[raptor_diwan]

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 a variant of the car and express to be 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, and 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 yell 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?

[Divya Sharan]

It indeed is a good practice, if practiced sincerely, not just for the sake of it. People can gauge the sincerity in one's voice and mannerisms. I have wished a few people, most taking vehicle delivery while I'm at the ASC for routine service of my car.

And that includes ladies too, why generalise them? Its true that some cause huge distress for no apparent reason, but there are more creeps roaming around than attention hoarding (wo)men, unsurprisingly a lot of social media influencers! Women can almost always say if the intent is right or not.

We're educated and should do better, starting with acknowledging our own biases.

Coming back to the topic, I was recently approached by an elderly gent at the fuel station, who after a brief chit chat praised me for the shine on my car and said - "You've maintained your car well, it doesn't look nearly a decade old. Also, they don't paint cars like this anymore, these days!".

I must say, I had a smile plastered all the way back home!

[jeeva]

I haven't really congratulated anyone driving a brand new car out of the showroom, but always have walked upto elderly gents driving their pristinely maintained Fiats, Ambassadors, Enfields, Vespas, and the likes, and expressed my happiness and excitement.

Sometime back, I was driving my Tata Sierra around Jayanagar, Bangalore when a South Indian actress whom I have a crazy crush on walked up and said how much she liked the car. Apparently her dad used to own one and has fond memories of driving around in it. I almost asked her out for a drive, so that she could reminiscence those lovely days, but sanity prevailed. Thanked her, and drove all the way home grinning from ear to ear.

[rkw]

Originally Posted by raptor_diwan

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?

That is indeed a good habit you have adopted. It certainly costs one nothing to appreciate & compliment. But the returns in terms of happiness are tremendous on both sides. I would ofcourse love to follow but would proceed with caution lest it should be perceived as intrusion or errant behaviour. May be I will start with my residential complex, temple, office premises, car showroom when I happen to visit etc.

[astrodex]

Very positive and smile inspiring post raptor_diwan. Put a smile on my face reading it. Made my day!

I am not as friendly as you but this post has encouraged me to try this out. I know I would be proud and happy the receive such a compliment and should be paying it forward

[IAmGroot]

Festival of Padwa tomorrow and sure to see many new cars around.

Whenever I come across a new car I actually don’t go very close to it. I always assume it would be a new driver and concentrating hard. I know how I was driving with freshly minted license in a new car. As a courtesy I will give wider space and if I like the car follow it for some time. Never ever I have complimented a new car owner though.

Recently while doing a highway run, I stopped at a fuel station and the pump attendant complimented my new car. He said he liked the tropical mist color and that Safari is nothing but 2 additional seats added in the boot space. Now, I don’t like getting distracted while tanking up for obvious reasons, however I did reply that it is few mm longer.

The funny part is, I was complimented by someone not for the car but for BH registration number and how useful it is for traveling interstate.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by raptor_diwan

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.

Very nice thought. I recently received a similar compliment from a stranger, my first such experience. Was driving out of my office parking in the Thar and one guy just walked up to the car with a big smile and said something along the lines of a good-looking car. Needless to say, it was a happy drive back home.

[WorkingGuru]

Unless I aspire to buy that car, or unless I particularly admire the car for a specific reason like it's mechanical integrity / capability - it's design (interior & exterior) - technological advantage viz-a-viz it's company policy on the pricing & branding strategy, I wouldn't pay attention.

Even if I did, I would mostly only stick to congratulating if the owner was a friend or an acquaintance. I'd possibly congratulate a stranger as a passing comment only if I happen to speak to them contextually. I treasure my friends (& some acquaintances) whom I know for themselves, not for their cars, and I'll let them know that if ever I find that they don't keep their feet to the ground.

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by raptor_diwan

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.

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.

That's a nice story. Thanks for sharing.

I think the compliment was for the Nano being unique/cool.

Originally Posted by raptor_diwan

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?

I have not done anything like that just because it is a newly delivered car.

At times I do compliment the drivers of tastefully modified/cool cars or cars with funny personalized registration/number plates. All you need is a thumbs up to appreciate their taste or sense of humor.

On a related note, there are things like the Subie wave and the Jeep wave or just the car guy wave! Car enthusiasts are getting rarer and I suppose we wanna just acknowledge the existence of another one in the breed.





There's a funny downside to this when my wife drives my Subaru. She has seen people compliment the car. Very rarely fellow WRX drivers pull up alongside us to go on a short sprint down the road. She doesn't want any of that sort of attention.

[saikishor]

I havent done this for new cars, but whenever I see a car I like, or an expensive car/bike, I always make it a point to make a kind hand gesture. It always ends with a polite thank you gesture, but in one case when I saw a Mitsubishi Cedia and complemented the guy with a hand gesture, he was clueless and started questioning. Nevertheless, I feel happy doing this and also feel happy whenever I receive questions from people about my 390 Duke.

Yesterday(I'm not exaggerating, must be perfect timing) I saw a guy with a Mahindra Mojo. At the next signal I stopped beside him and asked him about where he gets his bike serviced. He replied with some garage's name. And then he started praising his bike like this is a very good bike but let down by sensor issues and all. He was loving his bike no doubt about that.

I hope I am not diverting the topic but all I want tk say is asking questions or giving a greeting about someone's vehicle does make them feel happy no doubt on that. Atleast this is what I learnt throughout my life on roads.

[samee_arian]

A really nice gesture. I also try to congratulate people when they buy a new vehicle and try being part of their happiness and adding a little cheer to it whenever and wherever possible as car ownership is considered a big event and a proud achievement by most Indian families. I also tend to exchange happy smiles when a fellow driver or rider shows patience while driving or waits to give way as this is something that rarely happens on our Indian roads. Same case goes for anyone doesn't throw wrappers and covers around out of parked cars especially at road side eateries and ensures to keep surroundings clean and not just keep their cars tidy. As they say, smiling is contagious, so let us do our bit it in spreading it around and reduce the stress associated with driving.

[tc89]

Hey there, well documented post !! I too have received many compliments over the years and still do for my 87 RX100, especially after a nice wash and service, i also observe many people looking at the bike always. Also I make it a point to congratulate owners on well kept older machines and sometimes have struck a good conversation with them on the roadside, exchanged thoughts and got some good leads on parts and mechanics
Like you even u steer clear of the ladies for the same reasons !
Overall it was a good feel to read your post because now I know that there are others like me too ��

[lapis_lazuli]

Very nice thread idea. I have done this a few times, and once, few weeks after taking delivery of the Superb, a gentleman in his A4 had parked just adjacent to me. He was closely inspecting my car and we struck a conversation. He was all praises for the VFM quotient of superb. Haven't done it in recent times, though.

[airguitar]

I neither ogle nor pay compliments, whatever the ride maybe. But I do steal a real quick glance if it's an attractive looking car / color. I'm a sucker for the Curcuma Yellow and Wild Cherry Red colors of the VAG models. While it's a great idea to pay compliments on a new purchase, I'm pretty much careworn by Bangalore's traffic and arrogant road behavior that I care two hoots about any pleasantry, let alone compliments.

I never received compliments either for my new purchases, except for my most recent purchase - the Thar. It gets a lot of compliments, especially outside the city and even after it has been a few months old.

[Caadmara]

More Power to you! In fact genuinely paying someone a compliment/kind word is a sure shot way of making not only the recipient but also yourself feel great. You don't have to go around complimenting people just a simple Smile/hello/ Please/Thank you/ Coffee aitha? does wonders.Yes you sometimes get strange looks but so what!