‘No country of snake charmers’

Three women Manisha Mishra Anubha Verma and Pooja Sharma are on the last leg of preparations for a journey and adventure of a lifetime mdashcompeting in the lsquoMongol Rally Poles of Inconvenience 2023rsquoThe Mongol Rally is an annual competition it was disbanded for two years during the COVID19 pandemic but it is back on the motor rally map lsquoThe Mongol RallyPoles of Inconveniencersquo begins on July 7 from Prague Czech Republic and ends on August 30 the route entails driving across at least 30000 km in EuropeThe women were in Mumbai for a flag off over the past weekend Their rally vehicle a Tata Punch car was flagged off ready to be shipped to London in UK ldquoOur car goes first the vehicle will take 22 days approximately to reach Londonrdquo said the women at the Western India Automobile Association WIAA office at the Indian Merchants Chamber IMC building in Churchgate on Sunday morning There was a ceremonial flag off for the car amidst a shower of selfies mountains of good wishes and one for the album pictures The rallyists were also in Mumbai for paperwork and technicalities ahead of theirbig dayPoles goalsThe ladies all driving aficionados are revved up for the challenge Manisha is from Delhi while Anubha is from Noida and Pooja from Gurgaon ldquoTogether we know we make a really good teamrdquo they said enthusiasticallyAs preparations were on for the grand car send off in the compound of the IMC building and a number of supporters and family milled around the competitors stated ldquothe nearly twomonth rally route entails driving across at least 30000 km in Europe and there are some route tweaks because of the UkraineRussia war and land border closures along the usual route but we finish in Prague Czech Republicrdquo A website states that the finish line is positioned in UlanUde just outside Mongolia but the finish line for this rally is under review because of the war and closuresAlso Read Mumbai IIT Bombay alumni throw their weight behind wrestlersThe vehicle has to be under 1200 CC and this in an ldquounsupported rallyrdquo The women said ldquowe will be carrying a few car spare parts and learning some basic car repairs in the roughly one month now that we have till we leave for the rallyrdquoThe drivers are also carrying a tent then at times they may also need to sleep in the car and have fitted a carrier atop it to carry the spare parts ldquoOtherwise it is just three of us who will be taking turns of course driving and navigating through the most exciting challenging and diverse terrain That is why the rally is dubbed Poles of Inconvenience where we collect points according to the difficulty and challenges of the routerdquothey explainedCaution coolAs a lsquoteaserrsquo to the rally simply whetting their driving appetite for the tougher tests to come the ladies had driven from Delhi to Mumbai for the paperwork and flag off in the city They call themselves ldquoconservative driversrdquo and added ldquoreckless speeding does not make you a good driver We are sending a message that caution is cool lives are precious and wrong side driving imperils all driver passenger and those on the roadrdquo signed off the women as bugles rent the air and riders on Harleys and other two wheelers roared their bikes ahead of the rally car as the ceremonial flag off took placeViveck Goenka president WIAA who was present at the event was evocative as he said ldquoThis is such an efficient and energetic team India should see more such spirited women They are making the country proudrdquo The president believed stereotypes should be confined to the dustbin of history or in this case hisstory as he said ldquoWe have to go out and show the world we are not a country of snake charmersrdquoNitin Dossa chairman WIAA said ldquoI wish the three of them well and have full confidence in their ability I just want them to drive safe and hope they do not drive at night take good rest and be fresh to start driving in the morningsrdquo as the women made a powerful statement about empowerment and agency proving that to set women free one needs to give them wingsmdashand in this case wheels too