And here I am... . . . to rock you like a hurricane!
Hello Everyone,
First of all, thank you Mods for accepting my membership.
I am Chandan, 36 years old, and live in Chennai. I am a traveler at heart, and can't stay put in a place for too long! I started my work life in Greenpeace, but soon got disillusioned with saving the world - I figured saving the environment is as personal a thing as religion. I then went on to becoming a copywriter, and worked with a few ad agencies before the travel bug firmly bit me; went on to working with corporate team building stuff, but that wasn't my calling as well. I then joined a resort in the wild, Jungle Retreat, Masinagudi, where I stayed for a few years before partnering with a friend to start a motorcycle tour company called Extreme Bike Tours. Extreme Bike Tours did so much better than we expected - we were targeting only 10 bikes per tour, mostly Australians and the brits, and were soon running 10-12 fully booked tours per year. Our flagship tours were of course in the Ladakh region - The Mighty Himalayas we'd call them, but we also offered tours in Nepal - Tibet, Rajasthan, South India and Bhutan. I was very active with the tours for 3 years - but every year, riding over 50,000 KM was getting to me, not to mention having to spend 3/4 months in the Himalayas. Every tour, being on a motorcycle there would be at least 10 near misses, and some where I just couldn't believe how I was still in one piece - though I never really met with an accident or a fall with all those miles of riding. But it got me thinking and while I was thinking, I was diagnosed with an advanced cancer and that was the end of running a tour company! I recovered fast enough, thanks to the advanced cancer care available in Chennai - but did have to go through a bone marrow transplant in 2015, which meant no riding bikes for a few years. So I sold the motorbike tour company and have since started a not for profit wig making company for I realized first hand how much losing hair to chemo means to a woman. So we manufacture what are called hair extensions that are exported to the USA and route the profits to make wigs for woman undergoing chemo. Well, that's the idea any way, for so far, not much profits are coming in, but hey, I am at least generating employment for now for 20 women in a rural area where the factory is set up!
I love music, travel, reading, animals and computer games. One of the greatest paradoxes I face is that I can't seem to give up non veg, as much as I like animals.
I am here because Team BHP has been where I look for reviews on stuff I'd like to do to my car - like audio upgrades, tyres and sun protection/ppf films, reviews for new cars, travel routes and advise - and having undertaken many mods to my vehicles over the years and travelling as much as I have gotten to, I think I can be a meaningful contributor. Thanks for having me on board! I do live to drive, indeed! |