[swiftvxi06]

On 27th July while returning home from a client’s party, near Dhalai Bridge crossing, I noticed bhpian Dibya da’s (cdibya) Red Magnite passing by. Nevertheless, he saw my car and we stopped near a roadside tea stall. Dibya da told me about the road trip being planned for 26th August to Muktadhara Nature Resort in Ghatshila and he told me that I should take my car. My car has run very less, over the last two years and it would be a perfect opportunity to fully utilize the performance of the turbo petrol engine. I decided that I will go for the road trip. Bhpians Amitendra Da (SchrodingersCar) and Arindom Da (Nomadiclife) were organizers of the whole trip.

The next day, I paid advance to Amitendra da and booked my slot. In the meanwhile, it was decided that Dibya da (cdibya) would break the news on Independence Day in our Teambhp WB Whatsapp Group. Soon the D Day came and Dibya da made the announcement. All the members were very happy to hear about me joining the road trip with them.

On 25th Aug, after office work, I went and filled petrol in the car since we had to start early. I was really excited about the roadtrip. On 26th Aug morning, I left home around 7am to meet Dibya da (cdibya) near the Pepsi manufacturing plant.


Thats me waiting to start the trip from home


Waiting for Dibya da near Pepsi plant

From there we passed through EM Bypass and from Avishikta More crossing we took Anwar Shah Connector and reached IOCL Uma Service Station where Bhpain Atamu da (edunata) was waiting for me. I picked up Atanu da and we moved towards Golpark where Bhpians Debdeep da (Dip27in) and Sashwat Da was waiting in latter’s Mitsubishi Pajero. Bhpian Debdeep da (Dip27in) was indeed very happy to see me joining this trip.

Before I forget to tell you, we were accompanied by a very special guest in Dibya da’s (cdibya) Red Magnite, Shantigopal, a very cute and friendly Labrador.
Around 8am all of us proceeded towards AHD Uluberia for breakfast. Soon we crossed AJC Bose Road Flyover and took Vidyasagar Setu. It was drizzling lightly and being Saturday morning the roads weren’t crowded. Just after crossing the toll plaza at Vidyasagar Setu, was our first meeting with Bhpians- Subhasish (ron82x3), Abhishek Da (ABHI_1512), Pawan Da (PapaBravo).

We exchanged greetings and then proceeded towards AHD Uluberia. In the meanwhile, traffic has slowly started piling up at Kona Expressway and we managed to cut them off by using the bylanes.


Our White Beauty in action, image courtesy Abhishek Da (ABHI_1512)

We took NH 16 from Kona Expressway and I was following Sashwat da’s Pajero. After entering NH 16, we decided to floor our cars, and I also floored my Magnite.


Our White Beauty passing by Dibya da's Red Magnite, also seen is Abhishek da's Ford Ecosport fondly named as Bahon, pic taken by Debdeep da (Dip27in)

The drive was becoming an enthusiastic one as soon Subhashis (ron82x3) in his Ford Ecosport S Diesel started going ahead. Our Magnite was at its sweet spot, its instant thrust from its turbo petrol unit made sure that it was at ease with fellow member’s cars. I was driving above 80kmph and soon we reached AHD Uluberia where other bhpians especially from the Northern part of Kolkata were waiting for us.
AHD Uluberia was packed on Saturday morning and there I met fellow bhpians- Sumanta Da( Neversaygbye), Niladri Da (Mile_Breaker) Rhitobrata (HornNot Ok Please ), our beloved Billu Da aka Arindom Da (Nomadiclife), Kousik (Kousikjana) Dyutimoy (Mountain_Deep) Ananyo da (Breathe2drive ) Soumyadeep (Apollo_1999 ) Subhradeep (HORSEPOWER), Subhro (Tacho9000). We also met Bhpian Meethun Da (Mi2N) who just came to AHD Uluberia to say hi to all of us.

Debdeep Da (Dip27in) soon ordered breakfast comprising of Chicken Bharta, Butter Tandoori Roti and Dal Makhni and Coffee. Debdeep Da as usual was very jovial and cracked hilarious jokes which made everyone laugh out of their wits.

Debdeep Da clicking my pic


One of the group pics at AHD Uluberia


Butter Tandoori Roti and Chicken Bharta

After breakfast, we did some group photo shoot. Soumyadeep also took some photos of our guest Shantigopal and also pics of White Beauty with his camera.


Group photo at AHD Uluberia


Yours truly with his Magnite Turbo, image courtesy - Soumyadeep

Soon, we started our journey towards Ghatshila around 11am. The route we all took was Kolaghat- Kharagpur City Bypass- NH49- Baharagora- Kokpara Toll- Dhalbhumgarh- Bara Juri Road.

I was maintaining a steady speed of 80 kmph and near Kharagpur Chowringee Round About, I lost my way. Instead of crossing the roundabout straight, I went towards Kharagpur town, but sooner I realized that I made a mistake and stopped the car and called Dibya da (cdibya), who told me to take a u-turn and take the left from the roundabout to continue the journey.
After crossing into Jharkhand, I noticed the roads were a bit better compared to the ones in West Bengal plus there were no haphazardly placed barricades near crossings as seen in West Bengal.


Stopping somewhere in Jharkhand for a photoshoot

After crossing Kokpara Toll, Atanu da (edunata) sat in the driver’s seat. Atanu da liked the brisk pick up of Magnite Turbo and soon he was at ease with the car, clocking some high speeds in no time. This was also the first time our White Beauty was driven at such high speeds.

The car performed well and was stable in that high speed too. There was a panic braking situation though when a Ford Ecosport in front suddenly braked after seeing some potholes and our White Beauty stopped in no time without any fuss maintaining its straight-line stability. Soon we crossed our surprise guest Shuvsee da’s (Shuvc) Mitsubishi Pajero.


With Shuvsee da and Subhro

After crossing some distance we took a right turn towards a small road which took us through the rural part of Jharkhand to Mukhtadhara Resort. It was a 3km narrow road through a village.


All of us reached the place around 1.30pm and stopped for a photo session and then continued our journey in a convoy of 14 cars. Muktadhara Resort is a beautiful resort situated amidst nature in Jharkhand. There was a small river following next to our resort.





Muktadhara Resort


Small stream flowing next to our resort


Our cars at the resort

The staff members allocated our rooms and then all of us freshened up and went straight ahead for lunch. The lunch comprised of delectable Bengali delicacies like Alu Posto, Moong Dal, Alu Bhaja, Mutton Curry, Chutney, Papad. The food quality and taste was amazing especially the lip-smacking mutton curry. Having detected with cholesterol some days back, all fellow bhpians were keeping any eye on me if I took more mutton or not than what was given to me.


A closeup view of the delicious Mutton Curry

After a hearty lunch, we went to our rooms to rest for some time since it was decided that we would visit Burudi Dam around 5pm. Little did I know that things will be totally different than what I had thought. To know more, continue reading…

Debdeep da, Subhasish, Amitendra Da and others were chatting in our room and I went to the washroom to freshen up. I came out and saw all of them suddenly left the room and couldn’t find my car key. I immediately understood something must be cooking in their minds… I came out of the room and didn’t find my car which was parked in front of our guest house. Nevertheless, I asked some fellow bhpians about my car and they said they didn’t know anything.


While i was in the room, fellow bhpians clicked pics with White Beauty


Thats Subhasish ((ron82x3) sitting on top of the bonnet

With a heavy heart, I sat in Rhitobrata’s Maruti XL6 and all of us went to the nearby Burudi Dam which was 12 kms away from Muktadhara Resort. While going towards the dam, I had partial glimpse of my car parked near the newly constructed guest houses and alerted everyone but everyone said nothing was there.

I was sad that I couldn’t click a photo of White Beauty at Burudi Dam. But still we clicked group pics at the site. By that time it was slowly getting dark and we decided to head back to the resort.


Our cars


Burudi Dam


Yours truly still smiling after losing his car

While returning to our guest house, I couldn’t see my car which I had previously seen near an under construction site. In the evening, our beloved Billu da & Amitendra Da had arranged for lipsmacking snacks comprising of French fries, chicken pakoda, veg pakoda, fish finger and magic items comprising of butter masala corn, chicken seekh kebabs.


Evening Snacks

The evening saw bhpians performing to some top Bollywood numbers like Kajra Re. Billu da, Subhradeep, Kousikjana, enthralled the audience with their dance. It was a fun-filled evening yet our White Beauty hadn’t been found by then !!

We had a nice homely dinner comprising of Roti, Daal Fry, Paneer, Country Chicken Curry, Chutney and Rossogolla. Some of the guests at the resort were very happy to see Shantigopal, the cute rockstar of our road trip.
As the night passed, I became worried and started frantically searching for the car but it was nowhere to be found. I began asking every bhpian if they had seen my car but they said no. I kept asking Debdeep da who said that it’s parked very safely and I could make out it was his master plan to hide my car.

Amidst this another development was happening, bhpian Soumyadeep’s Baleno car was unlocked while he was sleeping and some of the members opened the bonnet and removed the fuses from the fuse box and kept it carefully inside the glovebox of his car.

At around 12am Debdeep da, handed over my car keys which was hidden in Subhro’s Maruti 800 and told me to search for the vehicle. Me along with Koushik went to search the vehicle and after pressing the keys in the remote, noticed the indicators flashing inside a nursery. Little did I know that fellow bhpians had parked my vehicle carefully inside a nursery within the resort and covered the area with blue coloured nets so that white Magnite is not visible in the dark. Must say Debdeep da’s planning and execution was topnotch.

After getting back my car, I was relieved and went to sleep.
The next day woke up around 7.30am and then went for a morning drive on the highway in our White Beauty with bhpian Soumyadeep and Ananyo Da. Both of them drove my car and appreciated the pick-up of the turbo petrol engine. While returning back, we did a small photoshoot with White Beauty.




Photoshoot of White Beauty

Since it was a Sunday, we saw other guests coming to the resort. Our breakfast comprised of Lunchi (poori), Alu Dam, Boiled Egg/ Omlette and Bread.


Fellow bhpians at breakfast

After breakfast we decided to get ready to return to Kolkata. After freshening up, I found one of my shoes missing. Again I searched throughout the room but couldn’t find it. Again I went and asked Debdeep da and he again gave a witty smile. I knew he had hidden it. After some search it was found inside a paper bag.

After a group photo, we set again for our return journey to Kolkata around 11am.

Group pic

While some of the members went to Burudi Lake while others continued their journey towards Kolkata. I was following Subhro (Tacho9000). Both of us refueled our cars for the rest of the journey. I followed Subhro for a considerable part of the return leg till Baharagora. I was driving all alone and was maintaining a speed of 75-80kmph. The return drive was uneventful one. Reached Kolaghat where I was asked by some members to book seats at Aminia. Being a Sunday, Aminia was packed and there was a huge queue outside. I also checked out Express Food Plaza which was also packed with people. In the meanwhile bhpian Abhishek da (ABHI_1512) came and told me to follow him to Abhijit Hotel which was around 1 km from Aminia. Followed him there, being a Sunday, we were lucky to get car parking and ordered Mutton Biriyani, Mutton Kasha and Chicken Kebabs. Abhishek da was accompanied by Devarsi (DevOnWheels). Soon other bhpians came and after lunch we had a small photo session once again.


Final photosession at Abhijit Hotel

While returning home, I was energized after having lunch and drove quite enthusiastically. I was following Bhpian Sumanta Da who was driving his Red Tata Indica Vista D90 and I was followed by Subhasish’s Ecosport which was driven by Subhradeep. Being a Sunday traffic was building up towards the city and it was already past 5pm. I reached home around 6.30pm. Our White Beauty covered a total of 513kms and had used 23 litres of petrol thereby giving an overall mileage of around 22kmpl.

Before signing off, I want to thank Dibya da once again for encouraging me to make this trip and special thanks to Amitendra Da & Arindom Da for arranging such a wonderful trip. And last but not the least, thank you Debdeep da for filling in the fun factor in the trip by hiding my car and my shoes. It was indeed a memorable road trip.

[SchrödingersCar]

Thanks Abhirup for the TL. The trip was fun, and kudos to you for taking the jokes in your stride like a champ, and being gracious to pen down the TL.
On to the next one for our beloved White Beauty.

[Mile_Breaker]

This trip was super fun ! Reminded the hostel days. Thanks to Nomadiclife and SchrodingersCar for the whole arrangement starting from selection of venue to fullfillment of everyone's small small requests. And kudos to you Swiftvxi06 for your spirit and smiling face. We all love to see the precious Magnite Turbo petrol aka White Beauty run. Hope that we get to ride more along side White Beauty.

[Neversaygbye]

This trip was loads of fun and kudos to you for taking the practical jokes in the right spirit. Speaking of spirit, you have captured the spirit of the trip perfectly in your TL. Road trips such as ours are addictive, and I have no doubt whatsoever that you and your beloved White Beauty will be joining us in our future ones. WB has just scratched the surface with this trip and I'm sure we will see it in action much more often.

[apollo_1999]

That's a lovely TL Abhirup da, enjoyed the trip traveling with everyone and driving your White Beauty, your car is a mileage king and a pocket rocket indeed. here are some images from my end.

baleno brothers...(bhpian mi2n's baleno with my artemis)


our very own rockstar, Shantigopal


Bhpian PapaBravo


Bhpian PapaBravo's X1


Bhpian PapaBravo with Mountain_Deep


Bhpian cdibya's Nissan magnate


snack time for Shantigopal


Bhpian cdibya with Shantigopal


Bhpian swiftvxi06 with his white beauty


Quick photo break


Bhpian Neversaygbye,edunata, and cdibya


hat trick RED!


curious shantigopal


quick break to top up our stomachs...


bhpian shuvc's mini otr with his Mitsubishi Pajero.


OTR kings


X1's lights are stunning


sightseeing in progress


our trip organizer Bhpian SchrodingersCar


uber-cool Sashwat Da


bhpian shuvc


bhpian Mile_Breaker with his Hexa


Bhpian edunata



Bhpian Mile_Breaker with Neversaygbye


Bhpian HornNot Ok Please


bhpian ron82x3 busy cleaning his Ecosport


waiting to illuminate the path...


eagerly waiting for our next trip.

[cdibya]

Thank you Abhirup for the TL. This was really a fun trip. You have pointed out all the details and maintained the events' funny part. Honestly speaking we were missing you on our previous trips and that's why I insisted you so much to go this time. I also knew that a jovial personality like you must enjoy the trip. Thanks again for your participation and looking forward to having you on our next trip. Drive more, enjoy life.

[TheFonz]

Thanks for sharing, looking forward to joining in on the next trip.

[catchjyoti]

The best thing for me from this thread is the pet dog named Shantigopal. Hats-off to his owner for this gem of a name

[cdibya]

I had a chance to take this pic only from the whole trip. Rest of the time, Shantigopal made me occupied.

[predatorwheelz]

Nice, detailed travelogue. This is one trip I had really wanted to attend, but other compelling factors kept me back in NCR. The pics (and the camaraderie apparent in them) are really making me jealous.

One observation. Porsche added a turbocharger to the 911 in 1975, and the result was so iconic and fast, that the vehicle simply came to be known as the Turbo. Anyone who bought one would tell others "I have a Porsche Turbo, My Porsche Turbo did so and so". Going by the fact that you've mentioned Turbo 10 times - in one post and the heading combined - I'm sure India has found its equivalent in the Magnite Turbo.

[dip27in]

This trip is a testimony to high level of endurance exhibited by swiftvxi06 during the entire period. From the initial moment it was all about searching something and he displayed extra ordinary skill and perseverance.

1. He searched for the right partner while signing up for the trip but finally went all alone
2. He searched for the right path while blowing dust on the road with his extra ordinary maneuvering skills and landed in a part of the town which wasnt a part of the route
3. He Searched for the right combination of speed and economy, yet the car disappointed him by offering merely 11kmpl . However he managed to play with the excel sheet to tweak the figures to 22kmpl
4. On reaching the resort, when he was supposed to take rest after the longest drive of his life, he had to search for his car, which itself is a daunting task
5. Finally when he got the key, he again to search for the car but landed up finding it almost after pointing it out, this is your magnite only.
6. Last but not the least, when he was about to leave the resort, he was again pressed with the task of searching his shoes, which coincidentally was placed merely 2inch away from where he placed few minutes back.

However, after the entire episode the Hercule Poirot hiding inside him must have been rechristened which will be tested in his future trips with us.

We enjoyed him and the trip thoroughly and look forward to more such fun events. The team who took up the responsibility of organizing this trip, displayed near perfect effort to put things together.

Cheers to the team!

[digitalnirvana]

Originally Posted by catchjyoti

The best thing for me from this thread is the pet dog named Shantigopal. Hats-off to his owner for this gem of a name

Adorable pupper he is a cutie! Wishing cdibya and Shantigopal a long and happy life full of fun and togetherness!

[Neversaygbye]

Originally Posted by dip27in

3. He searched for the right combination of speed and economy, yet the car disappointed him by offering merely 11kmpl . However he managed to play with the excel sheet to tweak the figures to 22kmpl
We enjoyed him and the trip thoroughly and look forward to more such fun events. The team who took up the responsibility of organizing this trip, displayed near perfect effort to put things together.

Cheers to the team!

I also learnt a lot from his search for the elusive high fuel economy numbers. The first rule is to ensure that you never do full tank to full tank as then the incorrect FE shown on the MID will become obvious. The second thing is to drive on a highway with no AC and the window open, except when other BHPians can see you (for example, at toll plazas) and understand what you're trying to do. The third thing is that when one and two fail, there is excel.

Jokes apart, we really love Abhirup, his sporting attitude and his winsome smile. We also love the Magnite as a car and it is a capable vehicle as cdibya has demonstrated time and again. A vote of thanks to cdibya for convincing Abhirup to come on this trip. Looking forward to the next one, but before I sign off, here are some more pics including those from our trip to Burudi dam where we almost got stuck in the mud while returning


There was this stream running through our resort, with its own small barrage. It's a good thing that it is not easily accessible.




Soumodeep took some of the best pics of this trip




However, he had a tough time putting the fuses back in the right order




The Subarnarekha barrage, which Abhirup has mistakenly referred to as Burudi dam




Mile_breaker wanted to go to Ranchi in the middle of the night in Abhi_1512's car but had to be satisfied with posing atop Baahon on a flyover instead.




This was probably the slowest TBHP drive of cdibya's red Magnite thanks to the extremely cute and lovable front seat passenger




Arindom was our other organiser along with Amitendra and both of them outdid themselves. This trip was superbly managed by them.




Some of us went to Burudi Dam on our way back to Calcutta




My red beast at Burudi dam




We took turns posing - here's Subhradeep




Dyutimoy




...and finally, myself




While we had taken a longer route to reach the dam, on the way back we decided to take the Burudi Dam road and this turned out to be a bad decision as the road was a mess in parts, to say the least. We were really lucky that none of the cars got stuck, considering that all of us were in 2WD vehicles. Here is a video of part of the route. Please excuse the poor quality as I uploaded a Whatsapp video.

https://youtu.be/JG4AW1SeOhc

Finally we were on our way but not before stopping for a tea and coffee break. This dhaba seemed to be an appropriate place to stop considering that our co-organizer Arindom was with us and he also goes by the alias Bilu




Final lunch stop at Hotel Abhijit in Deulti on our way back. That's Kaushik, Niladri, Arindom and myself in the pic with Abhirup as the photographer

.

[Samba]

Yesterday this blog came live at 23:13, & I noticed it at 23:41, and the mega sales from a couple of E-commerce websites were scheduled to come live at 12! I had precisely 19 minutes to complete this blog. I managed to complete it in time, but by reading in turbo more, I missed the whole fun of reading it.

So today again I re-read the whole blog along with the comments, and I must day - 'Yea Dil Mange More' (This Heart Desires More)! This is among those very few blogs which I have read twice!

This is just the beginning of inter-state road trips for white beauty. Hope to read many more such entertaining and suspenseful blogs in future.

[ron82x3]

Originally Posted by Samba

This is just the beginning of inter-state road trips for white beauty. Hope to read many more such entertaining and suspenseful blogs in future.

Or why not have a Weekend OTR in the Damodar river bed? I have heard the Magnite can climb all obstacles, once the turbo spools up!
Only one way to find out!