Less than two hours from the Bhutan border, in the Arunachal stretch of the Himalayas, is a pretty mountain town called Dirang. It is known for its apples, oranges, kiwis, champion rally drivers and a very fashionable youth population. It is also home to the three-year-old JK Tyres Festival of Speed — an event hosted by the Arunachal Pradesh Department of Tourism that brought in over a dozen rally teams to compete for the Rs. 8,50,000 prize money. Over the two days, there were contests of speed and skill, while the evenings had bands from across the North East enthralling a 1000-strong crowd of trendy and friendly locals.
The first competition was the AutoCross, an obstacle course set up in the local stadium. The stands were filled up by what looked like the town’s entire populace, which seemed natural, as most of the crowd was also related to the handful of local drivers. From the festive spirit and the number of modified vehicles on the streets, it’s evident that they clearly love motorsports. They cheered loudly every time a car took off from the ramp — higher the jump, the louder the cheer.
The cars that survived the ordeal went on to the Hill Climb. As the name suggests, the drivers race up a mountain through a fruit orchard. From the top of the track, one could see mountains, gorges and rivers roll out in every direction, and the air was tinged with the smell of skidding tyres, dust and petrol fumes.
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The final competition was the Sprint, a flat-out test of the cars’ top speeds. It took place in the flattest valley of the region, which was also the extended river bed during the dry season. The sarpanch’s house was the viewing balcony for the Sprint, which was remarkable. Lhakpa Tsering, the organiser of the event, pointed this out to be a unique feature of the festival, as the entire five-km track was visible from a single vantage point.
While the valley is spectacular, the streams were unfortunately filled with garbage and non-biodegradable plastic. There wasn’t a single garbage can in sight, from the hotel room and race tracks to the sarpanch’s house.
While the organisers have done a commendable job of setting up a high-end festival in such a remote destination, they are still far from achieving their dreams without the infrastructure to take on their own waste disposal, let alone the increased tourist traffic.
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