Beware the white lady driver

A self-drive adventure in india

5y ago
2.8K

As you might have seen in last week's interview with Myles' CEO Sakshi Vij (www.drivetribe.com/p/LYOJou2GS2-FbL8oBmoymg/B1jLuBOxSuKtIboBvKgMsw) self-driving car rental services in India are gaining popularity. Of course I was very eager to put this claim to the test.

My reason to visit India during this time of year was the wedding of a friend in Mumbai. Together with 3 friends I flew to Goa the day after the celebrations. Goa is the liberal beach area of India where hordes of international and Indian tourists come to party. Originally a colony of Portugal, it now seems to be taken over by mainly British an Russian tourists. It's not so strange to see a white person on a scooter or a Royal Enfield motorcycle. Admittedly, 2 wheels are the best form of transportation on the narrow roads. However, to see a white lady behind the wheel of a little offroad car still raises some eyebrows, much to our amusement.

I decided to rent a Mahindra Thar, India's take on the Jeep. A little diesel car with decent offroad capabilities, despite the lack of 4-wheel drive. Nothing can distract you from driving, since it has no radio or any other form of luxury. Funnily enough there was an A/C button, which seems useless on a car without full roof or windows.

Self-drive cars are delivered to your location of choice. After much confused calling back and forth the rental guy managed to find out little hotel. A range of usual questions came up, like "You know how to drive a stick?" "You know you should drive on the left?". I began to wonder what kind of people normally rent these cars. I guess the amount of dents and scratches this Thar managed to accumulate in just 43,000km gave me a clue.

The first time I ever drove in India was in the car of a friend. I vividly remember teenagers by the side of the road in a small farmer village clapping and cheering as we drove by, two white ladies in the front, and an Indian guy sleeping in the back. I'm not sure if they were clapping for me, as a rarity behind the wheel, or clapping for my Indian friend, who obviously had his own little harem of lady drivers ;)

I was expecting a similar treatment this time, but Goa being much more liberal, the whole scene was reduced to raised eyebrows and funny stares. In any case, we had great fun exploring a local wildlife park. Our map of the park wasn't very useful and at a certain point we got onto a road that was marked as "don't go here". The Thar didn't mind though. It was happily ploughing on through little streams, crawling over rocks and sliding through some mud. It was a fun ride. I loved the Thar for its sober simplicity and the way it handled obstacles without the help of any gadgets. Actually, the same reasons why I love India.

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Comments (1)

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      3 years ago
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