Hittin' the road on work or leisure

Love for driving, improved highways and increasing number of high-end cars being within affordable reach of young IT professionals and executives is seeing the rise of a new trend. More and more number of working professionals now prefer driving out of town on work or leisure over taking flights, trains or a buses.

Destinations as far as Mumbai and Pune are being driven to, not to speak of Chennai, Hyderabad,  Puducherry, Mangalore, Hubli-Dharwad or Mysore; and the explanation given is this: Not just that the national/state highways have improved, but taking one's own car to the destination provides the much needed mobility, thus not having to depend on local transportation available at the destination cities.

Manish Kumar, a marketing executive with a multinational hardware company based in Bangalore, often has to visit Chennai (350km away) and Pune (867km away) on work, and whenever he has to set off, he depends on his Skoda Laura, which has a full tank capacity of 55 litres.

"If it is Pune, I leave somewhere around 10pm so I can reach in the early morning, in time for appointments in the morning/afternoon. I do get to rest in the late afternoon/evening before I set off for my return drive," he says, adding that he has already done that route on at least four occasions.

"It comes to about Rs4,000 for petrol costs, and including the return trip, it is double that, which is the same as a flight ticket both ways. Add to that a total of `1,000 or so that I have to pay through various toll gates on the way. But the advantage is that I have my own car to move around there. I don't have to depend on the local transport in that city," he says, adding that one has to have the passion for driving.

If it is Chennai, he leaves home in Rajajinagar about 1.30am to reach Chennai by 6am. "I have enough time to freshen up and get ready for my appointments," he says.

Manohar Shetty, an IT professional who often has to visit Mysore, Mangalore and Hubli on project works, has driven to these cities within the past fortnight on single-day trips on his Renault Duster, which can cover a distance of 662km on a full tank capacity of 50 litres.

"Each full tank filling came up to `2,937.50 (for petrol calculated at `70.35/litre before the hike), which well covers the 340-odd km to Mangalore, or 374 km to Hubli or just 130 km to Mysore, leaving me more time to move here and there in those cities," he says.
Shetty's residence is in Mangalore, and on weekends, he often just takes off in his car with his wife, Sanjana to spend time with their respective parents and friends. 

M Shashikumar Rao, a bank executive, has been in the habit of setting out in his car on weekends to one of either destinations which he chooses by tossing a coin. "Vaghator (in Goa)—about 700 km—or Pondicherry (Puducherry)—a little over 365km—and the toss decides where I would be going. It's fun. The roads have significantly improved and I really enjoy driving my Hyundai Verna. It's better if your friends join in too. But even if they don't, there is always the car stereo and my favourite music to give me company."

Mehul Ram, a budding writer who is also habituated to long-distance drives, feels the trend is setting in just like it has in the United States, where many just set out in their vehicles on long distance drives, be it on work or leisure. It is catching up here now with the improved highways and better cars hitting the market, he says.

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) contracting IRB Infrastructure Developers has much to do to internationalise the highways connecting Bangalore-Mumbai, Chennai and even the west Coast, which is luring many road crazy youth to take to the roads without as much as batting an eyelid.

(With inputs from Hemanth CS)