Honda’s compact diesel sedan, Amaze has entered into history book, by becoming the car which has been driven for longest distance in a single country, without taking the same route twice (23,800km in 55 days).
On Sunday I attended the function, where Guinness Book of World Records presented Honda Car India with the certificate, certifying this epic record breaking drive.
What made the whole event even more special for me was the fact that the drive was done by my friend, Bunny Punia (Associate Editor, Gaadi.com) and Shantonil Nag.
Knowing and having gone on multiple trips with Bunny, I can’t say I was surprised to hear about his world record attempt, when I first heard about it. After all, this is the sort of stuff one expects from an avid road trip enthusiast like Bunny. But the fact that he managed to do the entire trip successfully without any back issue (he has suffered from back problems in past) is a testament to his sheer resolve and comfort provided by the little Honda sedan.
Honda Car India also announced its plan for “a series of “webisodes” on ‘Drive through Amazing India’ which will be hosted by renowned author Chetan Bhagat. In this web series, Chetan Bhagat will be travelling to the unexplored places of India which will be followed by contests, wherein people will be asked to post stories or photos about unexplored places of Amazing India. The short-listed candidates will further get a chance to travel and explore remarkable places of India.”
This I feel is a great initiative, which should promote road trips in India and will hopefully result in more and more families traveling in their own vehicles, rather than relying on public transport.
Towards the end of the press conference, I along with a few other bloggers got a chance to meet and interact with Chetan Bhagat, where we asked him questions about his views on his upcoming road trip and Honda’s ‘Drive through Amazing India’ initiative.
As part of the first leg of ‘Drive through Amazing India’, Chetan Bhagat would driving from Bangalore to a church which is located 200km away and is half submerged (sadly I forgot the name of place) and would be spending time there, before returning to Bangalore.
Overall it was a great event and hats off to Bunny, Shantonil and little Amaze for making India proud :).
6 Comments
Yogesh Bhai, I have the greatest respect for your posts and advice, you know that from my previous comments on your blog. I however fail to see the relevance of this post other than as an advertisement for Honda. I’m sorry. From your dealings with the Royal Enfield fanatics, I’m sure you of all people know that it’s never the vehicle that makes a difference.
Any modern car being made in India today will be able to cover 23,800km over 55 days without any problems. So what’s the big deal about a Honda doing it? Especially with the sort of service backup and support that Honda must have provided for such a sponsored drive. Of course this is your blog and you have the right to put up whatever you want. And I have nothing against Honda. I just think that we have too much advertising and brand-tamashaa in our lives anyway and it’s sad when independent blogs/twitter accounts also start contributing to that.
1. If I have attended an event, then I will likely post about it on my blog. You may or may not find it useful, but this is what I do.
2. This is a Certified Guinness World Record, accomplished by my friend, whom I have known for over 12 years. He has been through hell due to his love for motorcycling and touring, including multiple surgeries of tailbone. So if he tells me this was a relatively comfortable drive for him, despite 55 days of driving, I will take that as an important validation of vehicle’s comfort and mention the same on my blog.
You are right; pretty much any automobile can cover 23,800km in 55 days. However a drive isn’t just about a car driving itself for all those kilometers, it is about passionate individuals going out to explore the length and breadth of our country and doing so in a manner, which helps create a world record in India. That I feel is something worth talking, writing and celebrating about.
Forgot to add. Fact that Honda decided to be a part of this drive and is bringing out more initiatives which promote road trips in India is a good step that needs to be applauded and I will do so in case of any company, including Royal Enfield.
Fair enough sir. My point was never to doubt the passion or commitment of your friend, or comment about the scores of genuinely passionate travellers in India. The tragedy is that the big automotive brands have smoothly taken over this ‘road trip’ space all over. None of them really give a damn about travel, passion or any such thing. They just care about appropriating the genuine experiences of travellers like your friend and using it to peddle their products. The fact that 99 out of 100 travellers today will say ‘so what’s wrong with that?!’ indicates just how extensively marketing, branding and corporate championship have become an integral part of even our hobbies and interests.
About this being a Guinness record, well, the history of the record book is that it was created to promote the Guinness brand of beer. ‘A marketing giveway’ in the words of the creator.
Once again, I am in no way trying to put down anyone’s achievement. Just that brands and marketing seem to be taking over everything these days.
There is nothing wrong with a brand trying to promote itself by using road trips or anything else as a marketing tool. Problem starts when people/brand tries to state that it is only their vehicle which can do a certain route or type of road trip, that and of course in case a brand indulges in deceptive marketing.
You don’t want to hear what brands have to say, then read accounts of countless travelers on BCMTouring and other such forums, who spend their hard earned money to explore the world.
There is a lot that’s wrong with brands promoting themselves using the legitimate road trip experiences of independent travellers. But like I said, convincing people of that will be next to impossible since we’ve all grown up bombarded with advertising and that has become normal for us. Let’s just agree to disagree on that one.
Yes, I most certainly do not want to hear what brands have to say. Brands already have television, newspapers, magazines, official websites, brand ambassadors, product placement in movies, sports team uniforms, billboards, radio spots, flyers…
Which is why I take refuge in independent blogs. 🙂