Introduction: Driving in India demands a combination of skill, adherence to traffic rules, and consideration for fellow road users. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore various aspects of responsible driving, covering the use of indicators, wipers, hazard lights, headlights, lane discipline, right of giving way, overtaking, speed limits, honking, and the importance of patience and lane merging.
Indicators:
When to Use: Indicate your intentions when making turns, changing lanes, or merging into traffic. Turn off indicators promptly after completing the maneuver.
When Not to Use: Avoid unnecessary use of indicators to prevent confusion. Turn them off when not required.
Wipers:
When to Use: Activate windshield wipers during rain, snow, or reduced visibility due to dust or fog. Use water spray when needed to avoid scratches on the windshield.
When Not to Use: Turn off wipers when it’s not raining to avoid unnecessary wear. Ensure wiper blades are in good condition.
Hazard Lights:
When to Use: Activate hazard lights only when your vehicle is stationary due to an emergency or breakdown.
When Not to Use: Do not use hazard lights while driving, especially in dense fog or heavy rain. Rely on headlights and fog lights for visibility.
Headlights:
Low Beam vs. High Beam: Use low beam within city limits or in the presence of oncoming traffic. Switch to high beam on unlit roads, dipping lights when approaching other vehicles.
When Not to Use: Avoid high beam in well-lit areas or when driving behind another vehicle or when driving into an oncoming vehicle.
Lane Discipline:
Stay in Your Lane: Maintain your lane and use indicators for lane changes. Avoid unnecessary lane changes.
When Not to Change Lanes: Refrain from changing lanes in intersections, curves, or areas with solid white lines.
Right of Giving Way:
Basic Rules: Yield to emergency vehicles, pedestrians, and vehicles on your right. Follow rules at intersections and roundabouts.
When Not to Block Traffic: Avoid blocking intersections and maintain a smooth traffic flow.
Overtaking:
When to Overtake: Overtake from the right side safely with clear visibility, using indicators and checking blind spots.
When Not to Overtake: Avoid overtaking near intersections, curves, pedestrian crossings, or in heavy traffic. Do not overtake from the left side.
Speed Limits:
Adhering to Speed Limits: Follow posted speed limits, adjusting for weather conditions and traffic density.
When Not to Speed: Do not exceed speed limits, especially in residential areas, near hospitals and school zones.
Honking:
When to Honk: Use the horn judiciously to alert others in necessary situations.
When Not to Honk: Refrain from unnecessary honking, especially in residential areas, near hospitals and schools and during late hours.
Patience and Lane Merging:
Practice Patience: Exercise patience, especially during heavy traffic or congested conditions. Impatience can lead to aggressive driving and unsafe maneuvers.
Lane Merging: When merging from smaller roads to bigger roads, yield to oncoming traffic, use indicators, and merge smoothly. Avoid abrupt lane changes and give way when necessary.
Phone Usage While Driving:
Avoid Distractions: Do not use your phone while driving. It distracts your attention from the road and increases the risk of accidents.
Use Hands-Free Devices: If necessary, use hands-free devices for calls, ensuring your focus remains on the road.
Pull Over When Necessary: If you must attend to a call or message, find a safe spot to pull over and address it. Safety should always be the top priority.
Conclusion: By incorporating these responsible driving practices, along with patience and mindful lane merging, into your daily commute, you contribute to a safer and more courteous driving environment on India’s diverse roadways. Remember, responsible driving is a shared responsibility that benefits everyone on the road. Drive safely!
Introduction: The monsoon season often casts a magical spell on landscapes, turning them into lush, vibrant paradises. In the heart of this enchanting season, the Tata Safari Group embarked on a remarkable journey, driving from Bengaluru to Sakleshpur in Karnataka for the Monsoon Drive 2023. This three-day, two-night adventure brought together 24 members, 21 cars and 60 family members for an unforgettable experience of exploring hilly terrains, rainy weather, and forging deep connections amidst nature.
Day 1: Setting Out on the Journey: The anticipation was palpable as the convoy of 21 cars set out from Bengaluru. The pitter-patter of raindrops on the windows set the perfect backdrop for the adventure that lay ahead. As the cars wound their way through the scenic routes, the Western Ghats came into view, revealing their majestic beauty at the Kaginahare Viewpoint. The expansive landscapes stretching as far as the eye could see left everyone in awe, reminding us of the grandeur of nature. Raindrops provided the background score, composing a symphony of nature’s splendor
Day 2: Embracing Nature and Adventure: The second day began with a visit to the Bettada Byraveshwara Temple, a place of spiritual significance amidst the lush surroundings. But this day was not just about spiritual enrichment; it was also about embracing adventure. Off-road experiences brought out the thrill-seekers among the participants, as they navigated their vehicles through challenging terrains. The place featured a captivating twist: a mild trek leading to the peak, unveiling a breathtaking 270-degree panorama.
Luxury Amidst Nature: Neervana Resort: As the sun set on the second day, participants found themselves at the Neervana Resort, a haven of luxury nestled within the embrace of nature. The resort’s lush property provided not only comfortable accommodations but also a cozy ambiance that perfectly complemented the rainy weather. The culinary journey was equally delightful, with lip-smacking food, including local cuisine, adding a flavorful touch to the experience.
Bonding Amidst Challenges: Beyond the breathtaking scenery and luxurious accommodations, it was the bond among the participants that truly stood out. Over the course of the journey, the 60 family members from different cars formed a close-knit community. Shared experiences, rainy walks, and laughter-filled conversations forged emotional connections that transcended the monsoon mist.
Technical Knowledge and Adventure: The Monsoon Drive 2023 also offered moments of learning and adventure. Enthusiasts shared technical insights about their vehicles, fostering a culture of knowledge exchange, merging passion with practicality. These moments weren’t merely informative; they were a testament to the event’s essence of growth and exploration. When off-road adventures led to cars encountering mud pits, the group united in a shared endeavor. Stuck wheels transformed into a canvas for teamwork, bonding, and adventure.
Conclusion: A Journey of Nature and Connection: As the Monsoon Drive 2023 came to a close, the journey back to Bengaluru was more than just a physical return; it was a reflection of the emotional connections and memories created during those three days. The event had been more than just a drive; it had been an exploration of nature, an adventure in camaraderie, and a celebration of the beauty of human connections amidst the elements.
This unforgettable journey showcased how the monsoon rain has the power to bring people together, forging bonds that will last long after the last raindrop has fallen. The Tata Safari Group’s Monsoon Drive 2023 wasn’t just a trip; it was a chapter in the story of lives intertwined by nature, adventure, and the joy of shared experiences.
While below images share a glimpse of what the event was like, visit @tatasafarigroup on Instagram for more videos and images.
Roads were made for journeys, not destinations, with this premise, we started our trip on 24th December 2019 . The long journey in front of us only energised us although the first day was a very short one. The time was 17:30 when all the bags were in the car and all 4 of us hopped into our “home on wheels” for the next 17 days. My brother with his family together with my Mother were to start a little later and join us for dinner/hotel in Chitradurga, the place where we halted for the night. and start our long journey for the next day. With a good nights sleep , we started promptly at 6:15 am on 25th Dec and the destination was Mumbai, Thane to be specific. December morning was just the perfect weather , and soon we were near Dharward for the first stop for Breakfast. We had Idly Dosa and filter coffee, little did we know that we would not have these “Tasty Dosas” for Breakfast until we are back within Karnataka. Our lunch stop was just before Pune and we had very good “poha” sabudhana kichdi . Soon we were on the Ghats section as we entered Pune . We soon crossed Pune and few memories came to me as I had stayed for a year and remembered the familiar places , although we were on the Bangalore-Mumbai road. At 6pm I was at the toll of the famous Mumbai Pune Expressway. For this stretch my mother joined and my wife kids were with my brother .. When I called my brother to ask if had taken the exit, .. and he missed to take the correct exit to enter the toll road. This happens when there are 3 kids 2 ladies and a poor single driver..:-) listening to non stop ..” %^&*” ..its called chatter in our electronics signal language !
As Harish is good with his driving skills, he caught up with me very soon. Although this express road has 3 lanes , there is so much traffic that there is always vehicles on all three lanes. It makes even more dangerous in stretches where there are ghat sections and when it rains.. and it did rain during our drive and we did see an accident in front of us, although it was on the opposite lane. But nevertheless, it was eyeopener to be careful. When we were thinking, at what time we would have our dinner, we came across a highway restaurant “Shree Datta Snacks” just before the end of the express way.. and I say it’s a must to stop here and enjoy the Maharashtrian snacks. We stopped here for a tea break but ended up having several plates of Spicy Misal Pav, evergreen vada Pav , tasty khanda bhaji. If you are ever on this express way, it’s a must to try this joint.
Soon we exited the Highway, entered Mumbai and followed google map to Thane, searched for a nice hotel and after enquiry stayed there for 2 nights. The reason to stay in Mumbai for 2 nights was for 2 reasons, we had long drive of 800+ kms , we wanted to check if kids and my mother would be fine and most important, it was Surya Grahna on 26th. So complete rest day for me . Brother , his family and my mother went to visit Gate Way of India.
The plan for 27th was to visit “ Statue of Unity” and then proceed to Baroda for the night halt. After a good days rest and seeing the enthusiasm in all of us , we started toward Narmada river. As we had a 3 yr and my mom, Plan B was to return via Goa, Karwar Udupi and back to Bangalore. But all of us were 100% committed to visit Longewala Border Post. We had a leisure breakfast of Poha, Vadapav, sandwich for kids and off again towards Narmada dam. The roads from Mumbai onwards were quite crowded as we see in our outer ring road.. well not during peak time of course. We detoured from NH and as we came closer to our destination, we could see the Statue from quite far and reached the parking lot.
We took tickets and spent couple of hours enjoying the beauty of the Statue, the park and the Narmada River. Once satisfied we started towards to Vadodara. Reached around 8pm, looked for a decent Hotel, checked into it, refreshed ourselves and asked for a nice Gujarathi Thali restaurant which we were waiting for so long. After a really satisfying meal we headed back to hotel.
On 29th we started towards Udaipur, the city of lakes and Palaces. Stopped leisurely for break fast of Poha , Sabudana Kichdi and sandwiches with Hot tea, started again. The roads were perfect , beautiful sceneries , less traffic and just the perfect weather to be on road. 2cars with KA registration going towards RJ. We had already covered close to 1600 KM and all of us were just fresh because there is something about the momentum of travel that makes you want to just keep moving, to never stop.
We had booked this hotel the previous day as an exception. Google map showed us 2 km and we assumed another few mins. But the street was so narrow with shops on either side, it took another 45 mins for us to reach the dead end and covered 500 meters. The width was just enough for the Tata Safari with mirrors in closed position. We were just lucky that a 2 wheeler didn’t come up too close and block the road completely. The road was narrower than the gullys in our Chickpet district with rows of tourist hotels and shops on either side. Once we parked, we called up the Hotel with the hope that our hotel is somewhere nearby . luckily it was nearby and could reach by a short walk. The best part of this hotel was the location, it was along the banks of the lake Pichola and walkable to the tourist district. We quickly changed ourselves and went over to Ambrai Ghat where we spent an hour or so enjoying the beauty of Taj Lake Palace which is at the centre of Lake Pichola and City Palace on the banks of the lake with sun setting and lights all around. Suddenly we felt the chill in the air, after all it was single digit temperature. After a short walk along the street lined with shops, had a nice Rajasthani Thali and returned to Hotel.
The morning after was bright and sunny but there was also chillness in the air. The night’s lowest temperature was less than 5 Deg. Today was a rest day for the drivers and we had Pat-Pata hired for the day. We visited the Fateh Sagar Lake…… and went to the City Palace. The afternoon was spent on the court yard /garden of the palace and reached back our hotel for the night.
Rajasthan has lot of forts across the state such as Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh, Mehrangarh etc. We had planned to visit 3 of the most beautiful forts. The first among them was the Kumbhalgarh Fort which lies on a detour road between Udaipur and Jodhpur. It was perfect for us , as we could after visiting the Kumbhalgarh Fort then proceed towards Jodhpur for the night Halt.We left at 7 in the morning to ensure we exit the small lanes of Udaipur and soon we were on the country roads on the outskirts of Udaipur towards Jodhpur. After an hour of so , we were soon feeling hungry and as we were on the country roads ,we knew we couldn’t find the “The restaurant” we were so used to. While passing through a village, we saw a very small hotel where we thought we could atleast find some hot tea and stopped ourselves immediately. Instead of just Tea, we had several plates of hot Poha, fresh Kachoris Samosas and some hot tea at the end. All costing 180 Rs for 7 of us. One of the tastiest Poha we had during the trip. These are the joys of having a road trip where you see something and stop and explore. Although we had Poha every day across different states, there is always an element different in each place and each state . We could see this clearly and we wondered how different a Poha can be made with the same base ingredient. All the while being a staple food for breakfast.
We reached Kumbhalgarh around 11 Am and spent couple of hours exploring the fort. Kumbhalgarh is a World Heritage Site included in Hill Forts of Rajasthan. Built during the course of the 15th century by Rana Kumbha. It is also the Birthplace of Rana Pratap Singh.
Took lots of photos, had some light snacks . Kids went on Camel ride. After a quick lunch started towards Jodhpur. Along way enjoyed some clear air , camels and long empty roads and hints of desert . reached Jodhpur in the evening and checked into a hotel. Had a good dinner, planned for the next day and did bookings for the Desert Tent stay at Sam Sand Dunes 2 days later.
Jodhpur was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the Kingdom of Marwar, Jodhpur is a popular tourist destination, featuring many palaces, forts, and temples, and gate way to the Thar Desert. It is home to the beautiful and Majestic Mehrangarh Fort .The complete day , we had hired an auto and he took us first to the Mehrangarh fort . We had great time exploring the fort and the near by temples.
After a good Rajasthani Lunch, the ladies went to old shopping streets. The men with the kids came back to the hotel. It was also the last day of 2019, but we were excited for the next day. We were to head off to the stay in the Desert Tent at Sam Sand Dunes.
01 Jan 2020 , we started our travel to Jaisalmer and beyond . As it was the new year eve, all the restaurants were closed on the highway and we managed to request and open a restaurant and asked us to prepare Poha , sandwiches and hot tea. We proceeded and we could see sparse habitat and no vegetation on this stretch. There were no vehicles and roads were straight going towards Jaisalmer . We crossed Jaisalmer and drove towards Sam Sand Dunes.
Sam Sand Dunes is one of the largest national parks, covering an area of 3162 km². The Desert National Park is an excellent example of the ecosystem of the Thar Desert. Sand dunes form around 20% of the Park. The major landform consists of craggy rocks and compact salt lake bottoms, intermedia areas and fixed dunes. We reached our Desert Tent and after refreshing , started on a short Jeep Safari into the Deserts and followed by the customary Camel Safari.
We witnessed beautiful sunset from the Camels and returned back for an evening of camp fire , dinner and Rajasthani folk dance organised inside our camp. The next was a short drive to Jaisalmer and after checking couple of Hotels, we decided for one of them. The ladies immediately went out for shopping bags, handloom clothes to be given to friends and families.
We visited some of the famous Havelis in Jaiselmer and the Jaselmar fort and came back in the evening . Had dinner and had good rest after the previous night in Tent. The morning was -planned to visit the Longewala Yudh Sthal. This is the place of the 1971 war with Pakistan and is known for Indian Soldiers Bravery . As we exited Jaisalmer , the road towards Longewala is maintained by BSF and lined with meaningful milestones. We were at 8 am exact time for the opening and visited the museum. At the end there is short clip on what happened at Longewala in 1971 during the war and clips from the Hindi movie “Border” which based on this event.
After Longewala, the BSF at the post asked us to visit the Tanot temple. Tanot temple lies about 30 KM from Longewala Post the road between Tanot and Longewala is the most scenic. The speciality of this temple is that it is maintained completely by the BSF including the priests. [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanot_Mata ]
After memorable and feeling patriotic, we returned back to Jaisalmer. Had a walk around the Jaisalmer fort. Got some nice Samosas, Kachori’s and planned for the trip back home. In the 13 days , we had visited few forts , visited Palaces had tasted a variety of Rajasthani and Gujarathi Thalis , felt Patriotic at the Longewala War Museum, drove along the side of Pakistan Border which was a surreal experience. The tarmac we experienced were top notch quality, perfect for drives. The Highways were jotted with lots of eateries. The return journey , as Google map showed was from Jaisalmer via Barmer and to Ahmedabad for the night halt. Then later, the next day was to drive to Mumbai and the following day to our Home sweet home in Bangalore. A total of 2200 KM to reach home as per Google map. With this in mind we called it a day.
The return drive was uneventful. The road between Jaisalmer to Barmer was excellent, straight roads – no vehicles and excellent tarmac. We made an half a day stop at Ahmedabad for lots of textile shopping , packed our cars to the brim and started few hours later. We halted few hours before Mumbai for the night and the next day , made a halt in Belgaum and then reached Namma Benguluru on 7th Jan 2020 with memories and experiences.
As someone has said “Road trips are the equivalent of human wings. Ask me to go on one, any one. We’ll stop in every small town and learn the history and the stories, feel the ground, and capture the spirit. Then we’ll turn it into our own story, that will live inside our history to carry with us. Always. Because stories are more important than things.“
Conclusion: This was my 5100 Km road trip in India. This journey is for us an experience that we cherish especially in these times of Covid-Pandemic. I would like to say that Highway roads across India is excellent and safe . As a family we had apprehensions on this journey from friends and relatives. I would like to say that the road is safe as long as we follow rules and are vigilant. We had a rule not to drive in the night, which we followed except on 2 occasions. We didn’t pre book our hotels and always had plan B as option. This helped us not to be under time pressure to reach a destination. After this trip, family is confident to take up few more trips in the future . There were lots of questions on fatigue, but I would say each one us were fresh when we reached home and resumed work immediately. Writing this story itself brought us memories and are now planning for the next long drive, when the right situation comes post Covid.
Signing off: Girish Karpur & Harish
If you have a Safari travel story to share? Do not hesitate a bit, write to us at tatasafarigroup@gmail.com
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