Ooru auto on top of the world

At Pangong Lake, Balakrishna Mohan’s auto-rickshaw was something of a curiosity. Locals gathered around the three-wheeler, some seeing an auto for the first time. One elderly woman at his homestay was so intrigued that Balakrishna offered her a ride. Children got rides too. For a man who had driven the same vehicle through Bengaluru’s traffic, it was an odd reversal — here, his everyday ‘workplace’ had become an attraction.The 35-year-old Sarjapur Road resident, born in Mysuru and raised in Bengaluru, had driven his auto 7,900 km from Vidhana Soudha to Ladakh and back in 24 days. He left on August 1 — his birthday — and returned on August 24, completing the journey solo. “People from Kerala have gone there, foreigners have gone there, but I thought, why shouldn’t someone from Karnataka go? But in an auto!” he says.So he prepared his own. He converted his regular yellow-board auto into a white-board vehicle so he could travel outside Bengaluru. He took a loan to fund the trip, packed a tent, groceries and vlogging equipment, and set off with little idea of what awaited him.H D Kumaraswamy urges auto industry to keep growth broad-based, focus on Indian customersHowever, Balakrishna barely got to use the tent because of regulations. He had to resort to dormitories, shared rooms and whatever affordable stays he could find. His days were long: Bengaluru to Kurnool on day one, Nirmal on day two, and Sagar on day three, covering around 450 km a day. From Delhi, where floods and heavy rain delayed him for two days, he drove 492 km to Amritsar in a single day, followed by another 465 km to Srinagar.Beyond Srinagar came the Himalayan challenge. People repeatedly told him the auto would not make it. Even in Srinagar, he was warned to turn back. There were no auto service centres for nearly 3,500 km through Ladakh, barring Srinagar and Manali. Balakrishna went anyway. He crossed Zoji La, Khardung La, Chang La, Fotu La and other high-altitude passes before reaching Umling La, the world’s highest motorable pass, in his CNG auto. A Karnataka flag fluttered from the vehicle, prompting conversations wherever he stopped — including with people who knew little about Karnataka beyond it being somewhere “further south than Kerala”.The trip cost around Rs 1.8 lakh, including the vehicle, conversion, insurance, fuel, food, stays and equipment. Now, Balakrishna is planning to convert the auto back to a commercial vehicle. But there is already another destination calling: Kanyakumari. The budget, he admits, is not ready yet. The itch clearly is.

Source: Deccan Herald