TAJ BENGAL 2ND JULY 12 30 PM

1) After an eventful and inspirational day at Jamshedpur, we left for Kolkata to be in Taj Bengal, one of our finest hotels. The drive from Jamshedpur to Kharkpur was nothing great. This is an industrial belt and we had more than 1000 trucks on the road till kharkapur. there was this 10 km streatch which had no road but pot holes. Ashish had to get down and look for the road so that i can drive!!!

Satyajeet you were right, Some of the Bihar roads are like "Vada paos" it just that there was no "pao" but only "vadas"

2) As we reached highway it was amazing, the first sight of Hoogli river, the new Vidya Sagar bridge at Kolkata, thick forest enroute, slight drizzle on the road,

3) We were delighted to be in Taj bengal and looking back just 8 days back i was at extreme western corner Jaisalmer.

4) Mr Mohanchandran, the General Manager received us with Hod's and we made our way to the cafeteria where it was time to interact with the staff. they wrote messages of support and spoke about their feelings on 26/11. We observed a 1 minute silence and i could sense a true spirit of togetherness and gratitude flowing in the air..
5) I spent my evening interacting with staff at various areas in this beautiful, classy hotel which exudes excellence from every corner..

JAMSHEDPUR 1ST JUY 4 PM - A DREAM VISIT...

A DREAM VISIT TO JAMSHEDPUR- I had to stop here even though we don't have a hotel here since this is from where it all started. The heart of Tatas, the centre of our value system and theres no better place to get my "Peace car" but here at Jamshedpur ."Inspirational "

1) A long 12 hour drive from Varanasi and we were at the gates of Jamshedpur. The GT road on the way was great drive, the ghats, thick forests of Jharkhand, amazing views from your window, overcrowded vans on the highway ( we stopped and asked him how many people you are carrying and he proudly says 18-20 !!!!!) the first rain which we encountered on our drive, its all there in the photographs above.Ashish from Varanasi accompanied me on this journey and it was fun.

2) Mr Farzan Heerjee from Tata Steel was kind enough to arrange a great press interaction for this initiative. To speak at this historic place about Tatas, Taj and its values is just great honour.

3) A dream visit to Tata Steel Plant and we just couldn't believe what we saw. "WoW" and we were speechless after seeing the plant for 2 hours. They say you need 4 hours too see the whole set up. You can't get bigger than this..

4) Genuine feelings about their company and how great it is to work for Tatas, is what what you get when you meet various Tata employees. You feel proud to be part of TATA family

5)A visit to Tata Archive and you could catch the great history of Tatas with some magical work of Hussain paintings donting the walls of this musesum. Wish I had more time...

6) Our stay at TISCO guest house was like home. after 12 days we got some amazing home cooked food and staff in the guest house are just simply to die for..ever courteous, smiling and efficient. Got a achance to interact with guests staying in the guest house in the dining area too and they were curious to know about this drive. Thank you Mr Saibal Ghose for a wonderful stay..

ROAD SIDE EXPERIENCES- amazing ones..

1) TOLL BARRIER IN MP

We were travelling from interiors of Madhya Pradesh thru the jungles when this incident happened. We were stopped at this Toll in the village by two men. They asked me to shell out Rs 100. I could read it was written Rs40 at the gate. But knowing i am in the middle of no where in the jungle i said Ok and told hin give me the receipt.He looked at me actually stared at me saying nothing.Then he started looking into the car and asked me to give me everything I thought the worst is about come and I started thinking some action will happen now. For next 5 minutes he asked me 10 questions about who I am?, from where?, what is this car about ? etc etc I answered like an obedient school boy with a smile. He looked at the Taj hotel photograph and some how the conversation went to 26/11. 2 more guys joined him and they wanted to enter the car. Then suddenly to my surprise he tells me "sardarji aap jao". I said what about your money..he said it again this time a bit stern, Go ..and without wasting time I zipped away when other colleagues of him tried stopping me.

Why did he leave me? I guess there was some connect he made with the Taj photograph and whole incident when i told him my purpose behind this journey...amazing

2) AT CHITTORGARH FORT

On our trip to this huge fort on the hill top were surrounded by tour guides at entrance. Trying to sell their services to us but we politely refused and started telling them about what we are driving for. A great interaction and after that one person gave a long speech on peace, mera bharat mahan and how we should fight terror. Great time and then we were offerd free guided tour of the fort.

3) AT RAILWAY CROSSING, IN THE VILLAGE..

Railway crossing ideal time for people to come out of their vehicles and started reading our messaages on the car. This man in the photograph in the village was more than pleased to see our car decked up

4) GUEST AT PANNA

The guests at panna saw the car and were curious to meet me. a great talk on Taj and its values and we exchanged our cards for future contacts. He had some encouraging words and started sharing his experiences in Taj Mahal Mumbai.

5) AT THE SERVICE STATION

This one was also amazing. the car needed a check up too so we drove staraight to Ford service station from Bandhavgarh before going to the hotel. He was busy with other work but we requested him for a wash and quick check up of the car. He went out of the way to get our car done first. all at service station came to see the car and started talking to me about how I am driving 12000 km in thsi vehicle. When I asked for the bill, he politely refused and said i have voided the "order" and it will be complimentary. I was zapped and insisited on paying since I knew he did it when other customers were waiting. But he said ' you are going for such a great cause how can I take money" Hats Off to you man !

THE GATEWAY HOTEL VARANASI 30TH JUNE 4 PM

To cover a 275 km streatch from Lucknow to varanasi it took us 6 hours. But remember U P roads are "akuri on toast". We had to take a diversion thru villages since there were some road blocks onthe way. Some great photographs on the way to capture the country side

We reached Varanasi at 5 amd Mr bajpai received us with some media who were waiting there. A good hearty interaction with staff, media, sigbing of poster and we were done for the day. But coming to varanasi and not seeing the streets and evening arti is not done. Above photograhs says it all

- A beautiful 300 year old Nadesar palace run by Taj with 10 suites in the same compound.

- Colourful by -lanes of Varanasi

- an enchanting mystic Arti ceremony on the shores of ganges.

- Lip smacking chaats...yumm..we had everthing on the menu and missed dinner.!

- country side snaps

- the famous chai wala....
Knowing that the next day would be long, we crashed to bed at 10 for a change...

TAJ RESIDENCY LUNCKNOW 29TH JUNE 6 PM

After a tiring 10 hours journey we reached this beautiful hotel in Gomti Nagar surrounded by newly built parks. A warm welcome and it was time to interact with staff in the cafeteria. Talking to people where they are comfortable always brings out the best. Heard some amazing stories about people's loyalty to the company. and some messages written too in "sheroshayri andaaz"

Early morning departure was planned and after meeting all HOD's we were headed to Varanasi. As my car drove out, staff held hands and formed a human chain to give a message WE STAND TOGETHER. A great gesture..

This young Chef named Valentine accompanied me till Varanasi and he was great company. a car enthusiast himself, I loved his passion for his work and he helped me too driving through tough U P roads.

THE JOURNEY SO FAR ....1/3 IS OVER

A SENSE OF ACHIEVEMENT, as I complete 1/3rd of this journey today, another 23 more days and 8000 kms away ....

10 days

4200 kms done

18 Taj hotels covered

13 destinations

touched a few hundred hearts on road

Gathered support and wishes from few hundreds fellow associates from Taj Hotels..

They say, "Don't forget your journey once you reach a milestone" some thoughts..

-Proud to be working with Taj

- The spirit of Taj is in its People

- a strong and genuine Support, Enthusiasm, gratitude, Wishes, Emotions from all our fellow associates

- A strong feeling of Togetherness

- Incredible Journey through Incredible Taj Hotels to discove Incredible India

-You don't need a GPRS in India to find way, just ask someone on road with a smile and they will give information more than wjhat you get in GPRS.I have experienced it...

- The roads are amazing in India too...

- Some drives become very lonely and u want to quit. But remember the good, bad, interesting memories, moments with your family, friends, colleagues , guests and ponder over them. It will keep you going...

- keep camera battery charged, India gives you enough to shoot..

- the journey so far has been like a dream ..looking forwrad to explore the rest of India.

BANDHAVGARH TO LUCKNOW-29TH JUNE

Early morning start from mahua Kothi at 6 30 am and i was excited todrive e through the jungle since the wetaher was beautiful with slight drizzle.

we wanted to be adventurous, so we took a route throug the interiors of Madhya Pradesh for this long 500 km drive.The first 2 hour drive was breathtaking, cutting across small villages, thick forests, and since Pradeep the naturalist was travelling with me we stopped to look over every bird on our way. Heard stories about his experiences with tigers in the jungle and this was turning out to be a dream drive...

Untill we crossed M P and enetred the Maya land called Uttar pardesh. A place called Reva and the drive from Reva to Allahabad was the worst drive so far. a 90 km streatch and it took us close to 3 hours with worst road ever...Its been such a smooth ride till now so God thought of giving us some challenges..very tiring one..

If Rajasthan roads were Bread and butter, Madhya pradesh was Bread and Jam so U P roads are akuri on toast.!!!!!!!!

We reached Lucknow at 5 pm after a a long tiring 10 hours drive to be welcomed by statues of Mayawati and Kanshiram all over the place..I wonder now why the roads are bad in UP since all the "maya" has been used here...