Across 13 states and 6,000 kilometres, Nishmanya Bahadur launched into a 15-day driving journey to showcase India’s Golden Quadrilateral – a community of highways connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata — on February 12. The 26-year-old YouTuber from Mumbai is now on the final leg of his solo highway journey, which he calls a tribute to the late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s dream of uniting India by means of roads from North to South and West to East.
Sharing his expertise of driving throughout the quadrilateral, Nishmanya mentioned he was in a position to give individuals a glimpse into the nation’s evolving highway infrastructure by means of his ‘Atal Yatra’, which began from Mumbai’s Nariman Point. “The journey pays tribute to the imaginative and prescient of Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji, but additionally makes a degree of letting individuals know that they might embark on solo highway journeys, an idea that has not but taken off in our nation and is overdue,” he mentioned.
He added that his intention was also to highlight that while there are concerns among people about driving on long stretches, road conditions, road safety and the possibility of getting deals on food and shelter, it should be seen as an enjoyable chance to discover India’s beauty and culture. “People traditionally want to travel in groups. But I would like to tell them to come out of their comfort zone. If I could travel 6,000 km all on my own, anybody can undertake any sections of the quadrilateral, and the parts of India that you can explore are mind-blowing,” Nishmanya mentioned.
Nishmanya started his journey on February 12. (News18)
THE MOTIVATION & EXPERIENCE
Driving a top-end Tata Harrier, he scheduled his journey from Mumbai, passing by means of Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Ajmer, New Delhi to Kanpur through Yamuna Expressway, adopted by Bodh Gaya, getting into into Kolkata, then Bhubaneshwar, Vishakhapatnam, Guntur, Chennai, Bengaluru, and again in Mumbai through Belagavi.
Speaking about what drove him to take up this problem, Nishmanya mentioned that he had two main motivations. One was to take up a significant highway journey throughout the nation and construct his YouTube channel the place he’s a journey host.
“I came across the golden quadrilateral as Mumbai was my mounted level, and the undertaking lined Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, which suited my concept completely. The timing was additionally good for me because it has been 25 years for the reason that Golden Quadrilateral undertaking has come into existence. There might have been no higher method than telling the world of India’s good infrastructure than driving by means of it and recording the expertise,” he mentioned.
Nishmanya said that his experience was good, and in most parts of the country, the government has delivered what was promised. “Most roads were ready. There are some sections that are tough to navigate due to construction work. It was not completely smooth, but in most places, I saw that the roads, like four- and six-lane, were laid as promised. The sections around Jaipur and Delhi, a lot of roadworks happening there. Another notable area that tended to delay my drive was in Bihar, when I was driving between Varanasi and Bodh Gaya. That section had the most amount of roadworks with several diversions,” he mentioned.
The journey will conclude on February 26. (News18)
THE BEST PARTS
The greatest a part of his drive, the moto fanatic mentioned, was when he travelled alongside Ahmedabad, the stretch between Bhubaneshwar and Guntur, the Yamuna expressway from Delhi to Agra, and the expressway between Agra and Lucknow.
“These stretches had been seamless, and one can breeze by means of and benefit from the highway journey,” he said.
Firming his mind that he wanted to cover around 500 km a day, Nishmanya would drive close to 12-14 hours daily to achieve his target. When asked whether the drive got monotonous, he agreed. “There were stretches that it got monotonous, and I began losing a little bit of focus. Stopping the vehicle, walking around, or listening to podcasts and audiobooks kept me engaged along the way,” he mentioned.
Bahadur says his expedition seeks to emphasise the financial significance of infrastructure initiatives just like the Golden Quadrilateral, its expansive community of highways that drive financial actions and promote regional growth whereas bringing individuals of India loads nearer.
The driving expedition is slated to conclude in Mumbai on February 26.
Source: www.news18.com
