Three Indians Drive From London To Mongolia In A Tata Nano To 'Make A Difference'

While most people in urban spaces crave the thrill of the open road, it’s not often that city-dwellers get the chance to set out on an exciting adventure for two whole months, especially one that makes a social difference. And when such rare occurrences surface, we concrete jungle folk like to live vicariously through the stories of others, chalking up our calendars for when we can follow suit. In the spirit of living vicariously through crazy travellers and their crazier journeys, we steer our focus to the Mongol Rally, the NanoMADs trio, and their electric blue TATA Nano.

The Mongol Rally, based on the perfect blend between adventure and charity, has only three rules. One, you can only take a farcically small vehicle. Two, you’re completely on your own. And three, you have to raise a certain amount of money for your chosen charity organisation. Taken by the concept, Bhairav Kuttaiah, a petrol-head and adventurer who is an advocate in his free time, first floated the idea to participate in this 18,000 km journey from London to Ulan Ude to two of his closest friends. As Binoy John, who describes himself as a wannabe racer, entrepreneur and adventurer, tells us, “Bhairav mooted the idea and the two of us weren’t paying too much attention to the whatsapp group, and agreed before realising what the Mongol rally was! The next weekend, three of us met up with a world map in our hands, ready to pen down our route!”

While driving a Nano on regular roads might cause most people to raise their eyebrows in doubt, the trio will saddle this tiny car over unpredictable terrain in their two-month-long odyssey across Europe and Asia. Sunaina Pamudurthy, the start-up junkie and sports enthusiast who completes this triad, fills us in on the multitude of reasons behind their chosen vehicle, “To begin with, it complies with all the rally rules and regulations (its engine is less than 1000cc), it is an engineering marvel and it will also be the first Indian car to compete and hopefully complete the rally!”

Conquering tough terrain in a vehicle not suited for the same is definitely an experience they’re looking forward to, but their priority is to use this trip to make a difference in the social sector of education. “We’ve worked very closely with MAD in the past, and we believe in their cause and the metronomic change that can only be brought through grass root education and support,” Kuttaiah tells us about Make A Difference (MAD), the charity team NanoMADs will be raising funds for. 

Undertaking a crazy journey like this one takes travellers as eccentric as the proposition itself, and this team fits the bill pretty perfectly. Each one of them is as unpredictable as the next, as Kuttaiah says it, “We are all Dean Moriarty-esque in our own ways which makes our team pretty interesting!” Apart from copius amounts of funds for MAD, they hope this trip will give them just one other thing: the journey of a lifetime.

Stay updated with the NanoMADs’ adventures here, and get in touch with them personally at swiperight@nanomads.com.