Incredible feat

Three spirited adventurers drove their Mahendra Xylo from Gujarat’s Koteshwar town to Arunachal Pradesh’s Tezu in a record-breaking time of 84 hours and 52 minutes. They raced through a rough terrain, covering a distance of 3941 km. Lallie Sangha tells H. Kishie Singh how they did it

Bhalinder Lallie Sangha, Rana Sidhu and Karanbir Bedi, three intrepid adventurers, set out to create a record for the fastest drive from Koteshwar, Gujarat (India’s western-most point), to Tezu, Arunachal Pradesh (India's eastern-most point). The present record in the Limca Book of Records is 119 hours.

Lallie Sangha reached Bhuj by air, and joined the other team members—Rana and Bedi. They had already collected the Mahendra Xylo, which was to be their chariot for the race across India.

They drove to Koteshwar, checked into a government tourist resort and did their last-minute shopping like energy drinks, water, biscuits, chocolates—basically survival rations—and packed them into the Xylo for an early start.

"We had an early dinner, which was a vegetarian Gujarati thali, and then retired to bed,’’ recalled Sangha.

They were off after a heavy breakfast on June 1, 2009. "We filled the petrol tank, checked the air pressure, signed the logbook and, finally, hit the highway," said Sangha.

The road surface was good but very narrow and bumpy, with unseen crests and blind turns. Not good for fast driving. The ditches were littered with the remains of jeeps, which could not manoeuvre the sharp turns.

The drive from India’s west to the east was a fabulous one. The terrain changed every few hundred kilometres. So did the language, the people, the weather and the road conditions

By 10.30 they were in Bhuj—only 169 km distance covered. The drive was slow — too many cattle on the road. From Bhuj they were on the National Highway 8-A — a good road and a fast one, too. By 12.30 the adventurers touched Morbi, and had covered 338 km in four-and-a half hours. Along the way they passed farms, with huge windmills generating electricity. "While crossing the Rann of Kutch, the wild ass kept us company running alongside. We were in a dry salt bed, and salt farming is the general activity. We had a dual-carriage way, and we were able to push the Xylo to 166 kmph — the best we were able to get on the whole trip," said Sangha.

At Morbi they left the National Highway and took the state highway to Sunder Nagar. They reached the town after covering a distance of 498 km, and joined the National Highway 8-A at Kheda.

"Shortly after Kheda, we stopped for a tea break, checked the car and cleaned the windshield, getting ready for our first night of driving. We reached Godhra, having covered 762 km in about 12 hours.

"We then headed for Indore.The road was bad and the truckers had warned us not to move at night as highway bandits were active on this route. We carried on, regardless, and reached Indore early, having covered 1048 km.

"We then sped towards Bhopal — no bandits, thank God — and we reached the city at 6.10 am, having covered a distance of 1261 km," said Sangha. "We hit Jabalpur, having covered 1568 km. Our first priority was to fix the puncture. A kindly soul sportingly piloted us out of the town on to the highway for Katni. Along the way, we passed Panna National Park, famous for its dwindling tiger population. We reached Maihar/Murwara (Katni), the last town in MP. Distance covered 1740 km.

"Once again there was a change of drivers. It was Bedi’s turn now. We crossed into UP. Roads were a little better but very crowded. No traffic sense. All the jeeps, trucks and buses had one thing in common—overloading. We got stuck in a wedding procession and wasted precious time. Soon after we reached Mughal Sarai. We had covered 2055 km as day two came to a close.

"We crossed into Bihar at about midnight. We were again warned about bandits but decided to ignore the warnings. While driving through the middle of a jungle, it started to rain.

"We had now covered a distance of 2470 km. Driving in Bihar was an experience. The road belonged to everyone—people, cattle, dogs. To add to all this confusion, it was harvest time. Farmers had piled their crops on the road. Stones were put around the crops, making the narrow road narrower. Shortly we crossed over into West Bengal," said Sangha.

Good road, dual carriage way but a massive traffic jam awaited the travellers. After two days of travelling in MP, UP and Bihar, it was a pleasure driving on Bengal roads. Rana took the wheel, drove fast, and by 5.45 pm, the motorists were in Siliguri, having covered 2778 km.

Siliguri is a well developed town, with plenty of tea estates.

On day 4 they reached Guwahati, having driven 3260 km to reach Assam. In Guwahati they had to get special inner line permits for Arunachal Pradesh. For this their passports were required. Strange but true, considering they were still in India.

Said Sangha: "Arunachal Pradesh was a different world. A narrow road ran through a thick jungle, with only jungle sounds for company. Tribals in small villages in clearings stared at us, as if we were aliens in a space ship. It was a pleasant drive to Tezu, our final destination through a lush green rain forest. What a change from the salt flats of the Rann of Kutch. "We drove straight to the Commanding Officer’s room for the last entry in our logbook. We checked into Tezu after having covered 3941 km.

"We were elated, overjoyed, exhausted. Our timing was 84 hours and 52 minutes. We had broken the standing record of 119 hours by 34 hours and 8 minutes even though we had covered 175 km more than the previous record holder.

"It was a fabulous drive. In this journey every few hundred kilometres the terrain changes — so do the language, the people, the weather and, of course, the road conditions. You don't need a road map or a GPS. The people on the roadside are a great help. Every man is a road sign. Without doubt, this is incredible India."