The Borderline Drive by Harsha and Prabha Koda

Have you ever driven across the border of your country? Or any country? Are you aware of someone who has driven next to entire border of his/her country? It seems no one has ever attempted such a thing and one Chennai based couple are on their way to achieve it.

Prabha Koda and Harsha Koda, a Chennai based couple who constantly venture out on long drives in their Xylo E8, are currently pursuing what is called “The Borderline Drive” . Their plan is to drive along the Indian border- all of it- starting from Mumba- Gurarath, Rajastan, J&K, touching Pakistan, China and Nepal borders, going to north east and then driving along east cost- Kolkata, Vizag, Chennai- Kanyakumari and back to Mumbai on NH17 (now re-named). This is said to be 70-90 days plan and being done at a cost of several lakhs (7+ I guess), partly funded by sponsors and rest by their personal savings.

Since Harsha and Prabha were based in Chennai, they could have started the drive from Chennai and end it here, but I guess that would have delayed the trip by few days and they can’t make it to Jammu and Kashmir before certain roads close for the season. Also Mumbai is where most of the media and sponsors are, hence makes sense to flag off from there.

I’ve come across couple of drives which are long enough to cover several thousand kms- The Ford Figo Discover smart drive which was from Chandigarh to Chennai, Tata Nano superdrive which covered most of India, but in 3 different teams (I was part of one), Events like Royal Enfield Rider Mania, Mahindra Great Escape serve specific objectives. There’re many other events which span across few thousand kms and automobile enthusiasts do go on long drives, but all of these appear too simple, compared to the idea of driving across the entire Indian border.

Harsha and Prabha Koda’s drive is a non commercial initiative, driven by their passion for driving and funded by personal savings and some sponsorships. They are supporting a new cause: India's first stem cell plant at Jeevan. You might wish to spend some time understanding what a stem cell bank is.

I wish the couple all the best in this initiative. They are looking for support, in cash or in kind. If you know someone who can sponsor this venture, in parts or in full, do introduce them to the Koda couple. Or if you can give some visibility to the event- offline or online, pls do. If you wish to join them in the long drive- in parts if not completely, you can contact them. At their own discretion they can take you along.

I am curious to know how many thousand they will spend in total in the form of toll fee, across all toll gates during their journey. During tata nano superdrive, the event team which was traveling in a yellow board rented bus spent about 1.6 lakhs in interstate permits and toll fees.

There’re many countries which are less than 200 square miles in area. May be we can go to some of these countries, drive along the border.

Photo sourced from their blog.

Related: Sandhosh Kumar climbs Everest in support of awareness against child sex abuse * Tata Nano superdrive * Ford Figo Discover Smart Drive in Bangalore * Rally for the blind * Mitsubishi Challenge * Chennai-Mysore 1300 kms drive in Skoda *

Nov 2011 Update: Reportedly Harsha and Prabha's borderline drive came to a crashing end when they met with an accident in Orissa, during the final leg of their trip. Both Harsha and Prabha are safe, but the Xylo is ruined beyond recognition.

I am sure the couple will recover from the incident and undertake more adventures in future.