Tushar Ranjan

Bonding without Boundaries…….

                                    

It started back in 2012 when I bought my dream SUV Tata Safari Strome. Since childhood I have been enthusiastic about cars. People usually see cars simply as a medium of transport, but for me it is an extension of my wildest dreams.

The only thing I knew was that now that I owned a SUV I could drive it anywhere under extreme conditions. This made me proud but I did not know that one day my dream SUV would take me to another level of bonding. Back in October 2014, I got a call from Tata Motors that they have a community called “SOUL” (Safari Owners United League) and they wanted me to join. I immediately did the registration process on a web portal. I went through the portal's web blog and saw that there are many in the community who shared their travel experiences. 

On 1 Nov 2014 around 11 am my phone rang.

“Hello Sir, we are calling you from Tata Motors. As you are a Safari owner we would like to invite you to our first Delhi/NCR SOUL meet, on 23^rd Nov 2014.”

I immediately accepted.

On D-day I was excited. At the venue about 32-odd Safari owners gathered for registration. We recognized in each other a similar passion. The Tata team briefed us that the meet's objective was to bring Safari owners together for a drive to a destination for breakfast on the Sohna-Faridabad road in a convoy. Route charts were distributed and the journey started.

At the venue, we began introducing ourselves to each other over breakfast. Each shared the same passion and enthusiasm and fanatic dreams. We exchanged phone numbers and set up a Whats-app group called “DrivewithSOUL” Delhi NCR. The bonding has grown without bound ever since.

It has more than 150 members from different industries and professions. The community shares passions and hobbies; it takes drives together; we regularly organize off-roading, family drives, weekend drive and much more.

All I can say today is that our knowledge of cars, driving techniques, and our passion to share our travel experiences have made us bond stronger. These bonds will no doubt strengthen in the years to come, and it is all thanks to the one and only “Safari”.