It had been a tough year of fundraising but the prize was finally in sight for the participants in Karma Enduro 2009. On November 3, in a compound near Colva Beach in Goa, we were introduced to the 30 pearly white Ambassador cars which we would drive 2000 km across the Western Ghats of southern India. The route would take us through Goa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to our final goal, Cochin in Kerala. Few people really knew what to expect; some viewed the run with trepidation while others felt the surge of adrenalin. But every single one of the 35 men and 20 women were grinning with excitement. India was waiting with all its culture, colour, curries and –unpredictable roads.
Organised by Global Enduro Ltd, based in Bath, Karma was only in its second year although Simon Smith launched the company in 2003 with a motorcycle ride, Enduro India. To be able to join the party this year, drivers were required to raise a minimum of £5,995 sponsorship while the co-drivers/navigators, £4,995 for each additional seat. But the money is not simply tucked into the organisers’ pockets.
While Global takes a fee of £1,500 per person to cover the UK operation and a further sum of £2,695 per participant to cover the costs of the trip, the remainder is divided equally between the nominated charities for 2009. The company guarantees that at least 30 per cent of the total amount raised will be passed on to the charities, plus 100 per cent of monies over the minimum requirement.
This year, the intrepid Enduros raised over £125,000 to be shared by UNICEF India’s ‘Born free from HIV’ campaign and the Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity. For added support, UNICEF UK’s Executive Director, David Bull was driving car number 26 with his daughter Katy (until they had to switch to the spare car in Mysore!). Rainbow was not to be outdone: Regional and Community Fundraising Manager, Sarah Tuckwell ride shotgun with solo drivers.
It was a mixed bunch of people that plastered their cars with sponsors’ stickers under a hot Indian sun in anticipation of that first orientation drive. Paupers and millionaires, students and those of a certain age – all were eager to get behind the wheel for an adventure that would prove to be mentally and physically challenging. How many of us heeded the previous evening’s wise words from the team ‘cultural attaché’, ‘Billy’ Beulah Kolhatkar?
“If you fight against India she will crush you,” she told us in a voice as languid as the soft waters of Mother Ganga. “Embrace her, go with the flow and you will be rewarded. But expected the unexpected; in India the unusual is normal.”
Apparently, the assembled Ambis had been hired for the duration through GEO Motors, a Hindustan dealership. As the 50bhp diesel engine coughed happily away, my co-driver Nick and I assessed the merits of car number 16, a five year old Ambassador Classic. It boasted but a single windscreen wiper (fortunately on the driver’s side), no handbrake or air conditioning while the mix of radial and cross ply tyres were as bald as racing slicks. But at least it had power steering and a horn that worked, albeit sporadically. Life was looking even more interesting.
Our orientation day of a mere 50km quickly revealed the hazards of India’s chaotic roads. The horn proved to be one of the Ambassador’s most vital components as drivers fought to negotiate a way through the mass of trucks, buses, motorcycles, itinerant pedestrians and cows, just to mention a few obstacles. But concentration had to be at 100 per cent for the navigator as well as the driver. He or she had to follow the route, anticipating the twists and turns, with a storyboard of roads and markers, the distance to each variation sometimes measured in fractions of a kilometre. Woe betide the navigator who failed to spot the small track to the side or the vital turn up ahead. There was little option for the solo drivers but to hang on to the tail of the car in front or risk getting hopelessly lost.
Leaving Colva on the first real day of driving, the pack headed south toward the idyll of Palolem beach. Past iridescent green rice paddies of the lowlands, we climbed up narrow roads and tracks into the Western Ghats themselves. Here, the verdant lush green foliage that might have hidden sinuous cobras, occasionally gave way to stunning vistas of the valleys below.
After the relative luxury of the four star Baywatch, Palolem’s beach huts were just a little too basic for some of the participants. But the amber crescent of the beach next a glistening sea under a setting sun, plus a few Kingfisher beers, quietened even the bitterest complaints.
As we travelled onwards into Karnataka the scenery grew ever more beautiful. But the roads became ever more treacherous. Deep potholes, rutted tarmac, loose gravel, a fords, slippery viscous mud and narrow tracks combined to test the unwary driver’s capability to stay on the runway. And vision was often impeded by billows of belching black smoke spewing from the exhaust of the car ahead.
The road from Shimoga to Silent Valley not only challenged the drivers’ skills but the durability of the cars themselves. High in the mountains, the precipitous narrow track was to extract a heavy toll. No less than five sumps were broken on the pits and peaks of savage potholes. As we started to descend through magical plantations of coffee bushes, Jason drove his car gently into a ditch and was ignominiously pulled out by the ropes of a passing jeep.
The rate of attrition was to rise over the course of the rally – two more cars grounded in culverts, several blown tyres and at least one broken accelerator cable. The local Karma mechanics were stretched to the very limits, often working late into the night. But little dented the enthusiasm and good humour of the drivers. Passing a stationary car with the driver showing a thumb’s down sign, you stopped to help. Camaraderie and the team spirit evolved quickly, becoming stronger every day. As did the sense of competition.
Power-sliding through tight hairpins, overtaking with a klaxon blast on blind corners or racing side by side across multiple ruts was fun. Notwithstanding the conditions, the racing instinct was running on all cylinders. And the sense of achievement when finally we rolled up in convoy to Le Meridien in Cochin was as vast as the sub-continent itself.
But Karma Enduro gifts so much more than just a manic drive through the Western Ghats. Perhaps the tea plantations of Kerala, undulating acres of dark emerald crowned with delicate lime green tips, formed the peak of a mountain of amazing sights. Then there was the manic bustle of Mysore and the quiet peace of the Jungle Retreat at Masinagudi. (Ironically the latter is jointly owned by Rohan and Vikram Mathias; Vikram being the current title holder of the Indian National Rally Championship.) Add soaring fish eagles and wild elephants, the silvered magnificence of Shiva looking down over Murudeshwar, the vivid colours and pungent smells of the markets – all of these and more combined to make this an unforgettable ride.
However, it was the people we met along the way that gilded the lily. Many lived in abject poverty but still had smiles on their faces. They waved at our passing, laughing at the train of garishly decorated cars, tassels flying from aerials and garlands adorning bonnets. And sometimes they honoured us with flowers, gently handed through the open car windows. They gave so much and asked for little in return but a simple smile or a thumbs up as we rushed by in clouds of dust.
Not to forget the Karma team which supported the rally at the beginning, the middle and the end. Laid back and invariably cheerful, they got us to Cochin –almost in one piece. And became friends. The adventure might have ended but the memories remain. As will the participants’ fundraising efforts.
David Bull said: “£62.5k is a very significant contribution. It will, without doubt save and change the lives of many children impacted by the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS. The ultimate impact will be far beyond the amount of money directly contributed. It’s because I know how much difference even small amounts of money can make that I joined all of you in a personal effort to make my own contribution.”
Adding her thanks, Sarah Tuckwell said: “Rainbow is delighted to be a beneficiary of Karma Enduro and would like to thank each and every person involved. This amazing amount of money will enable us to fund nine out of our fleet of 34 Family Support Worker vehicles. On average, each costs £7,000 per annum, travelling around 29,000km transporting sick children and their families. The funds received from Karma Enduro ensure we can be there for families when they need us most.”