Tata Zest–A Zestful Ride Experience

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Nirav Thakker

Day 2 of the Tata Motors and Blogadda collaborated Tata Zest experience was no less fun. While Day 1 was full of takeaways in terms of learnings and master classes, Day 2 had us actually driving the car around, around Goa and in Goa. Scenic winding roads, green cover, the sun and the rain. All playing a perfect hide and seek. It only made the experience all the more thrilling.
Driving the nail straight home, I will directly dive into the review of the car without any further ado. First Up is a little about the car itself followed by F-Tronic powered AMT (Automatic-Manual Transmission) Diesel engine and then the Revotron powered Petrol engine. Drove both around, but then I would leave deciding which one is to your liking back to you.
About the Tata Zest:
Tata Zest has been a product of 3 years of back breaking research, innovation and commitment. A commitment to the people of the Indian Democratic that we can produce cars no less than the Japanese, Koreans, Europeans or the Americans if not better. Tata here, however, has delivered a death knell to most of these manufactures. Featuring 29 segment firsts, Tata has definitely got it right with the car in all the sweet spots! I am sure, with this onslaught, the others must be running for cover! A common platform across the two variants differing only in the fuel, the car takes care of not just the bling in terms of gadgets but also in safety. ABS, SRS are standard, but Tata has gone further ahead and used ABS9 and Dual SRS bags deploy ability.
The car is fully future proof and can be upgraded like any other car with a plain straight firmware upgrade. The car also features an advanced level of Noise Level Insulation that prevents any kind of noise from filtering in. It is all kept out and you are good to have all the favorite gossip you want without being bothered about the sound from out on the road. While the gossip is on, the powerful as Jaguar AC manages to keep the temperature and the climate n control and comfortable! I would be ready to give up just about anything if you broke out into a sweat! Well, not if you got scared while driving! The car having a longer wheel base than the others in the segment is utterly stable and has excellent cornering ability. On a N bend, I had no difficulty in getting the car through without losing out on my speed or experience! The car also comes with best in class interiors and space that none other can offer. After all, it’s a Tata Car!
F-Tronic powered AMT Diesel engine:
Tata has always been known for its diesel engines and has always got them right. This time though, Tata has reinvented the wheel, put in loads of innovation and loads of research. This has not gone in vain and given the Indians and the world one Diesel Automatic-Manual Transmission engine. The engine coupled with an intelligent ECU not only ensures that the gear changes happen at the right time, but in case of Manual, it takes over in case you forget to change the gear and automatically shifts it up or down! The car comes with an ultra-light steering wheel that provides you feedback just when you need it. The rest of the time, the unnecessary jerks and twitches are kept out.
Revotron powered Petrol engine:
Tata’s Revotron powered petrol engine is where the experts have put their brains to most work. While earlier petrol engines from Tata were not really as powerful, the recent iteration manage to shake off all that grime from itself and comes across as a sporty, peppy and Zestful engine! The one that we had driven was a manual transmission and was a real fun drive. The petrol engine comes with 3 modes, Eco, City and Sport; with Eco being for cruising speed on a highway, City for obvious sedate city driving conditions and Sport for when you want a maximum thrust and feel of power! I definitely feel that Sport mode should have been a default with Eco and City as selectable options rather than Eco and Sport as selectable options. I am really sure most of the buyers are going to end up driving in the Sports mode only.
Pros of the car:

Everything is a touch or voice command away
Super comfortable and spacious interiors
Excellent stability and maneuverability.
Programmable features like follow me home head lamps, Call reject SMSes etc.
Excellent looks

Cons of the car:

The Gear definitely felt a bit flimsy on the petrol engine. It transmitted an occasional jerk and often vibrated when on the highway.

Final Verdict:
In all, Tata’s Zest is a wonderful car and great product from the Tata stables. It is more like the stallion that was awaiting in patience to be unleashed in the last. The car performs wonderfully under all conditions and exhibits an aura of premium feel and presence. The projector headlamps and all day running lamps are definitely a segment first and are generally featured in much more expensive cars. With this product, Tata has fulfilled all its promises that it has ever made to us Indians. Truly an Indian car, but it’s not Indica. It’s Zest!
Pics after the break.

Tata Zest–Zest Up Your Life

Posted on July 26, 2014 by Nirav Thakker

Blogadda in association with Tata Motors had hosted us to experience the Zest life at The Zuri Hotels in Goa on the 26^th and 27^th of July. While we were not really sure of what to expect given that this was supposed to be about the car, we were pleasantly surprised the way the entire event was handled. Right from the word Go, everything was very well taken care of and well-coordinated and well-orchestrated; much like a principal would do in an orchestra.
The first day, we were taken through the process of what it is like to make a car. It really was an exhilarating experience. Sandeep Karyakarte explained the nitty-gritties and the philosophy of choosing the Connect Next concepts as well as a brief introduction of the team that actually designed the car. While he was crisp in his presentation, he was also very clear on the reason Tata Zest was made The Tata Zest. An utterly dynamic and magnetic persona. He was followed by Anand Kulkarni who happens to be the chief engineer on the project and he spoke about how Tata through innovations has come up with so many industry and segment firsts. 29 segment firsts to be precise. Some of the concepts like the voice recognition on the infotainment system made so much of sense in this day and age where everything has become smart.
The infotainment system designed in collaboration with Harman Kardron was very responsive and reacted in an apt manner for any events that occurred; be it changing the source of music or calling somebody up or even rejecting a call. Every use case has been thoroughly thought of, designed and implemented. It did not just stop there. We were told that HK had a major hand in designing the acoustics and the hardware. The speakers were HK as well.
A quick talk with the design team revealed how very complex it was to design a car. It took them so many years to get it from the drawing board to a clay model and finally a prototype. Yet, at such a time, the car still has several miles to go before it can be released to public for final usage. The kind of tests that were described were gruesome from the point of the car. It would be forced to crash into a wall at high speeds (Crash Tests) and then it was subjected to endless simulated pot holes on a real road just to see how well the car felt and withstood the stress. However, if I look at this from a user stand point, I think they are doing an excellent job.
The design team also had women on the rolls who were really very elemental and pivotal at deciding what the interiors of the car looked and felt like. To quote Sandeep, “The women were a lot better than men when it came to deciding the actual materials that finally made it into the car.” After all, when anybody steps into the car, it is the interiors that they look at but going a step further, they also feel how it looks like. We spend so many hours of the day behind the wheel almost every day, what fun would it be if it did not feel posh from the inside but only from the outside?

Baba Elaichi–An affair err a taste to remember

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Nirav Thakker

Baba a name reminiscent for the best in terms of Pan Masalas and other such things has recently launched Elaichi. Available in packages of 5 gms., Baba’s Elaichi is blended with Saffron and comes in an innovative Click Clack box that not only locks back in place but also

keeps the Elaichi fresh and safe. The small box easily slips into most cubby holes of cars, purses and trouser pockets. Being light weight it has the edge of being ultra portable. And once you have finished having the elaichi in the box, it doubles up as a small storage box that you can possibly use to store your essentials – paper clips, pins needles etc. Dentists can possibly use it to store their small instruments as well.
Baba was nice enough to send the same to us to know our opinion about the flavor and the enjoyment it gave. Available in an airtight silver packaging that keeps the flavor fresh until opened, the package interested and intrigued elders and kids alike. Each had their opinion when it came to the taste. We have also

tasted a similar product by their competitor, so it was a feat in choosing and deciding which of the two was better.
Personally, I have liked the competitor’s product. I found the flavor of the elaichi very subdued while saffron rode most notes. I am not a very big fan of saffron and only like it in very miniscule quantities. The family members thought otherwise. This was an instant hit with my 3 year old daughter and my 60 year old Dad. Both found the product extremely well balanced and nice in taste.
The other drawbacks that I found was that the box was not really easy to close. While it was extremely easy to open and even my daughter could open it, none could really close it. At odd occasions, we ended up spilling the entire contents on the bed and at another, it stayed opened through the day because my wife could not manage to lock it back. This caused the elaichi to lose all its freshness and taste. Baba should probably think of an alternate better method to lock while retaining the metal box that gives it the reusable edge.
Some more pics of Baba’s elaichi below…

Mercury Glitz 8GB with 6-inch display launched in India

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Nirav Thakker

At an unbeatable price of Rs. 7,799, Glitz delivers amazing multimedia experience, faster data transfers, browsing, fast email sync, chatting and much more.

NEW DELHI, India – July 10, 2014

Kobian, a leading player in computer peripherals and tablets, today announced the nationwide launch of an ultra-sleek 6 inch Smartphone – Mercury Glitz. It operates on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean platform which shall be soon upgradable to the latest Android KitKat 4.4.

Glitz delivers a fast processing speed with the 1.3 GHz Dual Core processor. It has an inbuilt memory of 1GB DDR3 and 8GB Storage. The memory is expandable to 32GB. A 5MP Camera is best suited for capturing the precious moments and videos and also a 0.3M Front camera for selfies and video chat. Connectivity is strengthened with 3G/WCDMA Dual SIM, GPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support makes the device an absolute value for money.

Sushmita Das, Vice President – Business, India at Kobian Pte Ltd said, “Keeping in the global and South Asian trends, Mercury is presenting Glitz to the smartphone buyers across India. Glitz is featured with Dual core, 1GB DDR3 RAM and 8GB internal storage at an unbeatable price of Rs.7799.“

Glitz’s sleek design and 6″ wide HD panel screen brings amazing multimedia experience. Cortex A7 1.3 GHz Dual Core processor and 1 GB RAM provides greater performance and faster data transfers, browsing, fast email sync, chatting and much more.

Price, Availability and Warranty

Mercury Glitz is priced at Rs.7,799 and is available in India from July 15, 2014. It’s backed with a one-year repair/replacement warranty.

All trademark names belong to their respective owners. Glitz and Mercury are trademarks of Kobian Pte Ltd.

# # #

About Kobian Pte Ltd

Since its inception in 1978, Kobian has always led the way, breaking boundaries and taking on new challenges head on. From the onset Kobian has cultured a passion for innovation through the development of easy-to-use, dependable technology to bring out the very best in people.

Operating in more than 8 countries around the world, including India, Indian subcontinent, ASEAN countries and MEA, Kobian applies new thinking and ideas to create SIMple, valuable and trusted experiences with technology, continually improving the way customers live and work.

Kobian offers a complete technology product portfolio through Mercury and IXA brands, comprehensively meeting customers’ specific needs. Thanks to a solid management team, Kobian’s performance has been consistently strong in volatile environments www.mercury-pc.com.

Skore Pleasure League–A bunch of naughty games for you-2

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Nirav Thakker

Skore Pleasure League or SPL for short as I covered in my previous blog post was all about educating the guys about the right moves and the right details about sex. Their format of 20 games in the form of 20 different overs has been an instant hit. Giving the users a chance to win vouchers and gizmos, the games have been an instant attraction. Last time I had played, there were still a few games that were supposed to be unlocked the ensuing week. This week, after a super hectic week at work, I managed to finally catch up with the games. The new games, Feeding Frenzy, Get your facts straight, The Morning After, Make your move and Break out of Bed have finally been unlocked.
A little about the games, Feeding Frenzy needs that you point the mouse in the direction of the lady’s mouth and feed her a bar of chocolate, one of the best, most liked and the easiest available aphrodisiacs in the world. Get your Facts Straight, like the name attempts to test what the user knows about the sexual facts. One of the questions asked was “Do the men alone have wet dreams?” with a straight forward True/False answer. Not such a difficult game but fun when played as a couple.
The Morning After addresses one night stands where the guy needs to get out of the bed without waking her up. Now this, I did not enjoy, since it surely goes against my policies and advocates “Wham Bam, Thank You Ma’am!” which is what I started off with the feeling that Skore was planning to get rid of. Negative marks to Skore for such a game really. Make your move is another similar game, but is slightly better since it is set in a Cinema Hall and you are supposed to somehow get your hand on the girl’s shoulders.
Break out of Bed finally manages to educate that the bed is not the only place to have sex and that there are other places as well. You need to match the right sexual position to the kind of place displayed. Works well if you have really seen a lot of porn really!

Skore Pleasure League:

a. About the Pack:

1. A Special Edition Pack to be launched during IPL – Pack to be named as T20 Pack and will contain 20 coloured condoms.

2. It will be a consumer offer pack – Sex Positions booklet will be given free along with this pack

3. MRP of this pack would be Rs. 120/-

4. Consumers buying this pack will be eligible to win some cool prizes – Daily, Weekly Prizes and Grand Prizes to be won

b. About the Contest:

1. Name of the contest is “Skore Pleasure League“

2. Minimum Age for participating in the contest is 18.

3. Anybody above 18 will be able to participate in the contest. They just need to log on toSkorecondoms.com/SPL to kick start

4. During Registration, they would also have to select a particular team out of the 10 teams available. ( 9 teams from previous season’s SPL) – Please note that these teams have no bearing on the contest and all prizes will be decided only on Individual performance. The teams are only forcreating excitement during the contest.

5. Once registered, they will get to perform 20 exciting & thrilling tasks

6. Based on their performance and other measurement standards they will be awarded runs for each task – criteria for awarding runs and how many runs to be awarded will be decided

7. Score that the user gets will get added up to his/her account

8. There will be Daily & weekly prizes for the participants who are top scores in the leader boards on the respective day and week. ( Ideally Top 1 daily & top 5 Weekly)

9. At the end of the contest, the top 3 participants will be win the Grand prize. However, to be eligible to win a Grand Prize, the participant needs to buy a Special Edition T20 pack.

10. Everytime a Special Edition T20 pack is got, the participant needs to open the pack and find an unique code inside the top flap of the pack.

11. Each code will give you extra runs and increase the chance of winning the Grand Prize – Extra Runs will be high and this will act as a motivator for them to buy more packs

12. Entering the unique code will give him/her 50 runs

13. Share SPL on Facebook timeline – 4 runs

14. Inviting Facebook friends to SPL 6 runs

c. Winning the Game:

1. There will be three category of prizes – Daily, Weekly & Grand Prizes

2. Daily prizes will be given at the end of each day. The top 3 contestants at the end of the each day will get Skore Merchandise of Rs.250 each. (180 prizes in 60 days)

3. Weekly prizes will be given at the end of each week. The top 5 contestants at the end of the week will get Book My Show Vouchers of Rs. 1000 Each.

4. The Weekly prizes will be given away for 8 weeks – total of 40 winners

5. Grand prize will be announced at the end of the contest – June 30^th

6. The top 3 contestants at the end of the contest will win the Grand prizes – iPad.

7. However, only contestants who buy the pack will be eligible to win the Grand Prizes.

8. For all prizes, except the Grand Prizes, the respective prizes will be couriered to the winners

9. Only for the Grand Prize, contestants will be given the prize in person. However, they would have to produce the Special pack with the code which they had purchased.

You can play the games here

Mr. Hong–Oriental Street Food at its Best

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Nirav Thakker

We were over at Mr. Hong over the weekend just because Wifey and I were in an experimental mood. It had been really long since we had had something different. We were tired having the run of the mill Chinese and had heard of Mr. Hong opening shop fairly recently. The best part was that it was close to the house at Orion Mall which made it all the more attractive. It also happened to be my last working day at my ex-office and I was really looking forward to relax. The point with choosing a restaurant that I strongly believe is that it should be kid friendly. If not in terms of play area, at least in food. Mr. Hong was just the place. The kids loved it and found it awesome!

We met up with the chef and Mr. Rakesh there and told them that this was the first time we were going to try Oriental food and would really need some kind of recommendation. The two were really courteous and accommodative enough and provided us with several suggestions that they felt we could try. To start off, with, we were offered Jasmine Tea which I tried but wifey turned down promptly. She never is a tea person, only coffees for her. The tea smelt really nice and tasted great as well. However, if you would ask me, I would not try it fairly often. May be once in a blue moon.

When it came to mock tails, I really liked the Apple Ginger Mint and the Orange Chili Lemon. However, if I were to choose from the two, I would probably choose the Apple Ginger Mint. The combination really tasted great. This went well even with the main course that we ordered.

We tried the Tom Yum Soup and the Som Tum Classic Salad. The soup would be a recommended yes if you were suffering from a cold or a blocked nose! It really opened my nostrils up!

Next was the Steamed Veg Dumpling and Scallion Sesame Veg Cake. The girls loved the Scallion Sesame cake and were wanting for more! The thing was something really different and extra ordinary. A round veg cake that was not too sweet, not too spicy. Just the right balance. Now this was a clear winner.

The main course came and Crispy Lotus Stem, Spicy Green Bean Curd, Stir Fried Veg in Chili Garlic, Veg Shanghai Rice, Veg Phad Thai Noodle and Jasmine Rice. Well, an important point to add, Jasmine rice smells of Jasmine but, there is really no Jasmine Flower or smell or essence added to it. It naturally grows with the smell of Jasmine. The Crispy Lotus Stem tasted sweet and was another instant hit with the girls! While we had never seen what a Lotus stem looks like, the team there was nice to show one to us. We are told that the Indian version is a fairly smaller one in length and size in comparison to the Thai version!

The dessert served was the Peach Cobbler and I must say, it was yum! Polished off in seconds. That’s all. The less said the better!

Skore Pleasure League–A bunch of naughty games for you

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Nirav Thakker

While Skore Pleasure League is primarily a league of twenty different games that open up to play at different weeks; I tried them all today and found that some of these games were really fun. The basic idea behind the games is to educate people that sex is not just about “Wham Bam, Thank You Ma’am!” but lot more.
It is a general male misconception that women don’t tend to react to sex and often lay their faking the big “O”. Well, this would continue all your life, whether it is your wife or your girlfriend if you tend to have just one thought on your mind – finish, clean up and move ahead. Women are as much humans as us men yet are made very differently. I am not the person who can clear a myth that women can orgasm multiple times, however, I have heard the same as well.
Of the games that are available to play, I liked the games Moan by Numbers, and Magic Hands the most. These games tend to teach the average male about the multiple erogenous zones that women have on their body. Jumping straight towards her breasts and the vagina is not the way foreplay begins! There is a lot more to it before you can even unlock her body and mind towards you! The other games Read between the Lines and Get a Clue tend to teach a man when a woman may be thinking what! Often Men tend to get carried away in case of furtive glances that a woman may be giving out to check them out. I am sure, getting a little educated with this, they would give second thoughts before jumping in the bandwagon and approach the girl directly!
While the games Date Dash and Scroll2Skore are among the most mediocre games, Spl Private Eye and Flashy Footwork are Ok. Role play roulette, Roll the dice and Super Skoring Stances did make me feel that the timer was running faster than usual! Scroll2Skore could have been shorter since my fingers still hurt after scrolling continuously for 3 full minutes non-stop!
While more games would be unlocked in the coming week, I shall try to play the new games and see what they are like, until then, signing off…

Skore Pleasure League:

a. About the Pack:

1. A Special Edition Pack to be launched during IPL – Pack to be named as T20 Pack and will contain 20 coloured condoms.

2. It will be a consumer offer pack – Sex Positions booklet will be given free along with this pack

3. MRP of this pack would be Rs. 120/-

4. Consumers buying this pack will be eligible to win some cool prizes – Daily, Weekly Prizes and Grand Prizes to be won

b. About the Contest:

1. Name of the contest is “Skore Pleasure League”

2. Minimum Age for participating in the contest is 18.

3. Anybody above 18 will be able to participate in the contest. They just need to log on to Skorecondoms.com/SPLto kick start

5. Once registered, they will get to perform 20 exciting & thrilling tasks

6. Based on their performance and other measurement standards they will be awarded runs for each task – criteria for awarding runs and how many runs to be awarded will be decided

7. Score that the user gets will get added up to his/her account

8. There will be Daily & weekly prizes for the participants who are top scores in the leader boards on the respective day and week. ( Ideally Top 1 daily & top 5 Weekly)

9. At the end of the contest, the top 3 participants will be win the Grand prize. However, to be eligible to win a Grand Prize, the participant needs to buya Special Edition T20 pack.

10. Everytime a Special Edition T20 pack is got, the participant needs to open the pack and find an unique code inside the top flap of the pack.

11. Each code will give you extra runsand increase the chance of winning the Grand Prize– Extra Runs will be high and this will act as a motivator for them to buy more packs