In Summer of 2015, I felt like writing something that was semi-researched and maybe even a dry piece. I am trying to find out if I have it in me to write something that is factual, and nothing to do with romantic mushy stuff.
So naturally, I ventured to find out about trending topics. Lo behold! I found #tamingthegoldenquadrilateral and #totallubricant. The two trending twitter hashtags in India which I found were slightly less political back then.
Initially, I didn’t understand what was meant by The Golden Quadrilateral. Put it down to my lack of General and Geographical knowledge. After probing around on the net, I found out that it was the World’s fifth longest National Highway situated in India. Surprise!
This highway covers 13 Indian states and the total distance covered is 5,846 km (3,633 miles). This Golden Quadrilateral has attracted many a passionate drivers to try to conquer and set up their own world records.
Pavitra Patro from Ahmedabad, Gujarat successful completed a round of the golden quadrilateral in 149.5 hours. He completed the solo expedition in a in a 624 cc Tata Nano Lx. The car sported the lowest engine capacity, which proved the endurance test by covering the distance of 6,186 km.
Switching to the present day scenario which has begun the trend in Twitter is the challenge taken by the three Gurgaon men trying to cover the circuit in less than 78 hours and 4 minutes in their ‘Ford Endeavour’ four-wheeler car.
This took me back to my Ability Foundation days. I had just joined the organization in January 2013 and the task of proofreading the articles for the magazine “Success & Ability’s” (Jan-Mar 2013 issue) was shared with me.
Under the Adventure section, there was an article titled “Top Gear” written by Seena Raveendran (Article on page 28). The article spoke about the World Record set by Harish Kumar in the fastest solo driving expedition.
I found out that Harish Kumar was running an NGO called Ability On Wheels to empower people with disability to drive with greater ability. The charitable trust runs a driving school for people who are disabled. The aim of the NGO was to inculcate in them an achievable aspiration of being self-sufficient drivers.
Harish Kumar’s dream project was to empower them with freedom of mobility and thus adding more personal value to their self-esteem. His passion for driving comes through in his approach towards teaching driving.
Some twitter users felt that the trending #tamingthegoldenquadrilateral was just adding up the pollution quotient. But I felt it was opening conversation on pollution and more environmental-friendly driving practices.
I do hold a car license, but then, I never drive. I have difficulties accessing The traffic is so cut-throat that it leaves me scared. So what made me think was the aspect of the recent news about pollution cheating device included in car by a popular manufacturer.
I was quiet surprised that the manufacturers would use such underhand practices to just get their pollution check clearance certificate for their vehicle. The short stop solution will only add to the pollution problems.
I feel the ‘Car-free day drive’ is interesting and really should be followed by all the countries. I found the article in New York Times Blog space “India Ink” very interesting. It states “A Developed Country is One in Which the Rich People Use Public Transport.”
The recent Car-Free drive by Gurgaon police department also kind of emphasis the importance and the need for more pollution free vehicles on the roads. It begins with how we view the use of transportation.
As I was reading and browsing through, I wondered whether there is any environmentally friendly vehicle that made a record too. That is when I came across the record made by Santhosh Holi.
He had undertaken a solo bicycling expedition on a gearless bicycle from Jammu to Kanyakumari completed in less than a month in 2014. Eventually, I felt records should open conversations and good environmental reformative acts and rules.
Itinerant Storyteller 