FIROZABAD ICONS OF INDIA

Sitting on one of the busiest road routes, Firozabad appears to be a generic city. But this place has a rich cultural history, and has for centuries been the manufacturing hub for India's glass products as Anagh Bhaskar set out to explore

The Icons of India series with Hyundai has taken us far and wide across India in a quest to explore the history, culture and - diversity which constitute for a place to be called an 'Icon'. We have undertaken journeys to the mountains and visited Rajasthan's iconic forts. For this part we decided to take a trip to Firozabad, a city located about 30 kilometres from Agra in Uttar Pradesh. Firozabad is the centre of the glass industry in India, which has lent the city the title of being the Glass capital of India and for this journey we had the brilliant Hyundai Verna with us.

The route to Firozabad from Delhi NCR is fairly simple, just head via the Yamuna Expressway towards Agra, then take the exit to NH 19 which connects Agra to Etawah and continue for another 35 kilometres or so. With the more than ample power available with the Verna, cruising down the Yamuna Expressway is a breeze. Now considering that we made the drive in December there were patches of fog/smog on the expressway, which are quite the menace but the ADAS safety suite that the Verna comes equipped with can actually see beyond the naked eye as it uses radar guidance as well, and acted as a sixth sense in the low visibility conditions. Making the drive even more relaxed is the fact that one can switch on the active cruise control and the lane keep assist, and the Verna drives itself quite well.