The team members, the sister duo Richa Tandon and Bhavya Tandon, bagged the Best Social Message Award in their first car rally outing for their car decorated with balloons, tassels and messages in support of and to spread awareness about the LGBT+ community.

The chocolate-brown Honda Jazz hatchback was voted the Best Dressed Car at the event. Apart from being festooned with balloon and a huge rainbow banner on the top, It was plastered with posters on the sides with the slogan “We Stand Together” and “Long Live the Queer”. The hub caps were entirely covered with the Pride sign set against a rainbow background.

Times Women’s Drive, an initiative by The Times of India Group that started in Mumbai in  2009 added a new chapter of TWD-North this year by organising a drive from New Delhi to Jaipur. It is stated to be the world’s biggest All women car rally in TSD (time, speed and distance) format.

First Time Participants Richa-Bhavya’s Drive to Fame

This was the first time both the girls participated in a car rally. About herself, Richa says, “I work with something that is just opposite of driving- drinking! Jokes apart, I take care of the white spirits category of a liquor giant called Radico Khaitan. I’m a post-graduate in Integrated Marketing Communications.”

“Bhavya is a lawyer by profession. She has done her LLM from Edinburgh and is currently assisting the famous gay couple lawyers- Arundhati Katju and Menaka Guruswamy,” she adds.

It Took Guts to Drive With LGBT Message

About the overall experience, Richa says, “It took guts for us to drive my car with this message. It also took guts for TWD North and JKTyre motorsport to give us an award for this message.”

Despite changes in the colonial era laws, Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) remains a sensitive issue in India.

“We were a bit apprehensive about driving with this message on our car from Delhi to Jaipur, at the world’s largest all-women car rally. However, we got an overwhelming and positive response from other participants. We got flying kisses and thumbs up from strangers on the road, the cops and the toll guys,” says Richa.

“The first appreciation came at 2:30 am in the night when we were decorating the car and a car full of old uncles and aunties were driving pass by and stopped, I was a bit scared that they’d show discomfort or resentment, but they said “Wow, All the best, May the pride flag fly higher!”

“The rally was my first. My navigator was my superstar sister. Both of us sucked at Math and the rally was mostly about the precision of deriving time to cover a particular distance in, from the various distances and corresponding speed for a navigation map given by them (very different from the Google maps),” she adds.

Never Expected Any Award

The duo never expected to win any award. Richa says, “Our social message/ theme LGBTQ-We Feel for you. We Drive for you, we thought was bold but may be too controversial, but to everyone’s surprise, I was proven wrong when TWD North and JKTyre motorsport awarded us with the ‘best social message award’ and showed their bold and gallant support to the community,” she adds.

“Honestly speaking, like I said, this was our first rally and we knew that we won’t be doing it to win it. But then there were other award categories we knew we could maybe win if we put genuine effort.

How the LGBTQ Theme Came UP

“Bhavya is very supportive of this community. She’s done pride parades in Edinburgh before. That’s how the idea came. I took charge on doing the stickers and the flag printing and all.”

“Because of my hectic work schedule, I couldn’t get the time to do it before, so the two of us literally did the entire decoration and all at the 11th hour- just the night before the rally. Which is not brave of us, because after sleeping for literally just 3 hours, I did feel extremely sleepy on the highway, while driving to Jaipur,” she confesses.

“Overwhelming- is an understatement. The first appreciation came at 2:30 am in the night when we were decorating the car and a car full of old uncles and aunties were driving pass by and stopped, I was a bit scared that they’d show discomfort or resentment, but they said “Wow, All the best, May the pride flag fly higher!

“That gave us our first confidence. Next, when we reached Siri Fort (flag-off point) in the morning, we had all eyeballs. People were coming to our car and getting selfies clicked, unceasingly.

“And the best was when we realised that some gays were coming and appreciating, but the magic moment truly was when on the road, they were giving us flying kisses, when cops and random strangers and toll guys were doing thumbs up to show their strong support,” Richa says.

The rally had about 150 cars and over 300 participants. Each car had a theme and a message. The ones that stood out were Breast cancer, Blood donation, and menstrual hygiene to name a few.

Bhavya termed the drive as “one of the most amazing experiences” she ever had. “It took us a couple of hours to decorate our car. We could hardly sleep before the rally as we were but once we were at Siri fort and we saw such positive reaction from the crowd, it was all worth it.”

A lawyer by profession Bhavya had her graduation at KIIT school of law. She recently completed post-graduation in criminal law and justice from the University of Edinburgh.

“It was there where I got the chance to learn more about the LGBTQ community. And ever since my first pride parade in 2019, I want to work for the community till our society accepts them completely. It was just a small step we took, but definitely a courageous one,” she adds.

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MG Hector is the first product from MG Motors to be launched in India. The full form of MG is Morris Garages and the company us Chinese owned. The brand however as established in Britian.

Ex-Showroom Price for MG Hector

The Hector a 5 seater premium SUV. Today, MG India revealed pricing of the Hector. Introductory ex-showroom price of Petrol Hector starts from Rs 12.18 lakhs while that of diesel Hector starts from Rs 13.18 lakhs. These are introductory prices, and are on offer to a limited number of customers who have already made a booking along with those who make it soon, as per the company.

MG India also revealed that they have received over 10,000 bookings for Hector before price was announced. In comparison, Tata Harrier’s bookings crossed 10,000 about 2 months after launch.

MG Hector On-Road Price, Delhi

The base petrol model is expected to cost – Rs.14,12,255 ^{in New Delhi}

MG Hector – Pricing by Variants

MG Hector Petrol Hybrid Manual 6 MTMG Hector Petrol Manual 6 MT
Style – Rs 12.18 lakh
Super – Rs 12.98 lakh

Super – Rs 13.58 lakh
Smart – Rs 14.68 lakh
Sharp – Rs 15.88 lakh

MG Hector Petrol 7 DCT Auto
Smart – Rs 15.28 lakh
Sharp – Rs 16.78 lakh

MG Hector Diesel Manual 6 MT
Style – Rs 13.18 lakh
Super – Rs 14.18 lakh
Smart – Rs 15.48 lakh
Sharp – Rs 16.88 lakh

All prices above are ex-showroom, India. All variants come with 5 year unlimited warranty and road side assistance. 

Rajeev Chaba, President and Managing Director, MG Motor India, said, “As MG’s first product for the Indian market, the HECTOR comes with ‘MG Shield’, a first-of-its-kind package in the Indian auto industry which provides complete assurance to our customers, as we continue to remain focused on disruption & differentiation. With the very distinctive design that also packs in safety, best-in-class features and competitive pricing, the MG HECTOR will make an impact with buyers who are looking for something very different from the normal array of cars.”

MG Hector is the most advanced car in its segment. It will receive multiple in-car technologies for which the company has tied up with global tech partners such as like Microsoft, Adobe, SAP, Cisco, Nuance, Gaana, TomTom and Unlimit.

MG Motors claims that the i-Smart system will be one of the most advanced in-car tech system and the company will also be the first in India to offer Over the Air (OTA) technologies allowing for real time software updates, entertainment content and applications.

MG Hector will be offered in 4 trim levels of Style, Super, Smart and Sharp, in 13 versions along with 5 color options of Candy White, Aurora Silver, Glaze Red, Starry Black and Burgundy Red. In terms of dimensions, it will be similar to the Baojun 530, measuring 4,655mm long, 1,835mm wide and 1,760mm tall with a wheelbase of 2,750mm. Ground clearance will be at 192mm and with these dimensions, it is the largest vehicle in its segment. Boot space will also be the largest in its segment at 587 kgs.

Engine specifications on the MG Hector include a 1.5 liter petrol engine and a Fiat sourced 2.0 liter diesel engine. The 1.5 liter petrol engine offers segment leading 143 bhp power and 250 Nm torque while the 2.0 liter diesel engine will be capable of 173 bhp power and 350 Nm torque. Both engines are offered with 6 speed manual, while petrol also gets automatic DCT.

MG Hector petrol will also be offered with a 48V mild hybrid system claiming to be 12 percent more fuel efficient as compared to the regular petrol variant. It also offers an additional 20Nm torque and is capable of better performance in stop-go traffic conditions. Mileage figures are at 14.16 kmpl for the petrol hybrid MT going down to 13.96 kmpl on the petrol AT while the diesel engine will deliver 17.41 kmpl fuel efficiency.