Kannya turns 6 at Matruchaya, Goa!

As a tradition that we began with the birth of Kannya – our bundle of joy for last 6 years, we celebrated her birthday with kids of her age, who, unfortunately were deprived of parents by the destiny. Like every year, Kannya was excited to spend her special day with these kids who were special for us, and we ought to make this a custom.

 

Kannya with all smiles set to cut the cake

 

Something about Matruchaya...

 

Matruchaya located in a small town in Goa, Ponda, better known for its temples, is a home for destitute, abandoned or orphaned children.

 

The organization is working untiringly for last 35 years for the welfare of such children. The orphanage which houses two separate units for girls and boys was started way back in 1976. It is recognized by Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) and promotes adoption, by which the children can have their own home.

 

We made an effort to bring smiles to them...

 

It houses about 50 girls and 25 boys, aged between 5 to 18. The 4 cute toddlers brought to this place because of various circumstances, are showered with tender love by all the occupants of the home.

 

It offers schooling and all other basic necessities for these kids.

It was learnt that Matruchaya takes care of the girls until they are of marriageable age and also offers to get them married and settled in life.

Matruchhaya - where Matru means Mother and Chaya means Shelter – is a true home for these unfortunate children.

 

We enjoyed the little good time that we spent with the kids

Events & donations

• The organization is open to activities like Birthday celebrations and accepts donations/help in any form.
• Such events can be organized only between 5pm to 6pm with prior appointment with the Matruchaya office. 
• Only 5 members of group/family are allowed to join the function. 
• The donor can learn more about the organization from the in-charge and other office staff.
• The staff is happy to show you around the home for you to have a glance at the toddlers and play with kids.
• It is suggested to check with office on the items in shortage, before any donations are made.
• The office provides a receipt with complete details of donations.
• It was learnt that there are many donors who have subscribed for lifetime donations/supplies of groceries/books/other household items.

Some girly stuff that brought smiles to their faces

 

Office Contact:

You can reach the office on +91 832 2312152/ 3142.

 

We did whatever little we could for this noble cause…what are you waiting for?

 

My parents joined us for this noble cause

 

Chivla Beach - weekend getaway from Goa

Like last year, this summer too, we decided to give Goan beaches a miss and instead visited a serene, virgin beach at a not-well-known place called Chivla in our neighboring state. Chivla beach is located in a tiny village at a walking distance from Malwan in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra.

Set for a perfect evening...

 

While the Goan beaches are flooded with tourists from all over the world, over the years, my love for them has reduced. It could be because of the overly crowdedness and commercialization of these beaches. Somehow, I don’t find that same tranquility which I witnessed here during my regular summer trips to these beaches, since my childhood.

 

Goa no more has a tourist season now! People flock to this place all throughout the year and some even don’t return to their home land.

I was looking for something, where I could be all by myself with the nature – just the roaring sea and me! And Chivla Beach was a wise choice.

Malwan too is getting highly commercialized and many tourists prefer it, mainly for two reasons – the place is not as crowded as Goan beaches and most importantly it’s cheap compared to Goan exorbitant Dining and Accommodation rates.

I had known of Chivla, since last year, however we chose to visit Tarkarli last year and hence the obvious choice for this year was Chivla beach.

Disclaimer

You may NOT continue reading further, if you are looking for the following at a beach holiday:

·         Ogling at Semi-nude Hippies

·         And a similar avatar of Desis [semi-nude again, but Males] holding beer cans

·         Indian newlyweds with hands full of traditional bangles and Shorts – a little short for her.

·         A pampered resort style luxurious stay

·         A dubious massage

The beach – the location

This place is for someone looking for a secluded, serene and 'almost your own' private beach, where one can relax on the hammock outside your room, watching tiny boats taking on the sea, hard-working fishermen busy sorting their daily catch and local kids immersed into a match of cricket at the shore…

The Beach is all yours...

 

If this is not enough, in the evening you can be one with the nature, watching the sun set over the roaring sea hitting the shore incessantly! A view worth capturing on a canvas!

And at what cost is this? The entire vacation for a 2-night’s stay for couple with child was less than half the cost of a beach aside resort (stay only) in Goa!

However unfortunately we also noticed, the shore had turned ugly at places – because of Mother Nature throwing back at us, the same nonsense we quietly immerse inside her!

The Stay – Mayekar’s Holiday Home

Chivla offers many home-stays – a more traditional, affordable and acceptable form of accommodation.

Having read good reviews, we chose ‘Mayekar’s Holiday Home’ [MHH] for our 2 nights stay. The guesthouse is at a splendid location, just few meters away from the sea shore. The rooms are basic however offer a superb sea-view with plenty of breeze to keep you company throughout the day. It’s a treat to watch the sun set, while you sip tea alongwith hot Bhajiya lazing on the hammocks outside your room.

There are options for AC and Non AC rooms.

 

MHH is owned by a local Mr. Prasanna Mayenkar. He lives with his wife, a 3 year old daughter – Swara and a maternal uncle – who looks after your needs during your stay. Mr. Mayekar shares his home with the air conditioned Blue rooms, while the Non AC Red rooms are besides the house. Red rooms are much closer to the sea and bigger in size to accommodate a family of 4. Blue Rooms are smaller suitable for a couple.

The place offers basic amenities: a double bed with bed-side tables, a table with 4 chairs in the verandah, hot water from 7:00AM, mosquito net/coil, a service bell in the room. The linens could have been better and should have provided soap or a hand-wash! It serves morning tea/coffee options with breakfast and evening tea/snacks on advance notice. If you don’t want to go too far for dinner, there is a home-food option behind the property of Mayekar’s.

Room cost: Non AC 1800 per night. AC: 2000 per night.

Breakfast options: Upma, Poha, Shira, Bread-omelet, Tea/Milk/Coffee. Chilled Water bottle@Rs.20/-

Evening tea with snacks like Bhajia can be ordered. The preparation takes about 20-30 mins.

Lunch/Dinner: This guest house does not offer Lunch/Dinner options. For this, you can visit any of the nearby home-turned-restaurants.

 

Security/Safety: One could feel kind of insecure when the place gets darkened with not many lights around and not much security around the home-stay. However, Malwani people are known to be softhearted and we felt at home during our long stroll on the empty road in front of the guest house in the night.

 

The food: relish on Sea-food!

There is a place at the backyard of MHH, which serves home cooked meals. One needs to place an order at least 2-3 hours in advance. For vegetarian there is a typical Maharashtrian meal with Rice, Chapati, Bhaji, Papad, Pickle, Daal, Solkadhi. For others, there is variety of Fish options to choose from.

The food quality was average while the rates though apt for a beach location, were higher than what it would cost you to have a Fish/Rice meal at a Goan city restaurant.

Malwan has many other restaurants which are famous for serving fresh fish preparations. To name a few: Chaitanya, Saiba, Atithi Bamboo, Ghar Mithbaunkaranche (they are also the caterers for MTDC resorts at Tarkarli).

We had a day meal at Chaitanya – our repeat visit. However, felt the taste had degraded since our last trip to Tarkarli. You would find plenty of good reviews of it and the place is usually over-crowded. When I say I did not like the preparation much: it could be because of my liking for Goan way of cooking sea food and the same may not be true for people traveling from various other parts of the country as at the table next to us, we were hearing a Mumbai party going all praises for the food!
 

Again, there are plenty of fish & sea-food options with prices same as what I mentioned earlier. To give you an idea of prices, we had a Surmayee [King-Fish] Thali for 250/- (medium size rawa fried piece of Kingfish, Kingfish Curry with Chapati and Rice], a ‘Kalwa Thali’ at 280/- (One portion of Kalwa Masala, one small rawa fried Crab, Kalwa Curry with Chapati and Rice].

You can try Fruitkhand – srikhand with fruits or ‘Aamrakhand’ for desserts.

The cost of the meal was 700/-. (Our return journey cost of a much tastier lunch at Spice Goa, Karaswada, Mapusa-Goa was just under 500/- for two Modso Thalis and a beer!)

One can also try Prawns Malwani, Kombadi Vade etc.

 Downside

Crowded!! and obviously this is the reason for other problems like delay in taking orders and eventually in serving. The place is on a busy congested lane of Malwan market and hence taking your car and parking is a big pain. I would recommend parking the vehicle in an open space, just when you take a right turn to go to Tarkarli. From here, the restaurant is just about 5 mins walk.

Quality: as I mentioned above was a big letdown. We had to add extra salt in almost every item in our meal.

 

The attraction

Besides Malwan, which has multiple options, Tsunami Island at Devbag is one of the major attractions to enjoy some watersports. Devbag is about 4 KMs from Tarkarli, which is about 7 KMs from Malwan.

You will need to hire a motor boat, which will take you to an amazing place - a small island in the middle of nowhere, close to ‘Sangam’ of Karli river and Malwan sea.

The boat is costly affair if you have a small family as it charges 1000/- for a return trip. Best is to bargain and look for sharing options. We shared the boat trip with another family of 4 at total cost of 800/-.

One can enjoy variety of water sports like Jet Ski Ride, Speed Boat, Banana Ride, Bumper Boat, Water Scooter, Kayak Ride and so on.

There are various food stalls right in the middle of the water serving mouth-watering local snacks like ‘Chutney and Pola’. It’s an amazing experience to have food at these stalls while your seats almost submerged in the water.

 What else to do/see:

Malwan has various other attractions (we had visited these during our last trip to Tarkarli). The activity that has caught on highly with tourists here is Snorkelling and Scuba diving!

While at Malwan a visit to Rock Garden, Sindhudurg fort and Jai Ganesh Temple is a must. One also has option of visiting few other near-by beaches: (I would suggest stay put up just at one beach)

·         Tarkarli Beach

·         Tondavali Beach

·         Kolamb Beach

·         Vengurla Malvan Beach

 

Ganesh idol made in Gold at Jai Ganesh Temple

The route

The route from Goa to Kudal via Sawantwadi (on Goa-Mumbai highway) is awesome and had it been monsoon, the drive would have been a real pleasure!

From Kudal one can take either take a polished longer route via Chauke or an internal shorter road. Don’t expect too many signages on the way or while driving in Malwan. It’s best to ask locals.

Panaji to Chivla is about 110 kms.

You will find a lot of local vendors’ enroute which are good option for buying some local green vegetables and Devgad Hapus mangoes!

Itinerary

Day-1

• Started at Panaji-Goa at 10:00 AM, reach Chivla at 1:30 PM
• Lunch: Packed food for lunch from home
• Evening Tea: Onion Pakoda and Tea MHH
• Evening spent in around MHH on hammock enjoying the breeze and later playing at the beach
• Dinner: Vegetarian meal at the property at the backyard of MHH. Rs. 70/- per Thali. Regular home cooked meal with Chapati, Rice,Daal, salad, Tamdi Bhaji, Solkadhi. No Sweet dish.

Day-2

• Alarm at 7:00AM. I did my Suryanamaskars on the beach when the Sun had just started shining
• Breakfast: at MHH. Tea, Upma and Bread Omelet
• Left for Tsunami Island at 10. [11 kms from Chivla]
• Lunch: Returned from Tsunami Island for lunch at Chaitanya in Malwan
• Evening: Spent at MHH on hammock and playing at the beach
• Dinner: again at the property behind MHH. Fried prawns medium size Rs. 150/- plate with about 15 pieces

Day-3

• Alarm at 7:00AM and hit the beach for light jogging
• Breakfast at MHH: Shira, Bread omelet and black tea
• Left Chivla at 10:00AM
• Visit Jai Ganesh Temple on return journey
• Lunch at Spice Goa, Karaswada, Mapusa Goa
• Dinner back at home

Ended the trip with a scrumptious meal at Spice Goa

 

SBI Motor Insurance Review : A bad experience

I faced a poor service handling experience with an Indian service provider company yet again. This time it was SBI General Insurance Company and it was related to car insurance claim.

 

The least we expect from these public service provider companies is to oblige to what is promised, leave alone giving a pleasing service.

 

As customers, we agree to all T&C and pay hefty premiums to purchase these services, obviously with expectations that when we exercise our right use them, it would be offered to us, without any hassles.

 

But in reality these companies make you go through a real painful process.

 

Wed 22/Jan:

I had to claim insurance for my newly purchased car for a minor accident with a repair cost of about 15k. I initiated the process of insurance claim and completed all the formalities. The process with SBI is that I have to call on a Toll free helpline number and register the case. They promise that within 48 hours a surveyor would be appointed who will visit the workshop.

 

Since, I knew that the repair is minor, I wanted the survey to happen on the same day, as I had taken a day off with all prior appointments with the workshop and insurance company. However the company would not provide me with any information about the Surveyor.  They mentioned that I would be intimated once the Surveyor is assigned and he would visit the servicing center within 48 hours.

 

Nothing of this sort was done!

 

Through my local contacts in the workshop, I managed to contact the person who usually comes in and got the survey arranged.

 

Next day, I contacted the Surveyor again and handed over all the required documents including the bill.

So far so good, SBI suggested the claim settlement process would take about 3 weeks.

Thu 13/Feb:

After waiting patiently for 3 weeks I finally called up the SBI Tollfree helpline to know the status on my claim.

After providing all the details of Claim, Policy, Car and verifying personal records, the CSE [Customer Service Executive] mentioned that the claim status shows – “In progress”. He could not provide any further information and advised a Service Request to be created for this purpose. The same was done and advised that I would be receiving a call within 3 working days with the details.

Tue 18/Feb:

5 days, post the last call and the 3-day assurance of callback provided by SBI, there was no response. I called them back again. Went through the pain of providing all the details. The CSE assured that the claim would be settled within this week and I would get a call-back when the final settlement is done with reasons for delay.

There was neither an update provided on my earlier SR logged nor any reasons provided for the delay.

In the meantime, I called up the surveyor just to ensure that he has submitted all the documents in time, which he confirmed was done in time.

Fri 21/Feb:

It was end of week, 3 days since last call, which was an agreed timeline assured by them, neither claim is settled nor any call from SBI.

Yet again, I called them up. Same questions asked, claim #, Name, vehicle #, date of accident, date of claim registration etc, went through same process of putting the call on hold, going back and forth with claims department.

This time too, the CSE told me that they would call me back with the status, which I refused to accept. Finally, CSE agreed to get back to me on the same day. This was at 2:00 PM.

As assured, I received a call at about 4:00 PM however only to mention that a call-back has been arranged and that someone from Claims department would call me back today itself, with status and exact reasons for the delay. J

No call-back was received! It was so frustrating that they don’t even acknowledge.

Sat 22/Feb:

The very next day, as I was preparing myself for another furious call with SBI, I received a SMS saying the claim has been processed. After having vented out all my frustrations on them, instead of giving any reasons for the delay, they probably thought its best to process my claim.

Fri 28/Feb:

After a week, the cheque was received at home address. SBI has not sent me any calculation sheet and I have no way to know, how SBI arrived at the settlement figure.

I know for sure that most insurance claim settlement cases in India are real PIA. While for motor insurance the insured is alive to fight and earn the amount back. In case of Personal Life insurance cover, not sure what pains, these companies would put the family members through!

Mercure Lavasa: Good Place to Stay

Welcome to Mercure Lavasa

The hotel is a brand of Accor and is worth the bills we paid. It offers over 100 decent rooms for guests and one would not be really disappointed for having stayed here.

 

The hotel does not have its own pool in the premise, however offers complimentary Swimming Pool and Gym facilities at the nearby clubhouse which is about 15-20 mins walk. The complimentary coupon for this is offered on enquiry.

 

Room

 

Some may feel the rooms are small, however I would say they are just about right for a couple stay. It comes with almost all basic facilities like flat screen LCD, mini fridge, iron and board, complimentary tea/coffee makers and 2 bottles of water, and regular toiletries including a hair-dryer.

Did not try a la carte and room service.

No great views from the room. From our balcony, we could only see some construction sites.

Nice, plush room

Check-in and Check-Out

Check-in: 12:00 noon and check-out: 10 AM. The hotel was fine with our request for late c/out (though we checked out in time, the next day).

Dining - Lunch

The hotel has a multi-cuisine restaurant – Celebration, offering good variety spread of buffet of mostly Indian food for lunch. Few delicacies which  were on the menu during our stay included Mutton, Chicken, Vegetable Makhani, Bhindi, Daal Fry, Pulao, Hakka noodles, Roti, Naan, Veg/N.veg soups, variety of salads, pastries, Sevaiya and so on. The food was delicious and would say, aptly priced. The cost per head was Rs. 650/- (plus taxes).

It also had a live cooking counter, which served some of your favorite dishes, right out of the frying pan.

Breakfast:

Our booking included Bed & Breakfast. There were, again, various choices with a blend of English, Maharashtrian and South Indian options. The counter had Khichdi, Idli-Sambhar, Omlette, Toast/butter/Jam, Paav-Bhaji, Cereals, Cakes, Fruits (limited choice though), Yogurt, Juices, Tea and Coffee.

Bar

The hotel has a cozy little place called Zen Bar, with lounge style seating where you can relax with your favorite poison. One can enjoy wine and various other drinks here. (We did not visit the bar J and I read about the happy hours at the bar, after we checked outL)

Negatives

Overall, the hotel was nice and there are not many things to write against this place, however few points that could have been handled in a better way:

a.       Our check-out and bill settlement process was extremely delayed. We had done an online booking/payment through the Hotel’s website and were expecting to pay, just the balance including our lunch. However, the staff mentioned that the payments are not reflecting for some reason – which was hard to believe. Finally, after confirming with Bank/Credit card that the amount has not been debited, we made the full payment and it was sorted. However, we spent a lot of time at the reception counter, with multiple staff members verifying, cross-checking, calling others etc to sort this.

Why and how the payment was not received is still a mystery to us, secondly, how did hotel confirm our reservation online, without receiving the payments? Anyways, not our headache!

 

b.      We had a twin sharing room. In our neighboring room a group of boys arrived late in the night and continued with the party, they had returned from. The whole conversation and noise was audible in our room, which was quite disturbing.

 

c.       Finally, the hotel should have offered some recreation activities like swimming pool in its own premise.

 

Overall, the place is worth a stay with good location, service and food.

Lavasa: A Review

We travelled to Lavasa on the eve of Valentine’s Day this year. Considering, it was a Friday (followed by a weekend) we had anticipated it to be crowded. However, unexpectedly, it was not.

A metallic structure @ Promenade

I had read and heard a few good reviews about this place and had high expectations however I would say my trip to Lavasa was not very exciting. The place did not have much to offer except that it is a huge township amidst mountains.

Probably I was there during the wrong time of the year as many suggested monsoon is the good time to be there.

We had booked our 1 night stay at Hotel Mercure Lavasa, which was a little costlier option. The hotel was decent and I would cover about it in a separate review. 

Hotel Mercure

There is not much to do at Lavasa except walking along the waterfront promenade, the prime attraction, which is very well maintained and clean. It was about 10mins walk from our hotel, Mercure.

Pinky hai paise walonki...

Lavasa offers various options for dining at restaurants serving delicacies from different countries like American, Australian, Lebanese, Singaporean, Chinese along with Pizzas, Ice-creams and Indian street foods like Chats & Tikkas. Some of these are overpriced. It is recommended to have meals at the hotel; however, one can try these restaurants for one meal.

We had our dinner at American Diner, which was obviously a costly affair. The place had on offer, a 5 course dinner for a couple (Valentine’s eve) at a discounted price of Rs. 1000/- (we did not opt for it). The restaurant serves imported drinks. We tried a Vodka brand called Pinky (this is the first time, we heard about this brand). It was ok.

What one can do?

• Water sports activities offered a family boat ride (for 6-10 persons) (Rs. 200/person, even for kids above 1 year - which I thought was on a higher side). There were few other options like individual/twin pedal boats, Kayaking and Jet Skis.

Boating jetty

• Fun zone for kids had most video games in non-working condition. Can try bowling, pool table, car/bike racing.
• There is an option of adventure sports – X-thrill, which offers rock climbing, rappelling, valley crossing etc. We did not try this.
• There was also a mini golf, which looked not worth trying.
• One can also witness a musical fountain show in the evening at around 7 pm.

 Minuses

• There is lot of construction activity going on so expect some disturbance and dust     around.
• Some restaurants were closed or highly priced.
• There were not many options of entertainment and most games were not operational

Weather was the only plus, it was very pleasant and started getting colder towards the evening.

The place turned romantic by the evening when many couples, newly-weds arrived to enjoy the dusky mood, strolling around, clicking photos on the picturesque background.

Some metallic creation

My friend mentioned that the place also has independent villa’s – Ekaant, situated amidst the mountains, which offers a nice, never-ending view of the mountains and a panoramic view of complete Lavasa. (However, since we did not stay in these, cannot comment).

Probably, it will turn into a good holiday destination once the place is completely developed and ready.  Overall, it is a place worth staying for a night.

Is India a rapist nation?

In last week, I woke up to read two stories, a minor raped in Delhi and an elderly woman raped and killed in Goa. The reports were very depressing and disturbed me deeply.

 

Yet again, the capital of India was put to shame by the rapist. There seems to be no end to this and news of this sort is featuring regularly in the papers. Have we been immune to such incidents now?

 

Neither social gatherings and protests nor candle light vigil nor national angers nor laws nor bills nor panel discussions nor social media awareness nor education nor preaching nor religion nor our cultural values…Nothing really seems to make a difference when it comes to rape! We have become unstoppable!

Tourists, students, kids, rich, poor, celebrities, educated, starved, orphans and even daughters – none are spared from this evil act.

 

I don’t know what will put an end to this or for that matter, will it ever end?

 

Almost since the time I learnt reading, I have been reading local newspapers in my childhood and rarely read about such incidents. And whenever I happened to read about them, it was always a case that involved a non-Goan. The times have changed so much that the news has become a regular feature and we also find so many of our local perverts involved in them.

 

Is this the nation, we say, Ram belonged to and in what we believe we take pride in building a temple of?

 

What causes a Rape?

Nobody has been ever able to gauge what exactly causes a rape? We have seen people blaming multiple factors that could constitute reasons, why it takes place. However, there are always incidents which contradicts these reasoning. There is no one theory, why a rape takes place and precisely because of this, there is no one solution to this pain.

 

Provocative Dressing?

‘Bharat v/s India’ theory believed rape happens due to provocative dressing. How do we justify this, when a school kid got raped in school at Vasco-Goa? How provocative could have the elderly fisher woman from Canacona-Goa be dressed, when she got raped and killed?

 

Sexual Starvation?

Are Indian men sexually starved? But, wait, haven’t we had cases of rapes by married men? By people who were happily married and having children?

 

Modern lifestyle/Internet?

We cannot stop these revolutions as it brings in a lot of positive advancements and which are required for the global progress. We should learn to ignore the dark parts of it and just take what is required. Again, what connection does Internet have with incidents of rapes with poor Dalit women in rural India?

 

Illiteracy/poverty?

Can improper education, literacy or poverty cause it? May be yes, but why do we have so many lawyers, politicians, businessmen, industrialists, celebrity artists, teachers who have been named in rape cases. What about, a remote village panchayat in India decides that the girl must be gang raped as a punishment for having a love affair with an outside community boy?

 

Rape in the pre-text of marriage?

This is something, I feel, one can certainly avoid. What we need here is some education and probably being little smart with some common sense to add.

Fearlessness about Law?

May be yes, I feel this majorly contributes to the reasoning.

 

Our judiciary system is so sluggish and full of loop-holes that probably the criminals feel they could easily get away with such heinous act or get very lenient penalty. Either our laws are not fully exercised or when they are exerted, the extreme delay in executing the punishment is what fails to imprint its effect onto people. The legal course of action in such matter should be quick and such that it embosses in everyone’s mind an affright of the term – Rape!

 

Probably, only the culprits caught in such incidents can tell us, their motive behind such crimes. They should also be psychological interrogated.

 

Role of Police:

We blame them for everything!

Everyone points fingers at them, even politicians, when it comes to saving their own skin. How many matters we expect them to handle at a time? They are required to be looking after our politicians, taking care of our venues for festivals/sports, looking after traffic arrangements for wedding event of a public figure, taking care of accidents, building collapses, mining scams, dakoities, rapes, murders, quarrels, disputes and so on.

 

Unfortunately, they also have to look into their internal inquiry matters, where their colleagues themselves are involved in cases related to sexual misconduct.

 

Role of Media:

I always believed media played an important role in creating and spreading necessary social awareness on topics like rape. But what a shame – we find a top honcho of media industry accused in such cases?

 

What can we do?

Change our attitude towards women? Reform judiciary system and have quicker trials? Educate people, students and youngsters? Introduce sex education?

 

The least our women can do is proactively follow few measure of safety. Be aware of who are our friends, colleagues, neighbors, classmates, followers, stalkers. Use freedom, keeping in mind the essentials elements of safety. Avoid secluded places or be with someone whom you trust or where a help is a phone call away.

 

On a parting note:

This brings me to a question, rarely debated here – should prostitution be legalized in India? Will this curb the rapes? I don’t know. It’s a very sensitive topic, when it comes to our values, culture, tradition and our Indian-ness!

image credit: http://www.sxc.hu/

Tata Safari Storme:10 reasons to buy it or not

I have listed below few points that can assist one make the choice. The observations are broadly based on: Exterior/Interior and Engine (mechanics).

 

10 Reasons why you should buy a Tata Safari Storme

A born SUV

1. Vehicle for die-hard fans: It’s an iconic vehicle. One should go for this vehicle in case you are an ardent fan of Safari. 

Such people will buy this vehicle, irrespective of any setbacks, and why not?

...just go for it. It would not disappoint you majorly.


2. Engine and performance: The Storme boasts of 2179cc, 2.2L 16 valve Varicor diesel engine with Power/Torque of 138 BHP/320Nm.

3. Ride quality: Excellent! Outstanding road presence. The best driver seat view.

4. Improved interiors: The interiors are much better than the older Safari. The beige finish is plush!

*There is faux wood on the top model.



Interiors get a beige finish

5. Cabin Comfort: The cabin comfort remains the same as that of the old Safari. Pilot seats for the driver and the co-passenger with arm-rest.  The rear seat comfort and the leg space, the boot area...no questions asked! AC is powerful, with roof mounted rear AC [with independent controls]. Split and fold rear seats.

Rear AC vents with independent controls

6. Build & Body: Storme gets a Solid Body-on-Frame construction using X2 platform (first used in Aria) with crumple zones, side impact bars. Most niggles which earlier safari owners faced are gone. Rattling of the rear door is gone.

7. Shift-on-fly 4WD: its electronic "shift-on-fly" feature engages 4WD on the move [only in VX 4x4]

8. Ruggedness & Improved Exteriors: The Storme has a rugged performance on any stretch of road and is equipped with ABS, EBD & disc brakes on all 4 wheels. Gets some chrome on the exterior. Roof mounted antenna. Body colored side footstep.

9. Additional Features: Better turning radius, ground clearance [200mm], adjustable Steering column, adjustable driver seat, adjustable lumbar support. ORVMs with electric de-fogger. Electrically foldable mirrors [only in VX]

10. Others:  

• There are 3 types of AMCs provided, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Platinum AMC covers everything including battery and tires.
• Bluetooth connectivity, Dual exhaust
• Newer model – Explorer comes with Nudge Guard, 2-DIN infotainment system

10 Reasons you may think otherwise:

1. Looks: My personal view is that Tatas have killed the original masculine looks of the traditional Safari. 

The Storme now carries a more sober front while the spare wheel at the rear door, which was the safari trademark and added a robust look, has found a place under the body. These two aspects are a major setback. 

The side profile remains almost untouched. 

2. Fit & finish: This has been Tata's ill-reputed area. The vehicle comes with some indecent finishes, with uneven panel gaps clearly visible.

3. Features: The vehicle comes with basic features. Top end model has a Dashboard with matt wooden finish. 

Basic instrument console, No digital meters, no FE indicator

A music system, an analog clock, traditional rotatory knobs, AC vents. 

One big upset (for me) in terms of safety is there are no air bags in the LX and EX variants. Considering, even some hatchbacks now come with this feature. A vehicle costing above 10L should have made this a mandatory feature across all variants. 

Rear-AC features only in EX/VX models.

Gear knob in 5th slot almost disturbs the USB

4. No 4x4 on all models: 

The vehicle comes innts LX, EX and VX and VX 4x4. Ideally, Tata should have provided 4x4 in all the variants.

5. Jump seats: The Storme has retained the rear 3^rd row jump seats. This is a let-down for many as they feel, the front facing seats are better for the 6/7th passengers for a longer journey. 

Rear seats are very uncomfortable to carry any adults.
Best suited only for children

6. Kitna Deti hai?: This may not be as bad a reason, however the vehicle offers between 12-12.5 KMPL on an average, which is promised by the manufacturer to improve as the vehicle runs more KMs.

7. Service: Tata’s are known for poor after-sales-service and this could very well contribute to the list of reasons for not opting for Storme.

8. No Automatic gearbox: May not be as important, however many prefer it to be auto.

9. Price: VX4x4 will be close to 17L!

10. Others: good to have candidates

• Window glasses features an express down [one-touch-down]. It should have an express up feature as well. Fuel lid opener is placed near to window glass open/close switches and many a times, accidently the fuel lid opens up.
• Power foldable ORVMs [only in VX] features an indicator, however mind you - Tata does not sell only mirrors and in case of any damage the entire mirror assembly needs to be replaced, which can cost about 7k.
• Provides a single DIN, average quality Alpine music system. No stalk/steering mounted music controls (or only in top end model)

       * 2DIN Touchscreen Infotainment provided with the new Explorer edition.

• No parking sensors, climate control. Reverse guide system only in VX.
• Overweight, weighs about 2 tonnes, heavier than most other vehicles in this category.

Notes:

• All Safari owners can join in SOUL - Safari Owners United League http://www.tatasafari.com/soul/
• Renault Duster, Nissan Terrano, Mahindra XUV, Mahindra New Scorpio, Toyota Fortuner can be considered as alternatives.