#FollowthegenX – Friends, fun, and a fabulous drive

When I applied for #FollowthegenX drive on Indiblogger, I’d thought nothing could dampen my excitement if I get selected. You see, though I’ve been blogging for about two years, I had never met any bloggers in person before. Here was an opportunity to meet about two dozen bloggers. Plus a road trip with challenges sounded awesome.When I was selected, I literally (not figuratively) jumped up, and down.

And it was just the next day, I was thinking about excuses to ditch the trip. Why? Because I had to get up at 5 O’ clock on a Sunday morning. I have never got up at 5. Not for school, college, or clinic. Not even for my old, tried and tested friends. (They are smart enough never to ask that from me.) After many second, third and fourth thoughts, I decided why not?

So, there I was, in the bus which was supposed to take us to Pune with the other bloggers who looked as sleepy as I felt. After a preliminary round of introductions, there wasn’t any excitement in the journey. Even if there was, being asleep I might’ve missed it.

Finally, we were in the enchanting Tata Lake house for the GenX nano drive Flag off. Fortified with a yummy breakfast, we were all ready for the event. Tata motors team gave us a briefing about the exciting features of Tata nano GenX. The Tata nano GenX came with easy shift (AMT), epas for easy drive (electric power assisted stearing), fuel efficiency, and advanced structural stability for safety. It is available in a whole new bunch of colours with two new colours – Sangria red, and Persian rose.

The Nano genX has an openable boot with enough space to stuff your parcels after a shopping spree or luggage for a trip. It has 94L space in AMT version. The 24 L fuel tank ensures fewer visits to petrol pump.

Then, we were divided into teams to experience the features. I was in Team C along with Aziz, and Apurva. We also had Mr. Amol from Tata Motors to guide us. I installed the GPS tracker, and we were set.

I loved our Nano as soon as I saw it. It was red, and Red is my favourite colour. And also the curved front with infinity grill made it look like the Nano was smiling. I don’t know about you, but I like a happy car.

I had never before sat in a Nano. I had heard it was a compact car, meaning cramped. I’m surprised to say, it isn’t cramped at all. It had comfortable leg space; the infinity motiff on the door, and the seats gave a youthful look. I loved the latte finish of the interior, which enhanced the decor.

Then started the drive with Aziz at the wheel, and the frenzy of challenges. Some of the challenges acquainted us better with the features of the car while others were weird, and fun. It was a joy ride with stops for photography, clicking selfies, and searching other similar colour objects. We connected the phone to Nano’s amphistream music system using bluetooth, and made a call. We tuned the music full volume. And let me tell you, Nano genX has a great audio system.

We had a smooth ride all through the city roads, traffic, and flyovers. Really, Apurva even completed the challenge of applying eye-liner in the swift moving car. Either the Pune roads have hardly any potholes, or the car does live up to its city car image.

Finally, we reached the Mezza9 for lunch. By now, everyone had shed their morning lethargy, and we clicked selfies, shared stories about the drive, and bonded together over a lovely lunch.

After that we got to experience quick cooling of the air-conditioners. When we got inside, the car was hot considering the afternoon in May. However, within minutes the AC did its work, and we were back to the relaxed atmosphere of the car.

The drive ended with Aziz driving through a convoluted test track. Back at the lake house, lack of sleep, and the day’s adventure had started taking its toll. I was exhausted, but the exploring the natural surroundings, and snacks soothed me a little.

Then, came the highlight of the day, Varun Venkit from Taal Inc.

Varun Venkit- two words- fantabulous drummer. First he entertained us by playing drums. Then, we were led to a drum circle, and he taught us to play djembe. We all tried the park rhythm. Never before has loud music had such a calming effect. Gone was our weariness, and fatigue. It was like we had been re-energised.

Since, nothing could top this experience, we started back after this, taking home many goodies- gifts from Tata Motors, and Indiblogger. Thanks Indiblogger, and Tata Motors for the fun-filled Sunday. This was the best bloggers meet ever. How do I know since this was my first? I have it on expert authority from someone, who has been to most of the blogger events.

Guys, do check out this cute car, which effectively sails through the city traffic. Tata Nano genX is indeed a city car.