MACHINE VS NATURE

Driving one of the most unique automobiles in the country to the world's highest motorable road!

- ABHIMANYU BANSAL

As I settled into the driver's seat of the Pravaig Veer, I could feel the wind whip across my face, a sharp reminder that this was no ordinary vehicle. The Veer is an open machine, designed for special operations in the harshest of environments. Ladakh, with its jagged mountain peaks and valleys, felt more like a proving ground than landscape and a place where Mother Earth seemed to dare you to venture deeper. This was not just a test drive but a battle between man, machine and nature. The first thing that struck me about the Veer was its rawness. There was no separation between me and the world outside-no doors to shield me from the elements, no windows to mute the howling wind. The only barrier was the vehicle's minimalistic frame, designed not for comfort, but survival. Yet, when I pressed the start button the Veer's silent powertrain came to life with just a quiet hum. There was something almost primal about it, a machine stripped down to its essentials, ready for whatever the world had to throw at it.

Leh, our starting point, sits at over 11,000 feet above sea level and breathing there felt a little different, a little more intentional. The altitude whispered its first warning: this journey was going to test us. But the Veer, with its electric heart, didn't seem to care about the thin air. No internal combustion, no oxygen issues - just pure, unadulterated torque. This is the beauty of electric vehicles: they're indifferent to the challenges that plague traditional engines. Driving to Umling La is not for the faint hearted either. At 19,024 feet, it's the world's highest motorable pass. The road itself is more suggestion than reality, a series of switchbacks clinging precariously to the mountainside, with nothing but a sheer drop to remind you of the stakes.