Karnataka - Mangalore   

CEAT Mumbai Xpress-2008 flagged off

— Photo: SUDIPTO MONDAL

Trial run: Deputy Commissioner Maheshwar Rao in one of the autorickshaws that participated in the rally in Mangalore on Thursday.

MANGALORE: Take an autorickshaw, paint it with colours of the rainbow, replace the auto driver with a foreign tourist and set out to see India on three wheels! Early on Thursday, residents of the city were surprised by this peculiar sight. The ‘CEAT Mumbai Xpress - 2008’ that passed through the city definitely made an impact.

The 14-day, 2,000 km rally from Chennai to Mumbai has 18 teams from 10 countries — India, Britain, America, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Germany, Norway, Hungary and Spain participating in it. The highlight of the rally is its ‘adopt-a-village programme’, where each competing team is assigned a specific village along the route. They will stop off during the rally to deliver supplies and aid that they have funded. “This initiative is an attempt to increase literacy and decrease child labour,” said the Regional Head of CEAT India Limited, Reji Meprathe, who flagged off the rally in the city.

Teams had the opportunity to consult with community leaders of the village months in advance, to learn what resources the village needed the most, he said. All the participants were encouraged to spend the months prior to the event in fund-raising activities, to purchase the resources which they will carry along the route to their village, he added. Mr. Meprathe said, “This is an international amateur motor rally which is a distinct race for rally lovers who like the off-beat.”

Autorickshaws have completed 51 years as a convenient mode of transport for short-distance travel. But the organisers have transformed the humble vehicle from a utilitarian means of transport to a vehicle for adventure sports. The lack of road safety is also addressed by the rally. The organisers have told the participants that the rally is not about speed but about adventure and enjoyment.

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