following are some of the highlights of the amazing companionship: 
1. The original Bridgestone tyres still 'adorn' the car with, maybe, another 10,000 still on them.
2. The original battery keeps the Champion full of energy.
3. The brake pads have been changed just once in the one lakh km the Champion has logged.
4. The stepney has never been used.
Don't you think sir deserve a fresh set of tyres from Bridgestone and a new battery gratis for the tremendous mileage he has had from them?
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That's awesome, Sir 👏🏆 
It's the man behind the wheels for the first 100000 kms who has kept #Champion  performing so well 👌👌👌
I (Deep Banerjee) met Sir and saw his beautiful Champion during its maiden Trans Siberian Expedition from Kochi to St. Petersburg (on 2016-05-15 beyond the Dankuni toll plaza in the outskirts of Kolkata) and again during the Four Corners Of India (on 2017-05-28 in Kolkata) Record Drive 😊 
For the uninitiated, Suresh Joseph Sir started his Record Drive in 2010 with the All India drive to 28 state capitals and 17 railway headquarters. 
By 2019, when he completed the Trans Canada Highway, he had completed 13 expeditions, 10 of them solo and 7 international. 
Sir holds the record for being the only person on the planet to hold records for driving on the four longest highways of the world, solo. 
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* Bridgestone 

* Amaron 

* Mahindra 

* XUV500 

* railwaymansj

Two dead after Hyundai Verna car toppled at approach road to Atal Tunnel

A Hyundai Verna being driven at high speed lost control at the curve prior to entering the Atal Tunnel, Rohtang and toppled over on 2020-10-15. 

Two people died. 
The curve was to slow down approaching vehicles before entering the tunnel. 
Speed breakers are not going to do anyone any good. If a curve is not going to stop a fool the fall will. 
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* Mishap And Calamity

Abhijit and Sushila Sarkar met me near ID Hospital after 7 months on 2020-10-12 to give me packs of Heritage Dairy sweets

It was a face to face meeting with this lovely 'Indian Roadie Couple', viz. Abhijit Sarkar and Sushila Sarkar near my house in Kolkata on Monday, 2020-10-12 evening after more than 7 months. 

Dear Sushila and Abhijit, I can't thank you'll  enough for personally driving down 7 kms in your Ford Ecosports to hand me two boxful of yummy sweets brought all the way from my favorite Heritage Dairy milk parlor on NH65 in Narketpalli, near Hyderabad. 

My wife and daughter has conveyed 'pyarfully sweet' thanks to you'll. 

I am now eagerly waiting to meet all my roadie friends not only in Kolkata, but all over India. 

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* Indian Roadie Roadside GTG, 

* Indian Roadie Adda 

NCP leader Sanjay Shinde burnt alive in car as hand sanitiser catches fire due to short-circuit

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sanjay Shinde died on Tuesday, 2020-10-13 afternoon after his car, a Maruti Suzuki Ciaz (MH15FN4177) caught fire in Maharashtra's Nashik district.

He was reportedly traveling on the Mumbai-Agra highway when the wiring in his car short-circuited near the Pimpalgaon Baswant toll plaza.
The fire spread rapidly with the presence of a hand sanitizer. Shinde was killed on the spot. 
Shinde was a prominent grape exporter in Nashik, which is famous for its wine industry. He was traveling from Sakore Mig to Pimpalgaon to purchase pesticides for his orchard.
According to local reports, the NCP leader was near the River Kadwa when his car  malfunctioned and a short circuit caused the car to go up in flames. 
Shinde tried to break out, however, the central locking mechanism of the vehicle left his doors jammed. Soon, the vehicle was engulfed in smoke and fire.
Onlookers smashed the car's rear window to rescue Shinde, however, it was too late. 
Initially, the deceased could not be identified and it was only later that the body was confirmed to be NCP leader Sanjay Shinde's. After being alerted about the incident, the fire brigade arrived and doused the flames. 
He is survived by his mother, wife, two sons, and daughters-in-law.

Elephant crossing highway in Tanda forest between Haldwani and Rudrapur, Nainital district, UK

Elephants are spotted regularly crossing the highway at Tanda forest between Haldwani and Rudrapur, Nainital district, Uttarakhand. 

This video was captured by Suvadeep Das, (an engineer with Exide Industries) in November 2019. 

Hyderabad to Ooty drive in Vw Vento in end December 2019 by Aaron Reddy Manukonda

Aaron Reddy Manukonda (workplace: Hyderabad, hometown: Vijayawada) drove Hyderabad_Ooty and Ooty to Hyderabad with family. 

Car owned: 2017 VW Vento TSI Highline Plus. 

Dates of journey: 
Onwards drive 27th December 2019 - Hyderabad to Bangalore. 
28th December 2019 - Bangalore to Ooty. 
Return drive 1st January 2020 -  Ooty to Hyderabad. 
Left Ooty at 6 am and reached Hyderabad on the same day at 4 pm. 
 
Indian Roadie Preferred Route for Hyderabad to Bangalore and Bangalore to Ooty: 
Hyderabad - Kurnool - Hebbal - Bangalore - Mandya - Mysore - Ooty. 

Total distance: 1500 kms approximately. 
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* Volkswagen