The Great Driving Challenge | User Application

Abhilaash Kashyap & Namrata Baruah

Total Vote(s) : 221 | Total Testimonial(s) : 7

We're Abhilaash and Namrata, born and raised in beautiful Guwahati. Both of us are currently working in Gurgaon, me as a Risk Analyst with a firm trading derivatives on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange while she's in the American Express Financial Centre...Just a week before we saw the first ad for TGDC, we had returned from a week long road trip that led us to Kasol and Tosh and on our way back, we were already contemplating our choices for the next one. We planned on being the zealous peripatetics this time,trusting only our feet as partners-in-crime who'd never let us down.But yeah, come to think of it, a Cedia looks like a slightly better steed to travel on than our happy feet!!...:-)

We are the best candidates because...

one of us is an obsessed literary pilgrim (i say pilgrim coz i remember someone saying that those are travelers who're taken seriously!) who staunchly agrees that ordinary perceptions can have a strange aspect when one is travelling; while the other is a pastel and wax artist-photography freak-financial analyst who deems light and senses more important than even the food we ordinary mortals eat....To bring those two together would be to make sure that a web of visionary delight is woven, a tapestry of master stories told.

Our Travel Plan

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. We'd rather be travelers than tourists.Tourists don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they're going.....

Our Travelogue

Richard Burton was of the view that travelers are like poets, they are mostly an angry race. But if I did have the guts to differ from the legend, I would. We've never set off for some place to prove something. Traveling has been a weakness, a perennial subconscious desire..Every rendezvous has been embarked upon with a virginal and enthusiastic frame of mind. Although every moment in our odysseys has not been an undiluted saga of ecstasy; away from the uncouth human architecture and the sordid geometry of the city and away from the furious rhythm and anguish of city life, every small sojourn or long hibernation that we've been to has left us with fresh life and vigor.There's getting lost in dark caves in Kodaikanal. There's trekking to flourishing poppy fields in Tosh. There's biking through the varied canvas called Leh. There's swimming secretly in a moonlit sea in Puducherry. There's us being highway stars on the GTR. There's us getting sloshed on the white sands of the beaches of Gokarna. There's us two wild flowers confessing to our bitter truths and sins in the churches of Goa. And there's so many others... Brevity in reminiscing all of these would in itself be a crime.But time is no mistress and that is where I'm losing the plot. Will be here soon with more details....

People who voted for us

Debashree

12th July 2009

Prasanth Nandela

12th July 2009

Rishi Sangari

12th July 2009

Kush Narula

12th July 2009

Amar Malakar

12th July 2009

Biplee

12th July 2009

Arihant Manohar

12th July 2009

Parineeta

12th July 2009

Shefali

12th July 2009

Nandini T

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Lima

12th July 2009

T braithwaite

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Jahnabi

12th July 2009

Tarun Lakhani

12th July 2009

Sheetal Ray

12th July 2009

Abhishek Dey

12th July 2009

Aashish Kothari

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Durga

12th July 2009

Sriram

12th July 2009

Kurush

12th July 2009

Melane Thomas

12th July 2009

Debolina De'Souza

12th July 2009

Vipul Khanna

12th July 2009

Marie Christine Crewe

12th July 2009

avi

12th July 2009

krishna

12th July 2009

Rajyalaxmi

12th July 2009

PRIYATAM

12th July 2009

Adam Stevens

12th July 2009

arnie

12th July 2009

Samudra

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Tushar Gupta

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Alok

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Ntya

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Payal Sheth

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Hemant

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Ruchir

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Srinath

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Taran

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Sumanth

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Shradha Srivastava

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Shahavar Khan

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Himabindu

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Michael Z

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Shakuntala

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Binita

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Richard

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Immonira Roy

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bipasha thomas

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Sujata

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Sudhir Deka

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jeniffer

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Kakoli K

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Emma Rhynard

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Tarunabh Dutta

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Ali Saifee

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Paddy

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Katie Fleet

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Bikram Das

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jatindra nath

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tahira

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kiran

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sindhu sumesh

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Babanu

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lisa

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kalpi

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vishal.kumar

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naina bhatt

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Washington

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anilr

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Telly

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abhimanyu

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minu singh

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Kumud Ranjan Baruah

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BHUMAN

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alok kumar

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manish

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KAUSTAV

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RoBi

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sushin

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deepika

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dhrity

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arjun mishra

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Kautalya Mishra

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Muffi

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Rahul Dev Mahanta

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Joseph Louis

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Sam

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Vaibhav Lodha

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Sridhar Vemuri

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Atul Angik

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Shilpa

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Zubi

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Shweta Munjal

7th July 2009

Amit Goyal

7th July 2009

Kartikeya Bajpai

7th July 2009

Varun Narayanan Kutty

7th July 2009

Anurag Sharma

7th July 2009

Udatta

7th July 2009

Hariharan Sriram

7th July 2009

Rudhir Chaliha

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Mohit Jhawar

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Sharath Nair

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siddhu

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gitarthi

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Vidya

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Aditya Rao

7th July 2009

akhil agarwal

7th July 2009

Saloni

7th July 2009

Avinash Nair

7th July 2009

Sunny

7th July 2009

KD

7th July 2009

anish kumar

7th July 2009

Priyanka Verma

7th July 2009

Abhilash Medhi

7th July 2009

Varun S Hariharan

7th July 2009

kirtiman kashyap

7th July 2009

Chetan Bakshi

7th July 2009

Sunil

7th July 2009

Shatanik Bhattacharya

7th July 2009

Ankit Sheth

7th July 2009

mini baruah

7th July 2009

mintu kalita

7th July 2009

PRIYANKA BARUAH

7th July 2009

Shilpi Verma

7th July 2009

Shefali Johnson

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PRIYAM AHARWAL

7th July 2009

kashyap thimmaraju

7th July 2009

Harish Kaswan

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Gaurav

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Deepak kumawat

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kuldeep jatav

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dileep

7th July 2009

Prachi

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Pancham Pareek

7th July 2009

Pranav Pareek

7th July 2009

Nikhil Chopra

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shaista sabharwal

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varij sharma

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nutan

6th July 2009

pavan naik

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tushar gupta

6th July 2009

abhishek kumar

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nitesh bansal

6th July 2009

mahendra gori

6th July 2009

rajeev kumar

6th July 2009

vishal Kumar

6th July 2009

Testimonials

Kalikinkar

Hi...I saw your profile and liked it very much. You can join the Cedia great driving challenge community in orkut to gain more votes and testimonials. http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Community.aspx?cmm=91293176

Varij Sharma

In today's world what every person looks forward to is a little reprise from his/her chaotic lives. Abhilaash and Namrata are two adventurous and energetic idividuals who have an unrestrained desire for deriving 'more and best' out of their lives. While brilliantly pursuing their professional goals they constatntly make an endeavour to bring out the optimum out of their lives which I belive is of utmost significance. Ever inspiring and ever enthusiatic, I wish them the very best and would like to request each and every individual who visits this profile to give consideration to this couple which is on a relentless spree to explore and redesign every mile of the journey called life. Loads of luck guys...

Sunny

I have known these two people since the nursery rhymes. Two relentless people who never thinks they have seen the horizon and never feels that they have had enough. If I get a chance to re-write the book %u201COn the Road%u201D by Jack Kerouac, my characters would be Ablilaash and Namrata and the tale would be far more exciting than that of Dean Moriarty from the book. Keep it up and best of luck.

Shilpi Verma

Of Gullies and roadtrips. Of Highways and toothbrushes. Having known Abhilaash and Namrata closely, it would be an understatement to say they're kindred spirits with a fiery passion for all that smells of an adventure. Aside from being two very accomplished professionals in their arena of financial wizardry, they indulge themselves in books, fine art, speed, dhabas, jazz, xkcd and tiramisu. Packing for a trip usually includes Cameras, Blues on a Shuffle, shades and little else. The myriad collection of pictures you see above, and Abhilaash's pen-portraits on his blog capture the very noir et blanc essence of the scenic incarnations, and sometimes, moments captured just in the cusp of their sublimity. I'll stop my verbal vomit here, because words will taint the goodly, awesomely things them two will do given this challenge! .\__/

Natasha

This is awesome! Travelling is holistic, a psychedelic view of the world at large by two crazy travel enthusiasts. I am going to make it a point to travel soon. I recommend this site and the travelogue without any doubt whatsoever. What a wonderful world! :)

jordina

We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.we have the same desire to travel/explore and am happy to see that you are fulfulling your's (koo) happy travelling!:)

Arnav

I've always known Koo & Abhilaash as two vagabond souls swimming in a MASSIVE fish bowl and yet always looking for a way out of it. Wish them tons of luck!!...Arnav