A four-hour drive through a 75-kilometre stretch ridden with potholes and riddles, muddy tracks and nerve-wracking tests. ‘Fastrak 2012’ was not about making it to the finish line first, but pulling together intellect and intuition to prevail over every trial on the way.
More than 70 participants, predominantly women, stumbled, slogged and sweated it out in an around-the-city classic chase, hosted by women’s forum Aura and JK Tyres. Being a time, speed, distance (TSD) contest, arriving early or lagging behind the specified time-frame at every marshal point en route cost the teams a point. The contest was held in two categories ‘Eves on Wheels’ (women-only) and ‘Fun Wagon’ (mixed teams).
Each team comprised a driver, navigator and passenger had their hands full, negotiating the roads, reading maps and answering queries in the questionnaire that challenged the teams’ observational skills. Yet, from the flagging off by Sailesh Kumar Yadav, Commissioner of Police, at the National College grounds in the morning, to the frenzied cheers that went up to late evening while grabbing the trophies from R.Lalitha Lakshmi, Superintendent of Police, spirits were undimmed.
Entertainer of the evening, playback singer Srilekha Parthasarathy brought the evening to a foot-tapping finish. Her medley that kicked off with a lyrical ‘Etho ondru’ from ‘Lesa, Lesa’ gained pace with chartbusters like ‘Kalyanam than katti kittu’, ‘Dhimsu kattai’, and ‘Kokku meena thinnuma’. With the message that nothing was impossible for women, Ms.Parthasarathy recalled the women who shaped her singing career including her mother and teacher.
On occasions like the rally that symbolised the spirit of women in working together, she appealed to them to step down and help their counterparts in need. Sanjay Sharma, head, corporate communications and motorsport, JK Tyres and Industries Limited felicitated.
The teams that walked away with the top honours were: ‘Eves on Wheels’ category- Expert: Aparna Prasannakumar, Smitha Anand and A.Dhiksha ; Regular: Shanu M Khanna, Raji Venkateswaran and G. Srileka; Novice: Valli Malar, R.M. Meenakshi and C.Kala. For the Fun Wagon: Expert: L.Muthkala, Siddhant Mittal and Sethu Chidambaram; Regular: P.Rajan, R.Vimala and Gaurish Rajan; Novice: Manju Varrier, T.S.Varrier and Dyuthi Varrier.
