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bharath's avatar
11:46 PM
15 August 2009
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The Cedia.

Posted By bharath

Why write about the Cedia? As we come towards the end of our journey and we look back at all the places we visited, all the distance we covered, all the time spent on the highway, we realized the one thing that connects all the dots is the car.

It has become such an essential part of our daily routine for the last ten days that when this is over, we most likely will be waking up in the morning and looking to get into a white Cedia with the graphic Radhika and Bharath written on the side.
This fantastic car has been as important to the journey as our beloved Lonely Planet, all the places we’ve visited, all the people we’ve met and every hotel we’ve stayed at.


The Cedia is by far the most debated topic on our blog. However one looks at it, the car had got its fair share of publicity on our blog by its very absence. We didn’t write about the car earlier because we couldn’t comment on a car that we had barely driven. Now that we have covered 3000+ km I feel we have some vague idea as to what the car is about.

I remember my first thoughts as I entered the vehicle in Mumbai. As we were flagged off I was hoping I didn’t run over the press photographers. That would have been a disaster. My second thought was how comfortable the car was and before we had gone a couple kilometers Radhika was fast asleep. Definitely comfortable.

As we followed our route.. Ahem!..As we attempted to follow our route, there were things that we loved about the car. It was easy to drive and fun. It didn’t seem hassled in the city or on the highway. The main reason for this was the engine and gearbox combination which seemed to match perfectly. We really did enjoy using the GPS which is pretty accurate. Yes-We got lost in Madhya Pradesh but in some of those places even the locals were lost.

The highway, especially the four lane expressways, is where we had the most fun with the car. I know the whole event is called The Great Driving Challenge but it really wasn’t a challenge. We drove through Madhya Pradesh where the soya farmers were waiting for rain. We drove through Khajuraho and Varanasi where the only thing that kept us alive was the climate control air conditioner in the car. Varanasi gave us a real taste of how maneuverable the car was with its chaotic traffic and narrow roads.

We experienced the brilliance of the expressways all the way from Agra, and we even drove through heavy rain. We took the car on-road, off-road, and every road in between and it emerged without a scratch. The ground clearance is obviously good. Is there any wonder that we like the car?
Our list of grouses- The GPS input speed is slow and takes some getting used to. Though we didn’t really feel the need for it, parking sensors would be nice on the already loaded list.


At the end of this journey we’ll miss the car. It’s been comfortable, exceeded our expectations and we’ll miss the open road. Our tribute. 

Posted by

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

16 August 2009

Nice post guys….

Wish you all the best!!

Posted by

Praveen

16 August 2009

Dude.. very apt and expected..
Achievement: managed to get most of the shots when the car was clean…(except one)
Going by the low angle of the moving shots .. i am assuming there was some theatrics involved…
Love the last shot.. typically how you would want to capture the memory of the car!

Posted by

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

16 August 2009

Great ! Now this fulfills the left over requirement !! ....good script and great shots….deficiency taken care with poetic justice!

Posted by

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

16 August 2009

Hey Bharat!!
Thats a lovely post !!
Ofcourse u needed to know ur Cedia..before u wrote abt it !! that the best way ...and the blog has come out really well !!! smile
peace n joy
gC

Posted by

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

16 August 2009

understated elegance…......sophisticated…....a classic.

L & L Academy…...are you watching?

Thanks…......Rudy, Jonathan, Paul, Iqbal

Posted by

shefali arya

16 August 2009

ur pics and ur ideas r brilliant ....there is no match to it ......believe me ...u guys r doing great..

Posted by

Neha

16 August 2009

Way to go belz!!
Your blogs are great! I’m not much of a blog reader, but i’m hooked on to yours. Your ideas are great and the images are brilliant!!
You guys are doing great…Wish you all the best!

Posted by

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

16 August 2009

Radhika and Bharath..

Brilliant stuff!! smile As Praveen points out, definitely a lot of theatrics involved. Trust you came out of the adventure unscathed! smile

All my doubts of you choosing the white cedia have gone flying out the window!

Cheers,

Gaurav

Posted by

Harish Kukreja

16 August 2009

Hello Bharath,

Superb pics. So was it you or Radhika hanging out of the window to get them? Good show. Heading home for the finish by now I hope. Take care. See you at Goa.

Posted by

Imtiaz

16 August 2009

Superb, superlative…. it’s a slaughter and the rival team(s) were the prime victims….. the pics are so good mitsu ppl can actually just use them as is for their brochures… am thinking and hoping the theatrics involved you or Radhika sitting by the roadside with the camera in continous shot mode while the other guy drove past taking care to miss the photographer and equipment smile) rather than one of you hanging out of the car window…. do enlighten us as to how you guys managed such amazing shots of the car in motion if and when you get the time…..

as for the write up yes and yes…. the first yes was to the running over the press folk thing…. I had a similar thought when I saw the pics after having visited Atria mall for the flag off(an hour after the flag off actually).... I infact commented about the miss india thingie getting run over…. the second yes was for the how do i write about it till I know it… same her I took my car out for a 3000km trip soon as I could (after our baby was born)... we went to where else Rajasthan (jaipur, chittor, ajmer, udaipur the works).... and it was only after that I knew my car…. till then I just drove it…. it’s a Ford Fusion not your usual runabout so it does take a little bit of an eccentric mind to appreciate….. I totally endorse your sentiment about the can’t write till I know about it….

Great going Bharath I hope to bump into you guys sometime… bump into you guys coz planning and meeting up isn’t our style…. if it’s meant to be it will be!! All the best for tomorrow you are a winner for me let the jury decide for the others.

Posted by

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

17 August 2009

I was expecting this at the very end of the trip but it’s come a bit sooner.  Nice one.  Pity is that doing about 300 kms a day on average isn’t really a challenge in a car like this.  It would be fun to do some REAL driving, preferably off-road stuff in anything having the Mitsu lineage.  Actually, I rather like the Lancer.


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