They say your boss has a lot of influence on your personality.
My boss has a split personality, albeit in a positive way! Once inside the office, he is fully committed and focused on the job in hand, but once outside it, he is a free bird.

Fresh out of college when I joined his team, I was impressed by the speed of his transition. However, there were two things constant in both situations – his family and his Renault Duster. He simply adored his family, and their mention came up in every conversation we had in the office.

I had hitchhiked in his Duster a couple of times whenever we got late on an assignment. When I was looking for a car, I also got keen on the Duster. While I knew the Renault Duster’s price, I wanted to know his experience, especially during off-roading.

Once, during an offsite meeting, we were travelling to Nagarhole National Park. We were a team of 15, travelling in 4 different cars. While I was not with my boss when we started from Bangalore, once we reached the outskirts of the National Park, he specifically called me and asked to get behind the wheel of his car to experience the joy of off-roading in his Renault Duster.

I had experienced the Duster in an urban setting earlier and this would be the first time for me on unpaved surfaces. As I adjusted my seating position and started off with him in the navigator’s seat, I felt that the Duster too had changed its personality, just like my boss. I felt that it behaved differently in an urban setting and while off-roading!
By the time we started from Bangalore it was well past afternoon and when we reached the entry check-post of the National Park, we just had an hour left before sunset to reach our lodge.

The solidly built Duster took all the potholes on the unpaved road in its stride. It was especially impressive when it drove through the small streams and rivulets. The spray of water it created as we passed through these shallow water bodies was just amazing! That is when I realized the advantage of the high ground clearance of 205 mm. I was also confident of the car as it came with a driver and front passenger airbag, electronic stability program (ESP), hill start assist and a very powerful 1.3L petrol turbo engine. My boss said that he particularly went for the 1.3L petrol instead of the 1.5L petrol due to its sheer raw power.

As a precaution, I had turned on the projector headlamps which kept the road ahead illuminated perfectly in the twilight. On the inside, the car was as comfortable as it was on the urban roads. With our luggage safely placed in the 475L boot, both rear passengers were busy chatting as we drove through the forest.

This being my first off-roading experience as a driver, I thoroughly enjoyed driving the Duster. In my mind, I had starting gravitating towards the Duster as my new car. That’s when my boss came to me and broke my chain of thoughts.
“Still thinking about the Renault Duster’s price Rohan?” He asked.
“Well, yes and no” I replied.

“The Renault Duster’s price starts at just Rs. 9.86 lakh* (Ex. Showroom Delhi), but the joy it gives while driving is priceless” he said. “Don’t think much. This car will offer value for every penny you spend on it” he reassured me.
“No sir, I knew Renault Duster’s price. But I wanted to have a firsthand experience of driving it in off-road conditions before deciding on it” I replied.

“Convinced now?” he asked me.
“Renault Duster it is!” I replied with a grin on my face.