Desert Odyssey

Forty women were out to tame Indian off roads in the Queen Of The Desert expedition in Rajasthan. Akshay Kumar is beginning to understand why the female is the stronger of the species...

Akshay !! Get into 4 x 4 low now and tell all the other jeeps to do the same,” the terse and urgent command cackling on the radio on the Tso Kar plains at 14,000 feet above sea level, still echoes in my mind at times. And I guess it was that adrenaline-pumping journey, which commenced my love affair with Off Roading.

That was back in 2000 during the ‘Isuzu Challenge’ off road expedition to Ladakh. Ever since I have been trying to launch professional self drive off road expeditions in India. The dream came true when Arik Braz, my friend in Israel, contacted me early 2004 to get the famous ‘Queen of the Desert’ expedition to Rajasthan.

Celebrating its sixth year, the ‘Queen of the Desert’ had already ventured into remote and uncharted territory. The first was held in Israel (1994) followed by Turkey, Ethiopia, Georgia and Thailand in consecutive years. Now it was time for India. They chose Mercury Himalayan Explorations (MHE) to partner with them on this huge project.

The aim of the expedition is to design a tough, off road expedition exclusively for women. The 40 participants were selected from a huge pool of 40,000 women who went through various levels of screenings and road tests before they were finally short listed. Add to this another 40 women journalists and media and we had in our hand a group of 80 women rearing to take on anything the Indian off roads could throw at them. Anything but Traffic!!!

The preparations for the event in October last year started as early as May. We zoomed in on Rajasthan as the destination. We took four, week long trips into Rajasthan exploring every dirt track, every river bed and every dune that could make the journey challenging. Using the tough Magellan Gold GPS system we were finally able to mark a route of 820 kms., which combined the best of Rajasthan in terms of culture, people and of course a challenging off road.

The next tough decision we had to make was the type of vehicles to use. In the end we decided on a combination of Ford Endeavours and Mahindra Campers as expedition vehicles.

All in place, the group arrived in Delhi and were whisked off to board Shatabdi Express for Ajmer. The women started celebrating from the moment they arrived in Delhi and didn't stop till they reached the starting point at the Rawla Jojawar in Rajasthan. The first night was scheduled at the quaint Rawla Jojawar and the entire village lined the streets to greet the honoured visitors as they alighted from their seven hour bus journey from Ajmer.

Festivities had to wait as I worked with the advance team running a final check on all the cars. The last minute wireless and mechanical checks all had to be simply perfect. Next day October 22, 2004, the ‘Queen of the Desert’ expedition was flagged off from Jojawar by His Highness, Shree Ji of Udaipur.

The next eight days were perhaps the most exciting days of my life. Women and machine (25 jeeps) locked in a battle with battle nature and taking in the rich Indian hospitality and culture, made a deadly combination.

The first day was a relatively easy drive along the rich green breathtaking countryside of South Eastern Rajasthan. Beautiful rock formations and green meadows with small patches of rugged terrain prompted everyone to engage the four-wheel drives and breeze through. Some teams had a tough time getting a hang of the rugged Mahindra Camper, which needed all of four hands to engage the 4WD gear or the sixth gear as the locals like to call it. On the other hand the lucky ones in the Fords were smiling through the maneuvers.

Our second night halt was at the beautiful step-well at Narlai, land of Narad Muni, who is the companion of God Vishnu, the maintainer of divine order, according to Hindu mythology. Reflecting the later progression of Indian philosophical thought, the area has about 140 temples dedicated to Jainism - a reactionary offshoot that along with Buddhism challenged the hegemony and corruption in Brahmanical thought around 300 BC.

Lit up in welcome, the step well took everyone by surprise and they just gaped at its grandeur. Boots were thrown open and everyone pulled out their tents and started scurrying around to get the best camping spot. All went smooth till a group of five women raided the kitchen set up by the MHE support team and insisted on helping. Having never seen rotis being prepared they took on the arduous task of making 160 rotis which came out in all shapes and sizes and took all of four hours to make. Not that anyone minded, as the rest of the participants were busy taking treks, dancing and just basking in the tranquil surroundings.

The next couple of days were as exciting as the teams were never told of their ultimate destination. Everything was planned so as to come as a surprise for the participants. And surprised they were when asked to park their cars and take a two-hour walk through dense forests (a dense forest in Rajasthan is a big surprise for anyone) up a hill to the awe inspiring Kumbalgarh Fort.

The next break was the night halt at a small ashram, which classified perfectly as middle of nowhere. The Swamiji of the ashram organised a ‘jaagran’ (night vigil comprising of singing devotional songs) and even though the women did not understand the language, the spiritual message was loud and clear. Sleeping on the floor of the tiny ashram was one of the most uncomfortable but satisfying nights of the entire trip.

Time to get into the heart of Rajasthan, we now drove through some of the most challenging off roads via the Kumbalgarh Sanctuary to the small village of Korta. With the Chhote Thakur of the village Nirbhay who was accompanying our group the locals just threw open their houses to welcome us. We had a night halt in the village and the refrain ‘Where are we sleeping?’ rung out from all quarters.

There was yet another surprise in store for the participants as all teams were allotted one ‘Garasia’ (shepherd) house each where they would spend the night with the local family. The language barriers were quickly overcome by sign language and after this one night the women and the families left as life-long friends.

By the fourth day the cars started taking a beating. Ripped tyres, crushed fenders, jammed gear sticks and burning clutch plates started taking a toll on the team members and mechanics alike. Would they ease off on the off road? Would they prefer an easier route? NO WAY!!! They volunteered for this and they jolly well finish it as planned.

Now it was time to move towards the central kingdoms of Rajasthan, starting with an overnight in Jodhpur. A laid back day of shopping and a dinner on the terrace of an old haveli with the Mehrangarh Fort as a backdrop rejuvenated the ladies from the hard riding and I suspect many of them were tempted to think that the toughest part was over.

They must have done a rethink with the five a.m. wake up call. A hurried breakfast and we were off to Samrao. Nestled in the middle of huge sand dunes this small village had all the makings of a Sholay. It was one long tough day of off roading through the seemingly endless dunes. Every kilometer was full of jeeps stuck in the sand and women screaming and giving advice. It wasn't a pretty sight. Finally the leader, Sigal Geva got the entire team together and gave them a crash course in four-wheel driving. The effects were amazing, all the tyres were deflated for more traction and the drivers managed to sail through wave after wave of sand dunes.

Surprises followed them like a ghost. In the middle of the desert when they were least bothered about their home, country and family, they got a packet from Israel - containing Israeli newspapers and mail. Messages, remarks, sketches made by their kids, photographs of their pets, all specially printed for the team members made these ‘queens’ cry like babies. Suddenly all these tough Israeli women who could conquer anything were in each other’s arms crying their hearts out.

Two days left in the desert and one could see that now finally the women were all tired to the bone. But they still would not give in. Their grit and determination saw them through some tough and unforgiving landscapes. But whenever they despaired, the local villagers in their enthusiasm and simple curiosity washed away any doubts that they may have had.

By now word had spread and a bunch of photographers and journalists were following us, almost everywhere. Not equipped with off road vehicles they were a sorry sight trying to get out of mud, sand and just standing helpless in the middle of nowhere, as the participants waved and drove past.

A sandstorm on the last night of the expedition was what one would call a perfect ending and a true blue Rajasthan experience. In no time the visibility was down to 100 metres and the tents, cars and participants were all covered in a layer of fine white dust. “No problems we get these daily in Israel,” cooed the ladies.

The expedition finished to a rousing welcome in Pushkar where the team bid adieu to the jeeps. The journey to Ajmer and the train ride to Delhi were all a blur. At the airport while saying goodbye it felt like some family members were going away. Despite the whirlwind expedition, the Queens had not only sashayed through grueling terrain but also conquered numerous hearts. Teary farewells, lots of cheering and they were gone. Looking for new challenges and a new country one can only guess which destination they will choose next.

(The author is general manager, operations, Mercury Himalayan Explorations, Delhi)