Three women from Chennai take on a road-trip adventure across the length of the country
They had a dream — the Chennaiite trio of Sunita Dugar, Parneet Sandhu and Neetha Jagan — three women in their 30s, who shared a common passion for wanderlust, and wanted to create a platform exclusively for other like-minded women travellers across the country to take the plunge.
‘The Travelling Divas’, they called themselves, a fancy moniker to associate with their to-be adventures ... but wait! They first had to convince random, nervous ladies who had never stepped out of their comfort zone, to trust them with their biggest fears!
Besides, Sunita was an entrepreneur, Parneet worked for a U.S-based company and Neetha was a manager — shouldn’t ‘the Divas’ first translate their desire into practical experience before hoping to inspire others?
That’s exactly what they did — with their brainchild K2K (Kanyakumari to Kashmir, motivated by biker Roshni Sharma’s drive last year) armed with nothing but their sense of freedom, lots of courage and a trusty Ford EcoSport.
Says Sunita, “We’re friends from the Chennai Trekking Club, and this was an idea that’s been taking shape for over a decade! Armed with a common love for travel, our mission was to encourage solo women travellers, and organise hassle-free trips for them to explore and enjoy, without having to pay anything extra for the services rendered. We did a test-trip of sorts to Wayanad and Chikmagalur first, to ensure our driving skills were perfect and that gave us the confidence to plan something bigger.”
And just like that, they left earlier last month on August 8 for a trip that would redefine their perspectives and goals for good. “It’s hard to pick one amazing moment from the journey — but reaching Srinagar was magical. We actually wanted to drive upto Leh-Ladakh as well, but our car broke down for the third or fourth time by then! And we had to forgo the final tip of our experience for another time and take a flight back home. But we covered more than 5000 kms,” quips Sunita.
There were other challenges aplenty as well, says Parneet. “Such as reaching Hyderabad after completing 1000 kms in a single day, driving at around 11 pm in the middle of the night on the Nagpur-Seoni road without a soul around, covered in complete darkness. Other areas where we could have been surrounded by lorries and thugs, with no networks on our phones...we were scared, of course, but we made it through everything!”
And more than anything, the trip reaffirmed their faith in humanity, she adds, “We were driving the car on roads with really difficult curves up north, but still managed to hold our own. But the times we did face difficulty, for instance, right in front of the Dal Lake, the locals rushed to our help! They were humble and kind — which was deeply heartening.”
She adds, “Taking in the diverse culture, the cuisine also thrilled us! From biriyani in M.P to Punjabi parathas, we sampled them all! The sheer variety of the food along the way was brilliant,” she recalls, smiling.
Now that their first adventure has been accomplished, ‘The Travelling Divas’ are already planning their next projects! They share, “A drive from east to west of the country, definitely an international trip is in the works, and also maybe a drive from India to Thailand soon. This K2K accomplishment has also served as a launchpad for our venture, and we hope other women will step forward to join us now.”
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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