Bharat, Brick by Brick

The Automotive Journalists' Association of India (AJAI) set out to identify the milestones of India's progress over the years in the Big Daddy of SUVs

- Joshua Varghese

INFRASTRUCTURE IN INDIA HAS IMPROVED significantly over the years. To explore all of it, one has to cover more than 10,000 kilometres through the length and breadth of the country. That was how the "Bharat Drive" was born. This was AJAI's first big drive and we were glad that Mahindra Scorpio-N could come on board as a partner.

As mentioned above, AJAI stands for the Automotive Journalists' Association of India and it currently comprises the 12 publications that are on the jury of the Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) Award. It is a national platform for all professional automotive journalists in the country. We intend to use this medium to discuss and highlight pertinent issues in the country such as road safety. AJAI will also be instrumental in nurturing young talent and even support the veterans of our industry.

For this drive, we were provided with two top-of-the-line Scorpio-Ns and all we had to do was explore the country. It turned out to be a good choice from the first minute because we were insulated from the humid conditions of Mumbai inside the comfortable cabin of the Scorpio-N. Routes were mapped out and distributed among the members and we secured the drive from Mumbai to Goa.

Mumbai's growth over the years has been nothing short of phenomenal. As one of the busiest cities in India, it has been witnessing a lot of people movement over the years.

Our first point of interest on this drive was the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. It is officially known as the Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link and it connects the western and southern parts of Mumbai. Its construction began in 2000 and reached completion in 2009. One year later, in 2010, all eight lanes of the Sea Link were opened to the public. The bridge has three distinct parts. The north and south viaducts were products of precast segmental construction while the central part of the bridge is the iconic cable-stayed span.