AFVOA Newletter August 2020

Section 6 – eConnect Reviews CV 2 No. 02 / 2020 Page 204 of 237 Dhanno soon developed a character of its own and became the team’s nest through the expedition. Seen off by more than 3,000 people in Coimbatore on Mar 23, 2017, the team drove into central London on Jun 05, 2017, after driving 27,000+kms and gathering invaluable experience en route , to be received by almost 200 people on a typical English rainy weather, comprising the High Commission staff, her whole family and many strangers including the members of the London Tamil Association. Right on schedule, in the face of unknown odds in driving through foreign land for most part! If this is not precision planning, what is? Didn’t she have any problems en route ? Well, on her first expedition, there was not even a flat tyre, so to speak. But in Kashgar (the Uyghur country), in North West China, a navigational error by the local Guide took them to a wrong border check post. In a single entry Visa, there was no provision to track back too. At this stage of the journey, there were only two of them as the third member, Priya Rajpal had to cut short her participation. The Team had to exit through the border post into Kyrgyzstan and drive a thousand kilo meters to track their Guide who was waiting at the originally planned border post. Also, her experience of having to share the bunker for the night with two burly but friendly Russian males was scary. The only other problem was Ms Meenakshi’s very restricted diet of eating only potatoes in all forms, being a pure vegetarian. But the next expedition, the Coimbatore – St Petersburg, had its fair share of technical problems. The engine of the second vehicle, a blue Hexa driven by her brother stalled and had to be brought back on road using Indian jugaad, by removing the EGR and sealing its place with a tin plate cut out of a Coke can, about 2,000 km short of Moscow. There is only so much Ms Meenakshi could cover within the limited time, but we may be in for a treat in the form of a detailed travelogue. Ms Meenakshi is currently working with the famous writer, that too an air veteran, Air Cmde Nitin Sathe to cover her expeditions. The expedition was not just about driving and more driving. Ms Meenakshi ran into an Uzbekistan family specializing in Bollywood songs in one of the dinners hosted by the Indian Embassy en route . This is the Khakramon family of 4 siblings, who are part of a troupe named Havas Guruhi. She invited them to Coimbatore to perform in India for the first time during 2018. That the show also netted INR 20 lacs for a charitable cause showcases the philanthropic side of Ms Meenakshi Arvind. The author strongly recommends the members to look for Havas Guruhi in YouTube, for one more reason to feel thrilled about meeting Ms Meenakshi today.