[JoseTheScorpion]

**Disclaimer – the below article has some exaggeration of some elements which may not be true and might only be present in the virtual world of men who love cars more than women**

Aam aadmi ki kahani (Life of a common man)

For a married man with two kids, life is not challenging, sometimes the Man challenges life. I simply mean it in a funny way, but what I am trying to say is that a married man sometimes tries to do too many things at the same time and challenges the problems he comes face to face with. I have been blessed in that way, with a very loving wife and two lovely kids, who make sure that all my time belongs to them.

Bachpan ka sapna(Childhood dream)

Anyway, going back a little, to my young age, I have always been infatuated with automobiles all my life. With my dream of owning and driving an SUV since my childhood(80/90s), it finally got fulfilled in 2012 when we brought home the Safari Storme VX 4x2 (Pet name Blinder).

Check out more about my Blinder here
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...e-blinder.html (9 years with my Tata Safari Storme (Blinder))

Again a similar time came in 2024 when we thought of buying our next new car, and we made a similar choice, of rear wheel driven, ladder on frame, Highway muncher, but this time, it was the Mahindra Scorpio-N Z2 Petrol 4X2 (Pet name Hornet).

Check out more about Hornet here
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...nt-review.html (My Mahindra Scorpio-N Z2 Base Variant Review)

Aur kya chahiye(what more do I want)

After getting my driving license, back in 2000, the second I turned 18, my first dream of driving a car came true. It took 12 years to complete my second dream of owning an SUV.(2012) and then took 13 years to complete my dream of a convoy drive.

What is a convoy drive (as per me)

A group of same or similar car owners drive their own cars to a destination and back home mainly to experience the car and connect to your car to make your bond stronger. Believe me, it sounds very simple, but I have not been able to do it in my entire driving tenure of 25 years. Even after owning a Safari Storme for 9 years and getting multiple invites from Tata S.O.U.L. (Tata SUV Owners United League), something or the other always came up, thanks to the married common man situation 😊.

Finally it happened in 2025

I bought a Scorpio-N in Jan 2024. My son's pet named it “the white Hornet” on the way back home from the showroom. I kind of shortened it to Hornet, because I am the father and can do many things without the consent of my children, haha, jokes apart. So, I did drive the Hornet a little, being a full time work from home, house husband, I didn’t get many opportunities to drive it through the city jungle named Hyderabad. Thanks to teambhp, I got in touch with the bhpians in Hyderabad and via one of the bhpians, got connected to the Deccan Scorpio-N group.

So, then came the day when, the group admins decided a secret destination for all the Scorpio-N owners and family. Well, again comes the situation of a common married man, who has to first get approval from his family and then only can say a “yes” to such events. After numerous requests, permutation and combinations, it was decided that due to the kids exam/school stuff, we can’t go. Since it was just a day event, my beloved wife gave me an idea, why don’t you go alone. You can finally get a chance to meet the Scorpio-N Gang. Well, sometimes miracles happen and that was a chance I was not going to let go in a 100 years. Registered right away!

D day - the day the earth stood still

Me, all excited, a day before the drive event, checked out the plan shared by the group, with the starting point, time and other stuff, also making sure I have scheduled the alarm on my phone. It was a Sunday and possibly, my body cycle(cycling since 1983), decided to let go of the single most important thing I wanted (in 100 years), “TO WAKE ME UP ON TIME”. Somehow I snooze the alarm or that is what I fear I did. Thankfully, our group organizer (Avin) called me and that is when I woke up. The time was 6am and the reaching time to the destination was 5:30am, and that point was 25 kms from my house. I froze for 5 seconds, thinking, about the two options:
· let go of the drive, as I can’t make it on time and regret for the rest of my life
· Just get ready and run.. Where there is a will, there is a way, for (SCORPIONs)

Feeling the 200 horses

No way, I was letting this one go. I got ready in a flash and reached the parking lot. I looked at Hornet head-on and said, “we can do it, chal dhanno, teri izzat ka sawaal hai”. With no kids to say “Dad, please drive slow” or a fiery wife saying, “Drive slow, I feel nauseous”, I got the chance of a lifetime to utilize all the 200 horses of Hornet. We both synched together with a bond similar to an F1 driver and his machine. We focused all our energy to reach the Convoy’s second pitstop(breakfast stop), as we had already missed the first assembly point(tea) by a huge margin. Boy, we did it, reached the point, before Satya’s Google map could tell my phone’s android auto > “you have reached the destination”. It was a drive to remember and a bond which may never be broken, my brain fully connected to the ECU of Hornet and calibrating each clutch and gear synch, feeling the RPMs roar and the smooth Mstallion engine doing its job effortlessly.

Convoy experience

After breakfast and a quick meet up, we started off to the secret destination. Around 20 Scorpio-Ns lined up on the road, looking more like a VIP movement as all the other people on the road were busy gazing at us, possibly since it was the most interesting thing happening in Medchal that day. With the core team, managing the convoy, having walkie talkies, felt like being inside the “The Grand Tour” itself, remembering the trio. The Convoy was disciplined and straight as an arrow, maintaining a constant speed decided by the one in front of you. It felt more like a road train.

Here is the video of the whole day Captured through my phone camera and the dashcam footage. Enjoy!!

https://youtu.be/ljgAMuFhe6s?si=zNDHdIMojIQFhrgK

Destination lake (Pocharam)

So, we all reached the destination and now it was no longer a secret anymore. Beautiful place, having all the things needed for a scenic beauty, an old house, ancient rocks, a dam, a lake and all the beasts lined up for a photoshoot. The view point was very peaceful and after some time, we drove off to an offroad place – the second view point. It was almost on the level of the lake and since the beasts were heavy, the ground beneath us gave way. Four to five of our beasts got stuck, due to the marshy land, the wheels started spinning and gasping for traction.



























Where there is a will, there is a way

Who said only beasts had the power, what about Indian men, we are also descendants of the brave yodhas and the shoorveers who protected Mother India. It was a team effort, helping hands shooting from everywhere, taking out one Beast at a time.

• HORSE STUCK
• MAN PUSHES
• HORSES GET UNSTUCK
• THEREFORE, MAN POWER is greater than HORSEPOWER
• HENCE PROVED!!

Unfortunately, this is the only proof I have, so you will have to make do with this alone. Anyway, jokes apart, we all finally got our beasts aligned to the convoy and started off to the third viewpoint of the lake.

Who knew that trouble finds us

Thinking that the worst had passed and all the vehicles were unstuck, we marched on to the next view point, which was farther away and the route was a little challenging for the 4X2 beasts in the convoy(Including Hornet). But I was again amazed with the might and power of the SCORPIO-N, that it can devour any terrain even in its 4x2 avatar. Hornet was munching away rocks, sand, stones, ditches, gravel, mud, wet grass, with ease.



At the spur of the moment, our 4x4(4explore) owners had a blast on the marshy land near the lake, with multiple drifts, donuts and skids. It was a blast, until the inevitable happened. One of the beasts got stuck badly in a way that it dug a hole under all 4 wheels, which made it next to impossible to pull it out. We all tried all possible options, to pull, push, lift and what not, but nothing could rescue the N. After an hour of exhausting all our resources, we had to take help from the locals to get a tractor, which was able to pull out the stuck N in one pull.

A dream magical day

With all the adventure, 4 wheel drifts, stunts, donuts, skids, teamwork in getting the stuck N out, it was nothing short of a magical day for me, surely a dream come true. Being surrounded with like minded people who share similar petrolhead emotions like you is a time that I will remember for years to come. Memories made and every minute of that day is printed deeply in my brain.

How can you end a magical day like this?

After the whole adventure, it was time to head back home, but on the way back we did stop for tea and also another lake visit which was on route to Hyderabad.





We completed the eventful day with a lovely biryani lunch and bid our goodbyes.

Hope you enjoyed this journey with me similar to the way the 5 year old kid inside me did.