Bong Connection

Mumbai to Delhi was easy picking. Delhi to Kolkata sounded complicated too, but it required us to pass through UP, Bihar and Jharkhand.

We get off to an early morning start since we’re aiming to cover 850km by sundown, and from the looks of it, we’re pretty much on target, cruising at 120kph on the thinly-populated National Highway 2. And just when we’re thinking things are going our way, a local hero on two wheels with an equal number of pillion riders suddenly pulls out of a little side lane and lands in front of our car.

Seeing our fast-approaching vehicle, the rider panics, locks both breaks and stands right in our path-frozen and waiting for death to claim him. It seems like the perfect setting for one of those scary highway accident videos on Youtube. Luckily, our car is proficient enough to come to a halt in extra-short time and distance, stopping inches from catastrophe.

We live to tell our respective, but we could‘ve easily attained Youtube glory if not for an alert guy at wheel of impressive little hatchback. That guy with quick reflexes is our photographer Nitin, who at the first sight of the catastrophe, stood on the brake pedal with everything he had and steered away in the nick of time. And the car that saves the day is the Hyundai Grand i10, equipped with efficient brakes and ABS for added safety.

Being a co-passenger, there wasn’t much I could do apart from screaming like a schoolboy and adding to the commotion. Despite that, the Grand doesn’t lose its composure, even under hard braking, and has done exactly what we asked it to do-instantly cut speed and avoid the villagers sitting there like nine pins waiting to be knocked out. And the whole thing is no fault of ours, but we still flee the scene. Why?

Because we’re travelling through the state of Jharkhand, in a stronghold of Maoists, a group of people who aren’t really known for their fondness for either the Government or the media. Of course, we won’t dare reveal our identity in a place like this, but we have mustered up the courage to drive through this Naxal-infested area without any sort of escort. And we’re doing this because, as motoring journalists, we do tend to take some risks once in a while, and this time, we’re betting on the Grand’s overall reliability to get us out of troubled waters. And it hasn’t disappointed so far.

Our journey from Delhi’s India Gate to Kolkata’s Howrah Bridge via Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Gaya, Dhanbad and Durgapur, is to be a two-day affair. And like any other road trip through the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, this one too has had its share on antics.

In this part of India, it’s quite normal for bikes, cars and trucks to come charging at you in the wrong direction, expecting you to give way. Also, you’ll often find three-lane highway stretches suddenly disappearing, with unexpected diversions and no visible signboards to keep you informed. Plus, we’re forced to drive on broken roads for hours on end owing to a series of never-ending ‘works in progress’. Fortunately, Hyundai understands Indian road conditions really well, and has engineered the Grand fittingly. To iron out uneven roads like no other hatchback this size can. 

And it’s not just bad roads that it handles well. Given the space, the Grand will be more than happy to gobble up miles at a rapid pace- like it did on our way from Noida to Agra on the silky-smooth Yamuna Expressway. Its 3-cylinder, 1.1 Litre diesel motor is game for regular visits to the 150kph mark and even at those speeds, the engine doesn’t feel overly stressed. It is so well behaved even beyond 120kph that you’ll be momentarily fooled into believing you’re at the wheel of something bigger than a mere hatchback.

And that’s a great quality in a vehicle that has been assigned an endurance run, expected to cover an average of 700km daily for seven days straight. For Herculean tasks like this, you need a car that’s comfortable on long stretches; generous on passenger space and comfort levels; a car that, with the rear seats folded easily swallowed 400 Litres of luggage. And so far, the Grand has done all of that successfully and we expect it will continue to until our journey ends in Chennai.

But before that, we need to tackle the madness that is Kanpur, Allahabad and Varanasi. After a smooth drive on the Yamuna Expressway, we head towards Kanpur city. We spot a nearly 2km-long traffic snarl queued up outside city limits. Attempting to wade through this chaos could prove to be suicidal, so we skip it and change direction.

Compared to that, traffic in Allahabad is a bit better. And while we’re losing our cool navigating through locals walking, driving and cycling like herds of sheep, the Grand comes into its own, nipping in and out of small gaps, squeezing out of narrow lanes and avoiding running over the livestock that blissfully holds group meetings and spends leisure time in the middle of the road.

After driving for nearly 700kmph that day, we finally find some peace at Sangam Tat, a holy destination where the three great rivers, Ganga, Yamuna and Sarswati meet. It’s also the address for the nearly 100 million who visit the maha Kumbh Mela, held from January to march every year. Good we aren’t around for that.

After seeking blessings from the mighty rivers, we get a bit carried away and decide to drive into the heart of Varanasi, which is something of a capital city of Hinduism in India. To beat peak traffic, we reach the city early in the day, hoping to get a good glimpse of its narrow, crowded lanes flanked by roadside shops and Hindu temples.

To our surprise, we find that the locals here start the day as early as 5am, to visit Varansi many religious ghats. Sp welcomed by heavy traffic and after nearly an hour’s struggle, we decide to skip that as well. Fortunately we’ve got good music and efficient air conditioning, so our minds and bodies are cool despite the despair outside.

By the time we leave Varanasi, it’d 10 am and we’ve lost all hope of reaching our hotel in Kolkata in time to catch the Bahrain F1 GP. Kolkata is another 680Km away, and the race is scheduled for 8:30 pm – we still have a chance of making it to the final few laps of the race. So we put the hammer down and point the Grand’s nose towards the city of trams. By the time sun sets, we’ve shaved off close to 500km with almost 200km more to go. The highway leading from Asansol to Kolkata sees lots of heavy traffic, which threatens to slow us down, but we haven’t lost hope just yet.

With the Grand’s small footprint, and its ability to slot into narrow gaps, there’s nothing to stop this little Hyundai. It’s 9pm when we enter the city, and it takes us almost an hour to find a hotel in our budget. The money we’ve saved on the Grand’s lowly fuel bills, we spend all of it on our luxury hotel stay. For the record, the Grand has returned a healthy 18.7kpl throughout our journey from Delhi to Kolkata. Impressive! And on that positive note, we end leg 2 of the Grand Indian Drive in Kolkata.

So far, it’s been a smooth journey and the Hyundai Grand i10 has amazed us with its ability to tackle Indian driving conditions. Be it cruising a high speeds, navigating through peak traffic or evading potholes, the grand has done it all with great composure. The lengthy list of features has pampered us, and overall comfort and ride quality have been mighty impressive.

We’ve clocked close to 3,600 Km so far, and there’s 2,000 km more to go. Can the Grand keep it all together till it gets back to its place of origin? We’re betting on that!