A rally in the lush tea gardens of north Bengal and picturesque hairpin bends in Bhutan promises to bring back the motorsport spirit in Kolkata.
For a city whose many glorious chapters have closed one by one, here is one that has just reopened. Kolkata, which cradled motorsports -India's first mot orsports club, the Calcutta Motorsports Club (CMSC), was founded by Suresh Kumar, elder brother of tennis ace Naresh Kumar in the city way back in 1949 -is once again drawing motorsports enthusiasts from across the country . Thanks, in no small measure, to `Himalayan Drive', a time-speed-distance (TSD) rally that has come to occupy pride of place in the motorsports calendar of India.
The rally, whose fourth edition just got over, is the only international TSD rally from India and is organized by `Just Sportz', a Kolkata-based sports management company.`Himalayan Drive', with JK Tyre as its title sponsor is, in itself, a unique rally because of its route that takes competitors through lush forests, tea gardens, riverbeds, mountain roads and verdant valleys that not only present countless picturesque sights to behold, but also put to severe test the mettle of drivers and navigators alike. Himalayan Drive 4, held from February 28 to March 3, included two legs in Bhutan. And Himalayan Drive 5, says Just Sportz director Tamal Ghoshal, will include Nepal as well (in addition to Bhutan) to make it one of the very few tri-nation TSD rallies in the world.
Himalayan Drive 4 (or HD4) got a ceremonial flag-off from Siliguri's City Center on February 27 by senior state government officials. The actual rally started the next day, when 27 competitors zipped through the scenic Dooars with its tropical forests, neatly landscaped tea gardens and dry riverbeds to reach Jaigaon town on the Indian side of the India-Bhutan border. From there, the rallyists crossed over to Phuentsholing, the bustling border town inside Bhutan. After clearing all formalities and exchanging greetings with Bhutanese officers, the competitors hit the road to Paro. This 160km run provided a thrilling drive through narrow, winding roads skirting the precipitous Himalayan cliffs, lined with conifers.Each twist and turn of the road presented breathtaking sights that were a wonder to behold.
This road traversed along the Wang Chu (`Chu' is Bhutanese for river), a tributary of the Torsa, before it crossed the river and then ran along the Paro Chu, a river whose crystal-clear waters flowing swiftly over pebbles and rocks made it possible to view even aquatic life in it. For the first dozen-odd kilometres, the smooth road (built by India's Border Roads Organization), with the Paro Chu flowing beside it, sliced through a narrow valley with steep mountains standing sentinel on both sides of the valley. And then the mountains seemed to move apart, revealing the full expanse of the picturesque Paro Valley, said to be one of the most beautiful locales in the world. At this time of the year, the sunlit coat of dry vegetation on the slopes of the mountains ringing the gentle valley take on a surreal, golden hue. The expansive valley, with neat Bhutanese-style bungalows dotting it, is stunning. And above the mountains girding the valley stand the snow-capped peaks, lending the entire landscape a happily ethereal look and feel.
That first leg of the rally ended at the upscale Olathang Hotel, one of the numerous sponsors of the event. The next morning, the competitors were flagged off from the hotel and they went down to the sand and gravel banks of the Paro Chu for a 15km run before hitting the road from Paro to the 3988m (13,084ft) high Chelela Pass that's the highest point on the road to Haa on the Bhutan-Tibet border. Once again, the sights this 60km drive offered were gorgeous: an entire vista of alpine vegetation-carpeted mountains with their snow-capped peaks. Soon, this road turned treacherous with its ice cover, making many competitors' vehicles to skid dangerously .
On Day 3, Paro governor Dasho Thinley Gyaltsen flagged off the rally from the hotel. The competitors then went off-road for about 15km on the banks of the Paro Chu before getting on to the highway to Phuentsholing. From Phuentsholing, the rally ran through several small and one major river crossing along the international border before getting to the border town of Jaigaon.From there, the competitors cut through Chuapara tea estate, Kalchini, the Hashimara and Chilapatha forests, Falakata and Betnaguri to reach Murti beside Gorumara National Park.
The next day's run commenced on an adventurous note -a male elephant wouldn't budge from the rally route from Murti to Chapramari forest. Repeated attempts by wildlife department personnel and police to drive the pachyderm back into the forest not only proved futile, but also irritated the elephant who charged at assembled media persons and police. The organizers were then forced to shift the day's flag-off point to the entrance of the Chapramari forest. From there, the competitors drove through forest tracks and criss-crossed tea gardens, riverbeds and narrow village roads to start their climb up to the hills from Sevoke. The climb to Jorebungalow through e Mungpoo was steep and posed a tough challenge e to the competitors. From Jorebungalow, the rally route ran alongside the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (`toy train') tracks all the way to Darjeeling, where the fourth day's run ended. On a foggy Thursday morning, the competitors were flagged off from Darjeeling's Bhanu Bhawan by Darjeeling Municipality chairman Amar Rai for the last leg of the rally . The com petitors took Hill Cart Road to Ghoom even as the clouds played a game of hide and seek and, at one point, the whistle of a steam engine pierced the morning calm. The sight of a toy train chugging on the mountain tracks with the rally cars whizzing by was exciting. From Ghoom, the competitors took the road to Mirik and crossed Bungkuling and Doodhia to reach Sukna forest, went through tea gardens and ended the rally at the Siliguri Institute of Technology .
At the end of the five-day rally that covered 1050km, Kolkata brothers Sudip and Arindam Ghosh stood first and won a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000, followed closely in the second position by Jogendra Kumar Jaiswal and Prasenjit Roy. The team of Pratik Sirkar and Debashish Ghosh secured third position, while Rajiv Sarkar and Chandu Sekhar duo came fourth. The prize distribution ceremony at Siliguri's City Center was a glittering affair, with performances by Amit Paul and Abhishek Kumar. Bhutan's consul general in Kolkata, Karma T Namgyal, the GOC of Sukna-based 33 Corps, Lt Gen Surinder Singh, and a host of IPS and IAS officers gave away the prizes.
Apart from providing a great driving experience, HD4 was also aimed at promoting Indo-Bhutan ties. This objective, felt Bhutanese envoy Namgyal, has been more than fulfilled.
Also, said Just Sportz Director Tamal Ghoshal, the rally showcased the beauty of north Bengal and Bhutan and would boost the tourism potential of the entire region. Sanjay Sharma, the head of motorsports of JK Tyre, which has been the title sponsor of the rally since its inception in 2013, is excited about the next edition of HD becoming a tri-nation affair. Slated for this year-end, HD5 is expected to not only draw more competitors from across India and even Nepal and Bhutan, it will also put Bengal firmly back on India's motorsports map.
(Source:
The Times of India Kolkata dated 2016-03-12,
Facebook album of Fotoarena,
Indian Roadie member Dr Punyabrata Barma)
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