On The Rally Train

The 2018 Rally of Arunachal is a good insight on where rallying is headed in the country.

- Tuhin Guha

As the Donyi Polo Express pulled into the quaint Naharlagun station early in the morning, the view that greeted me seemed to affirm everything that I thought Arunachal Pradesh might be. A feeling possibly accentuated by the anticipation that builds up over the course of a longish train journey. Open farmlands, dotted with wild cotton-grass led up to a line of green scraggy hills, a world away from the bustle of Mumbai that I seem to have reluctantly gotten used to now. A couple of wooden huts, and happy village kids playing with a pup seemed to add a tinge of perfection to the view. This scene set the perfect tone for the third round of the 2018 Indian National Rally Championship that was held near the capital city of Itanagar.

But why the North East? For many, this part of the country is still a remote, mystical place of which we are only partially aware of. Bring motorsport into the mix and this feeling intensifies.

To understand more about the Rally of Arunachal and about the state of rallying in the North East, and in the country as a whole, I decided to speak to a few people closely associated with the event. The first of these was J Prithviraj, of the CASC (Coimbatore Auto Sports Club) who also served as the President of the FMSCI for a brief period of time. He was the COC for the event, and had been called upon by the promoters of the INRC and the Motor sport Club of Arunachal to help organise and run the rally here. He was the first to give me insight into what was possibly the most important aspect of this event.