Gulf Foster A Child Rally

January, 14, 2008

Kacherias best in Gulf Foster A Child Drive

An all-ladies team proved best in the Gulf Foster A Child Rally, which was run from Mumbai to Khandala on Sunday, January 13.

Ami and Niyati Kacheria used the experience of past navigational rallies to come out trumps in Gulf Oil’s tenth annual drive, organized by Sportscraft. The Kacherias, with Aditi as crew and Henna Hadage, an orphaned child, went through the exercise of comprehending the business of reading distances and timings on a tulip chart from Our Lady’s Home in Parel to the Duke’s Retreat in Khandala with a degree of comfort to outdo a host of seasoned campaigners.

Priyanka Sehgal and Sunit Singh finished second while the team of Manoj Nigam and Ashish Shrivatava was third.

There were seven all-ladies teams among the 47 motorsport enthusiasts that entered the fray. And finishing second in that category to the overall winners, the Kacherias, were Mrunal and Binit Tanna. Deepa and Premila Damadoran placed a creditable third.

Rufina and Asif Karmali were adjudged the best-dressed team and the best decorated car was begged by team of Mangesh & Kavita Rane.

             

But it was not the exploits of the abovementioned winners that mattered at the event, which had a medical team from the Hinduja Hospital in attendance, but the participation of the 70 children from Our Lady’s Home, a shelter for homeless children, Regina Pachis and Salam Balak. Indeed, it was their day out as joined the participating teams and drove through the crowded streets of Mumbai to Khandala.

Needless to say, the children had a time of their lives.

      

There was no speed or racing involved. It was all about following the tulip chart and checking in at the various time controls.

After up and coming actress Hrishitaa Bhatt flagged off the rally from Parel the participants had to use all their thinking powers to follow the tulip chart. Most went around in circles.

The course plotted in the tulip meant that you had to drive from Parel to Five Gardens to Ballard Estate, Colaba, Marine Drive, Worli Sea Face, Dadar TT Sion, Vashi, Belapur, and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

There were six pit stops where participants had to answer questions, which made the drive tricky. Knowing that the finish was at Khandala quite a few took the wrong route, not bothering to stay with the tulip chart. Some lost course and not expecting the time controls to be back and forth.

Like past rallies, some drivers lost their way as they tried to take the easy way out and follow the vehicle in front of them. If the one in front took a wrong turn they too did and paid the price.

      

There were some who even dashed off, skipping many a time control in the process, not realizing checking in early would cost them points.

      

But in all the chaos, all the participants, as they sat down for a sumptuous lunch at the Dukes Retreat, confessed that it was a memorable experience, mainly because they did their bit for the underprivileged children of Mumbai.

      

   

The street children too were ecstatic. Some of them confessed that it was the first time that they saw places like Ballard Estate and Colaba, leave aside Khandala. Adding fun to their outing was and games and kite flying at Dukes Retreat.

      

Like the participants, the children too hoped that Sportscraft and the Hindujas-owned Gulf Oil would stage another such event soon.

Mrs Jayshree Ramesh and Mr. Ravi Chawla President- Lube Business Gulf Oil Corporation Ltd. gave away the prizes.