They made for a colourful sight as they arrived in their decorated autorickshaws. As this group of men and women expertly navigated their tuk-tuks from the busy lanes of Thampanoor into Hotel Hycinth, the sight left many, including local autorickshaw drivers, awestruck.
Soon, all the autorickshaws participating in the Indian Autorickshaw Challenge – Classic run are in. Although exhausted from travelling for 10 days, the members get busy posing for photographs as their circuitous ‘ride’ from Chennai to Thiruvananthapuram comes to an end. While some stand for the camera in front of their zanily named, customised rickshaws such as The Kilted Ring Stick, Curry The Tuk Up, Eat My Shaw Dust and Rice To The Challenge, others pose in groups.
“One of the best ways to discover the country, its people and its culture, is by going the distance in an autorickshaw,” says Aravind Bremanandam, the brain behind the event.
Indian Autorickshaw Challenge – Classic run is an annual event. Participants get to explore some of the stretches between Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram such as Puducherry, Thanjavur, Madurai, Courtallam, Kanyakumari and a number of temples, monuments, shacks and waterfalls on their journey.
This year, 21 teams from countries as diverse as Mexico, South Africa, New Zealand and Slovakia joined in the run.
“Although the Challenge is open to anyone above 18, who isn’t a politician and has a valid international driving licence, we rarely get participants from India. Maybe it’s the case of the grass being greener on the other side; Indians, I guess, do not find driving an autorickshaw to discover the country, a novelty. We do have an Indian woman based in Australia partake in the event this year though,” says Aravind.
Swa Rath, the “Indian”, and a member of team Shawmacher, is extremely excited. She and her team mates Jana Jevecakova and Sintija Dobrotinsek won the World Champion prize for their overall performance.
Holding the trophy which is shaped like the meter of an autorickshaw, she says: “Jana was the one who sprouted the idea for the ride and both Sintija and I agreed. Jana was the navigator; she is the responsible one in the group, while Sintija is the mother hen; she was busy looking after us. I was the crazy driver behind the wheels.”
Her friends laugh at how freaked out they were by the Indian traffic the first few days and how they have now become experts in navigating through Indian roads.
Says Swa: “I really enjoyed driving through Indian roads. There is a sense of freedom. Everybody anticipates the other’s moves on the roads and once you understand the flow of traffic, it’s easier to navigate. The only problem will be going back to the orderly driving once I reach Sydney.”
Mandy Ramsden from team Hakuna Matatu says the key to driving in India is to take it easy, while her partner Mathew quips that the drivers in their home town in South Africa drive much faster and hence riding the Indian streets wasn’t that nerve-wracking. The teams had to undergo a mandatory intensive crash course first on how to drive an auto before they took their vehicles out on the road. Navigating through the streets without a map or GPS was a challenge for many. “Team Game of Horns from Norway discovered that Google Maps isn’t always a friend when they lost their way and nearly drove into a nuclear plant,” laughs Aravind.
It was a “quarter life crisis” that had Sophie Page from England registering for the run. “I turned 25 and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. That is when I heard about the run. I registered. My sister Lois and Ross, a friend joined me on the trip.”
Such challenges are not a novelty for the sister duo though. Says Lois: “Both Sophie and I have cycled from London to Paris. Sophie has always wanted to visit India and driving a tuk tuk around parts of the country sounded like a great way to see and experience the country.”
The sisters wondered if they would make it to the end of the trip when they got lost on the first day. Language was never a barrier during their journey as they found that most people knew English and were helpful in giving directions.
Sintija recalls how a woman they stopped to ask directions from got into their auto and asked to be dropped at a nearby church. “It showed that she had faith in our driving skills,” she laughs.
The challenge is not just about driving from one place to another through a pre-charted route though. There are daily challenges such as photo challenge, historical and geographical challenge and scavenger hunts that the participants can partake in. They are given points for everything right from costumes to money raised for charity in conjunction with Round Table India. “In Tuticorin, the teams visited VVD’s coconut oil factory where they witnessed how oil is processed, they learnt how to make Pongal like pros… But most of them are in it for the journey and the sights, sounds and smells that come with riding an autorickshaw,” says Aravind.
As the participants get set to return home they will be carrying with them memories of crazy streets, heavy rains, breakdown of vehicles, visits to temples and monuments, dining at tea shacks and more. Asked if they would participate in the event again, they say ‘Yes’.
