The power window challenge!

Cyrus Dadachanji & Mohit Midha
17^th March, 2007: Dhaka to Bogra

When we left Dhaka this morning, all we expected was a pleasant 220 km drive to Bogra, with a few customary stops. Little did we know that we would put our Safaris through a gruelling up- down routine that the Tata Motors engineers may no t have dreamed of. It's called the Power Window Challenge.

I think we set a new record of around a quarter of a million power window operations across the entire convoy, over 10 hours, without a single failure. While this figure may seem to be a bit exaggerated, you would not believe it if you rode with us today. It was only the muggy heat that forced us to drive with the Air conditioner on and the windows rolled up. But the enthusiasm of the Bangladeshi public along the entire route forced us to keep rolling our windows down every few seconds! And the moment we passed one welcome and seat back in air-conditioned comfort, we were forced to roll our windows down to respond to another one. From school children to scouts to lay people, it seemed as if we were receiving an endless welcome!

The day started with the Bangladesh Mounted Corps escorting us on horseback along the Parliamentary Avenue. The entire road and all junctions had been cordoned off, as we proceeded in a ceremonial procession till the end of the road. Boy scouts lined the route while children danced and performed acrobatics, just for us. After giving us a ceremonial salute, our escorts handed us over to the District Police who cleared the way for our exit from the city.

Our next stop was the War Memorial, which was erected to pay homage to the fallen Indian and Bangladeshi heroes of the War of Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971. This serene memorial, with a spiral pyramid like structure, set amongst lush landscaped gardens was the scene of much activity. Not surprising considering that it is the birthday of Mr. Mujib Ul Rehman, the Founding Father of Bangladesh. While each country team laid a wreath at the memorial, school girls danced and performed a drill routine in the background. After a quick snack in a neighbouring restaurant, we were on our way again.

There were no scheduled halts until our lunchtime stop. But there was an unscheduled one at Mirzapur that simply bowled us over. The school children of Mirzapur district had set up a show for us on an open ground. We could not simply whiz by. The entire town had turned out to meet us. The moment our cars stopped, the girls took the cue. The all-girl band struck up a tune, while the girls marched, made a human wave, performed a drill routine and a River Dance. All the girls are upported by a charitable organisation called Baharateshwari Homes and are regular award winners in all the Drill Routine competitions! Bowled over by the hospitality and the performance, we had a quick cup of tea and moved on.

We had lunch at a restaurant at Tangail Zilla. The lunch was preceded by a few customary speeches and a folk music and Dance performance. One speech that truly touched us was made by the ex head of Scouts in Bangladesh. Apparently, he had officiated at the Teheran – Dhaka Rally in 1970, when he was the Assistant Magistrate of this region.

Our journey continued over one of South Asia’s longest bridges, the 3.9 km Jamuna Bridge. It was a sight to be seen as 30 cars crossed the Jamuna River, which had patches of water interspersed with giant sandbanks a hundred feet below us! We stopped on the bridge to capture this moment for posterity and sped towards Bogra.

At the town of Sherpur, around 30 kilometres from Bogra, we were in for the welcome of our lives – so far at least! After being stopped on the roads and been offered flowers and gift, we were ready for anything, or so we thought. The entire town of Sherpur had turned up to welcome us. There were scouts, school girls, common people, by the thousand. The lines of people stretched for a few kilometres. People waved from balconies. Children took up a chant ‘Welcome, welcome’ as if to draw them into our hearts. We’ve been spoilt rotten by Bangladesh and we’re just three days into our journey. It’s going to be very difficult getting back to a normal life – that’s for sure. And three cheers for our Safaris and their Power Windows. I think we’ll be setting a few more records in the days to come!

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