Atithi Devo Bhava – which translates loosely to ‘Treat a
guest as you would a God’, is how Indians treat visitors to their
country, and when the ASEAN-India Car Rally 2012 finally reached the
last destination of the rally, that is Guwahati, India sure made their
welcome grand!
Over 7600 km of land covered in 22 days. The people involved in this
feat were between heaving a sigh of relief and holding back tears of
emotion as the journey came to end today. Guwahati opened the doors of
Nehru stadium for the Car Rally, as the participants drove in in the
grand Mahindra XUV500s.
What a welcome it was! Crowds by the thousands cheered as the cars
which have travelled 9 countries entered. The participants were escorted
out of their vehicles into the midst of a spirited audience. With the
flags of their respective countries in hand, the organisers,
participants -and media-persons of the ASEAN-India Car Rally 2012
started off on a victory lap of the massive stadium. Tushar of team
India waved the tricolour high on a heightened platform. The magnitude
of cheer of the audience, the euphoria of the entire AICR team and the
significance of the moment rings in our ears and gives us a tide of
gooseflesh even now!
These are but a few of the many thousand splendid moments of the
final flag-down of the ASEAN-India Car Rally 2012. More images will soon
be up, along with the story of our journey from Mandalay to India!
What a day! What a Rally! What a team, and what an experience! 22
days have been etched in our memory as those of travel, culture
experiences and beauty.
The ASEAN-India Car Rally 2012 truly brought together the 9 countries, in form and spirit!