JK Tyre Himalayan Drive

The 4th edition of the JK Tyre Himalayan Drive is India's only T.S.D (Time-Speed-Distance) cross-country rally which was held in North Bengal and Bhutan last week. The 5 day rally saw some intense competition with over 25 participants taking part in this years Himalayan drive. Since its inception 4 years ago, the event has drawn the attention of car rallyists from across the country due to the varied, challenging and extremely picturesque terrain that its route covers. This year, the international leg of the rally through Bhutan did not disappoint and received great feedback from all participants. The 1050km rally started from Siliguri city in West Bengal. The 5 day event covered the tea gardens, forests & river beds of North Bengal and the Himalayan mountain range of Bhutan. Although I would have loved to take part as a participant, I could only manage to be a co-passenger in car number 25 navigated by Dhiraj Arora and driven by my colleague Pratap Singh Thakur. Despite having some knowledge about rallying, every day was a new learning and a different experience for me altogether. A T.S.D rally is a very technical rally, it isn't just about speed and distance but rather about reaching the destination and various check points (Time-control) on time. Not a second late, nor a second early.

Starting point of the JK Tyre Himalayan Drive

The rally was flagged of from Siliguri heading to the Paro Vally in Bhutan, inclining towards the Chelala pass, which is the highest point in the Paro valley, then on to the jungles of West Bengal in Murti, historic Darjeeling, and finally finishing of back in Siliguri. The route was challenging and the fleet surprised me further. There were a very few 4X4 cars and more cars like the Maruti Suzuki Esteem, Maruti Suzuki Swift, Hyundai Creta, Mahindra Scorpio, Maruti Suzuki Gypsy, Renault Duster, and Mahindra Thar.

Crossing Borders:

Border crossings are always fun and so was entering Bhutan. Now of course the rally was under a No Control Zone while crossing borders meaning that it was temporarily halted and there was no particular time allocated to cross the border for obvious reasons. Now since we were in a group and the event management had already given us the forms, it was just about submitting the paperwork, giving them your fingerprints, taking the permit for you and your vehicle, and driving back. If you are planning a road trip to Bhutan, make sure that you carry 4 passport size photos and your passport or voters ID card (no, your driving license doesn't count). It takes about 30-40 mins to get your permit and there is no cost involved while entering Bhutan.

A Mahindra Thar that took part in the 4th edition of the JK Tyres Himalayan Drive

Bhutan is a friendly and a very polite country. For me it the country of SUVs as the terrain demands good 4X4 vehicles. You will also see a lot of pick up trucks. Day 1 in Bhutan saw us going to Paro which is about 200 kms after crossing the border. Day 3 of the rally, our second day in Bhutan, was interesting as the route book given to the participants ended at the beautiful Chelala Pass. After a 3 hour hill-drive we began driving on snow. It had a snowed the previous night and the terrain got even more difficult as not everyone is used to driving on snow.

Back to India:

Day 4 was an eventful one and a unique experience for the officials and competitors alike. The rally was unofficially stopped in the morning, as a huge elephant herd decided to take a detour from their usual routine route and decided to have a "dekho" of the rally. The road through Murti forest was blocked thanks to the tuskers who refused to move leaving the competitors at their wit's end. The rally eventually resumed as the officials gave participants a fresh start. The incident took place at Chapramari Nagarkata Jungle in Jalpaiguri District.The rally was suspended on the grounds of safety concerns and the competitors were allowed to re-start once the road had been cleared.

JK Tyre Himalayan Drive

A T.S.D. rally validates Darwin's "Survival of the fittest" theory in its own way. It is not easy to withstand such a long strenuous course over 5 days as both men and their machines go through a huge test of endurance. We also saw a huge difference in the temperature and weather at various locations. It varied from 32 degrees centigrade in Siliguri, to -2 degrees centigrade in Bhutan, to rains in the jungles of Murti, and dense fog the hills of Darjeeling.

Day 5 of the rally was a short drive from Darjeeling to Siliguri. Kolkata duo Sudip and Arindam Ghosh championed the 4th edition of the JK Tyre Himalyan Drive, notching 568 penalty seconds, just eight seconds short of their closest rivals Jogendra Kumar Jaiswal and Prasenjit Roy who had a score of 576 penalty seconds. We were also extremely happy to have won 1st in the closed SUV category.

The JK Himalayan drive ended on a successful note and to me personally, it was the most unique experience not only in terms of understanding the sport and the technicality behind the T.S.D rally, but also meeting new people and understanding different cultures.