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Trading Places
Cyrus Dadachanji & Mohit Midha
22nd March, 2007, Guwahati-Siliguri
Today, we are in to the 8th day of our glorious adventure. It's a day of changes, some expected and others rather unexpected. It began with a beautiful, misty morning, but by the time we reached the parking lot at Judge's Field, Guwahati, dark clouds loomed overhead. In 30 minutes flat, all 28 cars were cleaned from within, loaded and ready to roll.
The first warning of a change in weather came with a drop on my nose, followed by another and yet another, till a steady downpour forced us to hunt for shelter under anything we could find, from umbrellas to chairs held aloft! Just as the audience started getting restless, a siren wailed in the distance and the Chief Minister's convoy rolled up.
Mr. Tarun Gogoi, Chief Minister of Assam is a very approachable person and shook hands with a number of participants before taking his place on the podium. As if on cue, the rain let up to allow a flawless fag off ceremony. From marching bands to folk dances and school girls doing callisthenics with balloons, the backdrop to the Chief Minister's speech was perfectly orchestrated. He gracefully took to the podium, said a few words of encouragement and flagged the convoy off.
Today it seems as though the weather gods are timing the rain with our movements. As we left the Judge's Field, the rain picked up once again. The smell of damp earth and the sight of lush green fields was enough to energize the senses as we picked up speed. A little out of Guwahati, we stopped once again to drop off Ajay Khanna, our Rally Chief. Ajay has to coordinate balance India leg of the rally and will need to spend a few days in Delhi. We wished him a fond farewell, welcomed the new Rally Chief Vikram Badshah and hoped to see Ajay in Nepal.
It's incredible what a bit of rain can do. The roads have a clean washed look. The fields seem greener and the temperature has dropped by a few degrees. Everyone enjoyed the drive, as we cruised the open highway towards the Bongaingaon refinery, our lunch halt for the day. At Bongaigaon, the BRPL staff had set up a lavish spread combined with exotic folk dance performances, ensuring that we had a pleasant lunch experience. Our regular suspects Mahesh and Priya also joined the dancers as they performed a traditional 'Bihu' or spring festival dance.
As we were about to leave the refinery, we were approached by a young man, Pratik, who is an avid Autocar reader. Delighted at seeing the Autocar team, this 15 year-old approached us and was rewarded with a copy of Autocar magazine autographed by Hormazd and Renuka. We left the refinery having won yet another heart in our sojourn across the SAARC nations Refreshed and rejuvenated, we headed for the border. The road deteriorated into a rough potholed mess that the Safaris revelled in munching miles on. Kavita got her kicks from ploughing her steed through puddles, sending wave after wave of water flying. This section put the suspension system of Safaris to the test and they came out with flying colours.
On our journey towards Srirangpur, the road passed through deciduous forests as well as lush green fields. The weather was perfect for a long drive, cloudy with a cool breeze blowing through the car as it sped across the countryside. At Srirangpur, our convoy was halted by a crowd of official from the Bodo Hill Council. We were offered shawls, floral bouquets, and food and refreshments before being sent on our way with their blessings.
It seems as though every town on our route wants to be a part of this great adventure. If they can't travel with us, they make sure that their blessings do so at least. Not surprising then that we crossed over from Assam to West Bengal to the accompaniment of fanfare and felicitations on both sides.
After a couple of hours on the road, we drove in to the rest area of the Jaldapara Wildlife sanctuary. This area is home to one of the earliest inhabitants of this region and one of the smallest tribes in the world - the Totos. There are only 276 surviving members of indigenous tribe, and so it was a treat to see twenty of them perform a traditional dance just for us.
Doc Joshi was in his element, playing a tribal drum to provide accompaniment to a group of tribal girls dancing. He was a hit with the locals. I think that shortly we will be trading places with our outsider status to become one with those we are visiting. Long live multicultural harmony!
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