Women Car Rally 2009 was organised on October 2, 2009 from New Delhi to Agra by Forum for Breast Cancer Protection to spread awareness on breast cancer prevention & its early detection.
This was TSD format Rally ran under the FMSCI Permit and its guidelines. Total distance of the Rally was approximately 300 Kilometers. The route was split into two legs: Delhi to Kosi and Kosi to Jajjanpatti. The route was-Delhi-Gurgaon-Sohna-Nuh-Hodal-Kosi-Nandgaon-Deeg-Jajjanpatti-Farah-Mathura-Agra. It had a scenic view of Aravali Hills on the way.
On the 1st of October 2009, held the Scrutiny of the cars from 7.30 am onwards at DLF Place Saket.
Drivers briefing held at Hard Rock Cafe, DLF Place Saket from 2 to 3:30 pm.
Press Conference was held at the same place from 3:30 pm till 4.30 pm along with High Tea.
And finally, the Ceremonial Flag off took place at 5:30 pm by Mrs. Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson & Editorial Directer-HT Media Ltd.
On 2nd October, the rally was actually flagged off from DLF Place for Kosi. The Park Ferme was from 5-6 am. At 6:30 am, the first car was flagged off.
The Breast Cancer Awareness program was held at Hotel Clarks Shiraz, Agra followed by dinner and Prize Distribution Ceremony for the Rally. Thanks a lot Clarks Shiraz for being the wonderful host of Women Car Rally 2009.
We met some wonderful people on the way of organising this beautiful event to make it a huge success.
When we went to Agra for the first time for the arrangements, Somebody mentioned about a very kind hearted person Mr. Harvijay Singh Bahia to me and I recalled that he is my FACEBOOK friend.
I mentioned the same to Umesh and he suggested to check Facebook if we can get his contact number. We found his number, spoke to him and he made himself available completely for the cause of Rallying as well as Breast Cancer Awareness.
An absolute unknown person became an excellent friend and above that became the part of the rally organising team and helped till the end to make this rally a Grand Success. Thanks once again Mr. Bahia.
He further introduced us to Mr. Roopak Gupta, the owner of Hotel Clarks Shiraz, Agra. He came forward with immense support and became the host of the Women Car Rally 2009 at Agra. Thank you very much once again Roopak ji.
We contacted various organisations for their support. Almost every organisation we requested to became partners with us. Thanks a lot all the Partners for your support.
Thank you very much to all the participants for making this rally a huge huge success. Without all of you, the Rally would not have been possible.
Last but not the least, Thank you very much Umesh for being there from the beginning till the end from nothing to everything. Thank you Yogesh for being there taking every responsibility on your own self.
Thank you Varun & Animesh for selecting such a beautiful route for the rally as an organising team which was enjoyed by everybody.
Thanks a ton Randeep, Rajni, Sunil, Yogesh (Bansal) and Prateek for your volunteer support.
Thanks a lot Sriroopa, Alka Aunty, Raju Chachu, Tarun, Mitin, Mukul, Sourabh, Chetan, Ajay, Shourya, Vidur, Narender, Bunty, Jitendra, Pranab and Papa for your immense support.
Thank you all for such a lovely event, it was so much fun...a very well organized one! The route was awesome and amazingly beautiful!!...Looking forward to such events...kudos!
ReplyDeleteGood luck to the entire team and a big thumbs up too!! :)
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ReplyDeleteWomen, machine and race against time
ReplyDeleteWhen the editor asked me if I could manage to hold my own in Women Car Rally, I felt challenged at the thought as I am the only woman in our pre-dominantly male centric team. I had to stand up for all women kind. With all coordination, driving skills, road sense and judgment I always knew I was a great driver. So I decided to participate and prove my teammates wrong. From that day I felt the pressure building on me. I could not afford to fail.
Forum of Breast Cancer Protection organized Women Car Rally from Delhi to Agra on 2nd October to spread awareness on Breast Cancer Prevention. A TSD (Time-Speed-Distance) Rally is a driving experience for the driver as well as the navigator. It puts both on closed public roads in a race against the clock. The instructions were in riddles, which needed to be solved in order to figure out where we are heading next.
I knew I will be having a very long day. When the whole world was sleeping I was behind the wheel. My car refused to start. It didn’t have any problem, it was just being lazy. Bit of prayers and pampering it finally started with a vroom and took me to the starting point of the rally. I was waiting for my co-driver, Neha Tara Mehta, Mail’s Today Reporter, whom I was meeting for the first time. I just asked her one question, are you a good navigator? She said yes with full confidence. I felt relieved. We had two legs to complete. 6.30am, sunlight, camera and action, the first car was flagged off and others followed with a gap of a minute time. Our start was disastrous. Right after the flag off, Neha navigated me to the wrong road. But I quickly managed to return to the right road. Maintaining a speed of 30kmph was little tough for me since I never drive below 80-100kmph. Neha had a hard-hitting job to do. In addition to the road book, she had to keep a track of time using two stop watches and also do calculations using an HMS calculator. She looked all lost and confused. When we reached Gurgaon, in search of a landmark we took the wrong left. After crossing few kilometres we realised we are lost. Luck was not favouring us that day. I took a U-turn, speeded up to catch up with the time and was on the right course. However it cost us penalty points. That time Neha said, “Rev up and shoot”. No stop signs, no slowing down, it seemed as I was on my way to hell. Driving through narrow, rough, paved, desert like, broken roads was just like having a roller coaster ride. My first exposure to motorsports was an attention-grabber rally. There was no chance of getting lost in the villages. If you miss any landmark, the localities were of a great help. We were just like bollywood stars for them. They were falling on our cars, cheering for us and even trying to stop us. At one of the Time Control we were curious to know how well are we doing? We were told you girls are doing well. With a smile I continued driving. But then there was the twist. Due to some political rally, the remaining stretch was cancelled. After hitting the NH2, marked the end of leg 1. During that time Neha managed to catch up with her lost sleep. The disastrous first leg was finally over and taught us a lot. Thirty minutes break and then the second leg started. We promised ourselves no more mistakes now. We were more confident now. Neha navigated me and I kept following her command. With all coordination and team work we finished our second leg. After all the action, drama we reached Agra in the evening. All dead beat, trying to open our room with car keys. Couldn’t wait for the climax and the results were out. We came fifth – Blown away!
Ridhima Ahluwalia
Autobild India
India Today Group