AFVOA Newletter August 2020

Section 6 – eConnect Reviews CV 2 No. 02 / 2020 Page 203 of 237 Meenakshi to undertake this arduous journey. In a casual conversation, she mentioned of her close familial connection to the one and only Shri G D Naidu, Innovator, Engineer, Scientist, Industrialist and a Philanthropist of Coimbatore. Such close proximity to the versatile genius may have truly rubbed off on her while charting our her own domains of excellence. Born and brought up in Coimbatore, she lived in Dindigul and Kodai for a few years after marriage, before shifting back to Coimbatore. Quite taken in by the art and science of driving, she started driving her father’s Ambassador car when she was only 15. Illegally may be, but that’s when the seeds for her gutsy expeditions later in life were sown. And how! That she has a gear shift tatoo on her hand is indicative of her craze for driving. If she was given a choice to choose between a man and a machine, she says she will choose the latter! That is the level of passion she attaches to her chosen pastime. By jove, didn’t we all see that in person today ? Before the meeting, the members mentally prepared themselves for a Powerpoint presentation full of vignettes clicked from her travels, but Ms Meenakshi stunned the audience with her picturesque speech, that was head and shoulders above any presentation hosted by professional Speakers. That she did not even look at her notes or a cheat sheet throughout her talk says much about her brimming confidence. Ms Meenakshi has driven in about 70 countries so far. The teaser for planning longer drives was when she, along with a group comprising family and friends, drove in the trilateral highway connecting India – Myanmar – Thailand was inaugurated during Jan 2016. The Coimbatore – London trip, which was the mother of all long trips, happened soon afterwards. Her hunt for driving partners for the all-women team began in right earnest. And the 3 ½ month intense research began in parallel. Ms Priya Rajpal from Mumbai and Ms Mookambika Rathnam from Pollachi were the other two members of her team XPD-24-70 (XPD to denote expedition, 24 to denote the number of countries to be traversed and 70 is the age of independent India). The pre-expedition period involved extensive documentation in the form of planning the route, applying Visa for visit to 11 countries, complying with specific Driving License requirements for some of the countries to be visited and the compulsory engagement of a Guide for a few countries. It was to Ms Meenakshi’s credit that she spurned offers from imported brands for sponsorship of a car . She had made up her mind about doing the trip only in a car associated with an Indian brand. TATA readily agreed to sponsor the team’s trip. The timing was just right as TATA were just about launching their Hexa then. The entire Team spent four days in TATA’s workshop in Pune to understand the mechanics of the car thoroughly. The car given by TATA was named Dhanno, after our very own Basanti’s horse in Sholay. The faithful Dhanno was not just a machine for the team.