On an adventurous road trip

The flagging off ceremony, which was held at the Round Table School at Roopenagrahara, had the school children beating drums with as much energy as possible, to wish the 28 participants best of luck in their journey ahead. The 2000-km long, human powered rally, is an annual adventure which runs for fourteen days, taking its teams of international rickshaw racers on an exhilarating journey across the length and breadth of the country.

The rickshaw challenge began on July 30 in Chennai and has seen the participation of people from South Africa, Australia, Singapore, Ireland, Canada among others, all of them looking for an experience of a lifetime. Each of them has been driving custom-made auto-rickshaws against one another for a bit of fun, adventure and also charity. James, one of the participants, seemed exhilarated with the experience already. “I heard about the race in India and registered but then it kind of hit me what I had gotten into, when I finally arrived here. Driving 2000-km on a lower power vehicle is definitely a lot of adventure,” he said.

Each of the participants was raring to go, hoping to reach Mysore which was the next stop. The challenge was even greater as none of them was provided with any official map or equipment to help navigate the journey. “It is exploring India in a unique way which is much better than when you come here for a holiday. You get to meet locals, all of who are very friendly people. They always help in the directions by pointing the way,” said Christina, who is from the USA. The participants’ endurance level will be tested not only physically and mentally but also the way in which they tackle the language
barrier.

After starting from Chennai, the participants had stopped at Vellore before reaching Bangalore. In Karnataka, the other stops are Mysore, Mangalore and Bhatkal and then they will enter Maharashtra. Some participants were worried about the weather though. “It was pretty hot earlier but we are anticipating rains tomorrow so I am just hoping to get through the long day ahead,” said Christina.