By the end of the trip we had clocked over 750 kilometers over four days, but the planning was done before even a kilometer was driven.

This was not a hectic drive, while on the planning process of what we should do during this year’s Great India Drive, I got very inspired by the routes my friends in auto magazines and television shows were taking. Some were off to the north-east, others all the way down the western seaboard and yet others driving all the way up to Ladakh. But after discussions with Hyundai and inside office and realising that I had to execute the trip by myself, it was decided to stick to the state of Gujarat itself. 

In fact, when I realised that central Gujarat itself had a host of sites to offer, I even whittled down the drive I planned to do within the state itself. Initially, I had wanted to go to Porbandar and the Somnath Temple on the western coast of the state. But after speaking to friends and family, I realised that the area around Ahmedabad-Vadodara itself had a bunch of places and sites that we could visit, the driving aspect of the drive would remain but one didn’t have to do a mega cross-country epic. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to do a cross-country epic, but the overall paucity of time, and not wanting to do a rush job, of course one can drive from Ahmedabad to Delhi in a day, but then what? And the point of the ‘Great India Drive’ was after all to explore the country, and having grown up in Delhi and being a card-carrying member of the city’s media elite, you realise that Delhi gets far too much attention in the national media. I love my city but its history and culture have been covered far too much in the media. 

It might not seem like much in terms of sheer distance, but the planning for the trip took us some time. It helped that Talish Ray, an old friend, thanks to my wife with whom she went to Lady Shriram and now a lawyer who conducts history walks with a focus on explaining history to young adults happily jumped on our bandwagon. I’d called Talish to suggest who I could speak to in Ahmedabad, someone who conducts walks at various sites and the old city but Talish just said, “pay for my air tickets and stay.” Perfect. I then spoke to my friend Arjun Pandey, a documentary film-maker and asked him for logistical support when it came to a cameraperson and later video-editing. I can’t wait to share the videos and footage that we have - over 10 hours worth - than Manish Kumar, our quick-thinking and smart cameraperson shot.

So back to the planning, I met up with Talish between a couple of her client meetings and initially we planned to go to the Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) site of Lothal south of Ahmedabad at the entrance to the Gulf of Khambhat. This trading port proves that the people who have lived in this region have been traders as far back as we know. Given that there is a lot of news about the IVC, particularly their genealogy as all the news about Rakhigarhi appears today but going to Lothal meant a day-trip and when we have a finite number of days, travelling to Lothal would have meant skipping the sites at Modhera and Patan. It was my mother, another history buff and editor of several guide-books for the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) who suggested that we dump Lothal and travelled north instead. 

In the end I’m glad we took that call, although I would love to visit Lothal someday. In fact, visiting the site at Mohenjodaro is one of the few reasons I want to visit our friendly western neighbour, but that is another story. But for now, it was time to pack and to fly to Gujarat.

PICTURE: Our final route.