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two friends, forty takes, one adventure across continents
February 5th by adrianna
Hi you,
Ever since I heard about the Amazing Race for the Clinically Insane, I decided I had to go. And I spent several years obsessing over it.
The premise was pure genius. Take an Indian auto-rickshaw. Put foreigner inside. Make foreigner drive 1000 kilometres to the southernmost tip of India in it. I had to do it.
Having spent plenty of time in that country, I know something for a fact: these things break down. A lot. And when they work, they’ll be busy spitting exhaust into your face, and the open-air nature of these vehicles mean you’ll be sharing the road — and the pollution — with the millions of trucks, cars, bikes, and cows.
The Rickshaw Challenge has now grown from the original Chennai-Kanyakumari race into four main ones that happen over the course of the year: all of them crazy. The classic run is still the best-loved, traversing the depths of Tamil Nadu. I visited Chennai over Christmas and hung out with the rickshaw crew, a motley crew of organizers, mechanics, electricians, painters and artists.
The contestants are welcomed to put in requests for custom jobs with their rickshaws, although it’s not necessary and it costs more. For many of them, the race is a once-in-a-lifetime event to remember, and what better way to remember it by, than by having a rickshaw that’s awesome enough for endless photo ops? There’s no customization job too difficult for the rickshaw pimp masters of Chennai. From their little open-air shed outside the city, they can take apart any rickshaw and put it back together again, fix on any number of accessories, and most importantly, do an amazing paint job.
Going on the road in a convoy of auto-rickshaws from Chennai to Kanyakumari was awesome. As I wasn’t competing, I spent part of on a Royal Enfield Bullet (amazing bike!) cruising up and down the East Coast Road, checking on all the contestants. I then spent the rest of it with The A Team, as they navigated their way around drains, gravel, villages and cows. Next week’s postcard will feature these rickshaws on the road, trying to find their way around this delightfully maddening country.
I love it so much, I think you and I should take part this year. I hope you’re game!
Chennai, India
Thanks
Rickshaw Challenge, Pimp My Shaw, Chennai Event Management Services, Aravind Bremanandam, Kausar Baig
Music
The awesome Yogi B, in Yogi B n Nachathira Feat Lock Up – Madai Thiranthu
Posted in auto, autorickshaw, chennai, india, race, rickshaw, tamil nadu, video.