The Great Driving Challenge | User Application

Ajay Mohan & Divya Mohan

Total Vote(s) : 61 | Total Testimonial(s) : 5

I run a Software development company and a portal www.webdhaba.com while Divya, a vivacious girl I met at MBA, now my charming wife, works for an Airline in a senior position at Bangalore. An integral, genX part, of our travels, and travails ;-) is Tanima, our teenage daughter who's studying at Singapore. We are a "crazy for travel" family ! Divya chucked a coveted job at an MNC Bank to join the Travel Industry - all because we could travel far and wide. ! I suspect one reason Tanima went to Lawrence School, Lovedale was so we could drive to Ooty every other month ! We are from UP (Allahabadi andaaz aur Lucknowi nazakat to hai hi..), where our parents stay, and we are in Bangalore for the last 12 years, are 48 and 44 respectively celebrating our 21th anniversary in Oct this year.. We do take along Divya's Dad (at 75+ ) in many of our domestic and overseas travels (US, Japan, Canada Italy) and are planning to take him on our Singapore Malaysia in Sept. My father, a Professor (retd.) in Allahabad University, himself has travelled to Africa, MiddleEast, Europe and was a driving buff,, I have been a part of those as a child. SO now you know where our genes come from ! We are not just travelers. My passion for capturing the story on my camera , has won us some awards in photography too.

We are the best candidates because...

We can proudly say we’v DEFINITELY BEEN THERE AND pretty much DONE IT ALL(yet hungry 4 more). FROM living in the car amongst truck drivers to living in the best of 7 star hotels….from articulately planning trips to make doubly sure we make the best of our holiday to simply taking the car one fine evening and driving 600 km to watch concerts. Yes we pretty much have done it all . NOTHING has ever stopped us ….not our then barely 2 month old infant who we took to a hill station , (but yes of course learnt our lesson when were chided by our parents…we never took her out again as a 2 month old…but we did when she was all grown up , all of 1 J….), Well and if you think we became more sober as she grew older ,well we are not sure what you would say to us taking her for long weekend getaways during her exam breaks innumerable times.Of course We’d ensure she never missed her exams , so well she studied during such vacations J .Really nothing has stopped us ,not having a place to stay ,not having official leave, and even not having a visa, seem such trivial issues ..:)…(yes !! we have landed up in a foreign country,where there is no visa on arrival WITHOUT a visa….long story!!) . Well I like to say we are “adaptable” and “spontaneous” but my now 19 year old daughter choses to use the words “FREAKS BITTEN BY THE TRAVEL BUG” in coherently describing us. ----------------We don’t know whether I can convincingly answer why we are the best candidates but what I can say is that after all these years of togetherness we have found that it is these travels that we cherish as fond memories of togetherness , and it is these travels that have bound us together and made the 3 of us the best of friends,,,, it is in these travels when we look back as a 70 year old , will we find the memories of our little daughter holding our finger to climb the hill , and also of us having our first dance together , and also of her supporting us while climbing that same hill again. Synopsis of our life , our beautiful family is in these journeys…..may the the journey continue …..

Our Travel Plan

(1) Mumbai (START 0Km) --->(2) Mahabaleshwar/Panchgani ( 220Km NH 17, via Mahad) --->(3) Kolhapur ( 169Km via Satara join NH4 on to Kolhapur ) --->(4) Goa ( 262Km NH 17) --->(5) Karwar ( 87Km NH 17) --->(6) Mangalore ( 270Km via NH 17, via Murudeshwar ) --->(7) Calicut ( 223Km NH 17) --->(8) Thrissur ( 115Km state highway ) --->(9) Coimbatore ( 109Km tirusur to coimbatore on NH 47) --->(10) Ooty via Coonoor ( 120Km NH 67 to conoor to ooty ) --->(11) Mysore via Mudumalai/Bandipur Forest (160Km join gundalpet take NH 212 to mysore ) --->(12) Bangalore ( 140Km NH 4 via tumkur to chitradurga Fort ) --->(13) ChitraDurga (Fort) ( 196km take NH 13 To Hospet /Hampi) --->(14) Hospet/Hampi Ruins (121Km continue on NH 13 to Bijapur ) --->(15) Bijapur (empire) (250kms continue NH 13 to Solapur) --->(16) Solapur (101Kms From Solapur take NH 9 to continue to Pune ) --->(17) Pune (242kms take Pune Mumbai expressway or NH 4 ) --->(18) Mumbai (164kms to mumbai) ***** TOTAL KMS - 2950 Kms ***** ***** ( Distances and route is shown are distances from previous point ) ***** ***** Itenary is subject to change based on local road/weather other conditions ) ***** ( SLIGHT MODIFICATIONS MAY BE MADE IN PLAN AS WE ARE VERY KEEN TO INCLUDE WORLD FAMOUS "NEHRU BOAT RACE" IN ALLEPY on 8th/9th August as another High Point of the trip. We did not have time to rework the extra 200-300 Kms for the detour by cutting the return journey but intent to do it in a day or two) and hence ALLEPPY'S NEHRU BOAT RACE is not mentioned it the Plan above !)

Our Travelogue

When you have travelled to some 28+ international destinations and some 50+ Indian sightseeing spots that includes Hills/Mountains(15+). Nature & Forest (7+), Pilgrimages (11+), Historical (15+), Beaches(10+), its difficult to pick experiences to share in this space. besides it can be quite a task to wander down the memory lane and to take you through them. There are however certain experiences, that do need a mention in this travelogue, experiences that even today, give us goosebumps or pump adrenaline into our daily routine . -------- LIKE THE TIME WHEN all that stood between me , my dear wife, my precious daughter and the nightly creatures & predators in human or mosquito form was but a Asahi Window Glass that ironically & proudly called itself “toughened “ (God bless it for that ) and which thankfully was never called upon to prove its “toughness“ in protecting the human shapes sleeping inside in a dark night, off the highway, between a truck convoy ! --------- THEN THERE WAS THAT SUNDAY when our Accent brakes became mushy and soft and simply totally failed - only we were driving down from Ooty, in the dark, via Masaniguda route, with the steep 32 or so hairpins we'd travelled on a dozen time before. God saved us as I spotted a driveway path branching upwards to a Church, from the 9th haripin . .and barely managed to level & stop the car ! The story had only just begun..Chandra Motors Hyundai workshop in Ooty did come to tow us uphill . Now being behind the wheel of a brakeless Accent, being towed uphill, in pitch dark, through 7 hairpins at 8 pm is scary thing by itself - it's worse if the car towing your Accent is a Santro ! All I could do was put my family in the Santro .. just in case, and pray ! At 11 pm they fixed the master cylinder leak (and there's a photo we've added) . We had a choice to look for a Hotel or drive to Bangalore.. we drove to Bangalore ! took the longer route thorugh the forest and even stopped to admire (and shoot ) the wildlife by night and reached Bangalore at 6am . We've always had this problem with the Accent - of brakes heating , smelling, and going mushy and failing on this circuit even when you drive on the 2nd gears or 1st - the slope forces the car to accelerate...We wonder if the Cedia can live up to the challange !! -------- WELL I WOULD LOVE TO NARRATE THE INCIDENT where we landed in Singapore without a passport (no no we were not sneaking in as illegal immigratnst ..it was an ticket rerouting issue actually ) or my fight to prove my identity in Rome after my bag (and passport and money) were stolen as I landed, the jungle lodge adventures, the NUMEROUS times we’v taken our Tanima for a getaway during her exam breaks (where she would study while we were out trekking and cycling - now when she looks back at the beautiful Taj Retreats and resorts she has studied in..guess she won’t stop thanking us..) But I wouldn’t get into all those experiences to save myself the accusation of “just goin on and on AS USUAL“ by my lovely daughter..:) --------- WHEN WE TRAVEL WE DON'T JUST rush thru and tick off items, places and things to see. We like to savour it in become a part of the people and life – actually feel it … We communicate, what we experience through our pictures – and also through words that make interesting reading and make you a part of our experiance. We tell our experience in a way others can also almost ‘be there’ ! our pictures and commentary can capture the moment, humour the ethos , the truth of the situation – in an honest way that it tells a compelling story of the situation, the place, the inhabitants !

People who voted for us

Devika Swarup

17th July 2009

Col Mehra

17th July 2009

akshay....

17th July 2009

akshay

17th July 2009

Webdhaba Team Mangalore

17th July 2009

vinod

17th July 2009

www.Webdhaba.com Team

17th July 2009

Akshay Niranjan

17th July 2009

vsahai

17th July 2009

Seshagiri Rao

17th July 2009

rudhir

17th July 2009

vinod sahai

17th July 2009

VIVEK

17th July 2009

Akshat kishen

17th July 2009

anuja

17th July 2009

Rishi R Srivastava

17th July 2009

P Srivastava

17th July 2009

Poojas

17th July 2009

pooja

17th July 2009

mm

17th July 2009

chetna

17th July 2009

BillyGio

17th July 2009

SUEN IN-SEN

17th July 2009

chetna

17th July 2009

kadambari

17th July 2009

Chetna

17th July 2009

Aviral Sahai

17th July 2009

URVASHI LEEKHA

17th July 2009

Ansh Sahai

17th July 2009

Sunil Gurbaxani

17th July 2009

Abhishek

17th July 2009

Buddy

17th July 2009

Sunil

17th July 2009

SK

17th July 2009

Rashu

17th July 2009

Seema Kumar

17th July 2009

santosh

17th July 2009

Ravisankar. G

17th July 2009

purnima arun

17th July 2009

chameli

17th July 2009

sunil kishen

17th July 2009

Aravind

17th July 2009

Milind Kulkarni

17th July 2009

narendra

17th July 2009

pappi

17th July 2009

divya

17th July 2009

Sudhanshu Mishra

17th July 2009

prakash

17th July 2009

valan

17th July 2009

Radhika Sundaram

17th July 2009

K. Arun Kumar

17th July 2009

ABYINKU

17th July 2009

Rajesh Rangaswamy

17th July 2009

DEV

17th July 2009

shafaq

16th July 2009

shreya

16th July 2009

rohan

16th July 2009

priya

16th July 2009

arun

16th July 2009

TANIMA

16th July 2009

Devi

16th July 2009

Testimonials

ABYINKU

In years, this couple is much elder to us but in spirit way younger!We have known them for years and every meeting or interaction leaves us enriched deep within. He has been our mentor and she is an inspiration to the Indian women of today. Though Ajay & Divya had been late in entering, they are very capable of winning once in the best 100...they being adventure & travel freaks and he being an avid photographer. We wish you both, the very best & a great drive ahead!

TANIMA

My parents strongest........candidate for the competition..... MaPa you Rock Love Tan

Ranjith Sharma

Guys you Rock ! Liked your Pic a lot some were very beautiful and loved the one of round boat in river at sunset! All the best - Ranjith

Pooja

I ve been a part of their planned/ unplanned getaway weekends for almost 8 years. Each time it was a new destination and the spirits were always high. They have always been open to challenges and change. I dont think there can b a better candidate than 'Mohan & Mohan Co.' for a reality show on travel. So vote now ..cheers!!!