[harishnayak]

After a grueling week of no sleep and about 4000 kms of travel here i begin the saga of DS'11 from the view point of a Storm Marshall.

I would first like to thank Sudev Sir for giving me this opportunity to participate in the storm as an official with a gentleman called Raja chatterjee in his Grand Vitara , actually the credit also goes to Facebook.com & TBHP as i got to know of this opportunity from there.

I had only been reading and dreaming of participating in the DS for years now but due to some or the other reason was missing on it but this time i thought that it would be now or never.

How I got the opportunity

15th Feb – Saw Sudev Sirs FB status that there his left seat was vacant for the storm and I immediately sent him a message showing my interest but also mentioned that my leaves were not confirmed yet


16th Feb – Got a response from Sudev sir to call him but I did not ( already said sorry to him for that )


18th Feb – I was driving to work when I got a call from him saying that his seat was full however there was one more seat left and I had to give a confirmation before 3:00 am. I went to office asked my Director and he was happy to give it to me as we had been working non-stop since last 2 months and luckily the storm week was a lighter one with no major tasks lined up. I sent an SMS to Sudev sair around 1:00 am confirming my status and he immediately called me and gave me the number or Raja chatterjee and asked me to talk to him about tagging along with him


19th Feb – Spoke to Raja and checked out what all I needed to buy for the storm and we decided to meet up around 2:00 pm on Sunday to start the trip to our camp in Bhuj. Here is a short list of that which would help future stormers –

• Woolens – temperature go down to about 10 degrees in certain areas
• Blanket
• Odomos cream
• Biscuits , fresh fruits , Maggie , water bottles and other snacks
• Gas stove ( if possible )
• Anti fungal powder – Most of the times you would be in socks and shoes so required it
• Sun screen
• Toilet paper – for nature calls in open during duty
• Soap strips
• Other toiletries
• T-shirts and preferably jogging lowers
• Sun glasses
• Medicines
• Books and Good music
• Coffee powder and milk powder

20th Feb - My wife dropped me at Dhaula Kuan petrol pump at 2:00 pm and Raja was already waiting there with his GV. We exchanged pleasantries and he handed over the spare key to me which was supposed to be with me for the entire trip as a back up.

Our route was as follows - Delhi - Jaipur - Ajmer - Udaipur - Palanpur - Bhuj - Thordo camp ( white Rann ) however we all were supposed to meet up at Seven sk hotel in Bhuj from where the convoy was supposed to move to the camp

Here are a few pictures enroute to Bhuj camps

Pic 1 - Raja and his GV
Pic 2 -Hotel Lobby
Pic 4 - Sudev Sirs GV
Pic5 - Me getting Sudev Sirs GV refulled at Bhuj
Pic 6 - Radio set up
Pic 13 & 14 - Convoy ready to roll to Thordo camp in white Rann
Pic 17 - Gary's Thar

[sagarpadaki]

Great teaser pics! Cant wait any longer.Bring em on!

[harishnayak]

21st Feb - We drove non-stop to Bhuj covering about 1250 kms in about 18 hours. Started at 2:15 pm on Sunday and reached Bhuj Seven sky hotel at 8:15 am.

We were the first ones to reach there as some officials had already reached another hotel few hours back and some were yet to arrive at the hotel SS. Raja told me that we can expect a tiring day ahead and that we should better take a short nap as the meeting time was 10:00 am ,both of us freshened up and took a short power nap of 1 hour.

The official cars started pouring in from 10:00 am to 11:00 am along with Sudev Sir. I had the opportunity to have breakfast with Sudev sir and also a sweet thrashing from him for not calling him

Most of the official cars were from DL , CH , PB , RJ and only a couple of them from MP & GJ ranging from Gypsies , Scorpios , Land cruiser , Fortuners , Bolero , GV , Montero and Pajeros with gypsies and Pajeros in Abundance.

While watching these vehicles pour in i was in for a surprise to see a Wagon R with the storm official sticker and a DL regn , i started wondering how on earth is this 4x2 going to survive this torturous terrain w/o getting stuck. The answer would follow later in the thread as the mystery unfolds

The officials ages ranged from 20 being the youngest ( Niranjan )and over 75 being the oldest Col Tankha in his Wagon R

Sudev sir took a small briefing and told us that our next stop would be the camps and i was constantly thinking how the camps would be in terms of facilities, location ,food etc and we finally started the drive which was about 80 Kms from BHUJ.

After 80 kms i saw what can be termed as one of the best view in my Life . Excellent camps and the White Rann..yippee

[Ricky_63]

WOW now I am loving it !! Finally pics of the event & the prelude to it


Cheers

[maddy42]

Awesome. This should be updated regularly. Sure you had a ball and no sleep

[MileCruncher]

Great!

Another Marshall story from Desert Storm! Bring it on!

BTW are there any participant stories coming or not? Looks like a case of too many cooks

[harishnayak]

Thanks Guys

Sleep is something which is Guaranteed that you would NOT get..lol.

What you’re about to see and hear was one of the best phases of the Storm’11. Soon after reaching the camp few of the vehicles proceeded towards the Army check point as the view of the White Rann was awesome from there. After reaching their post were told that we cannot go inside as the Pakistan border starts after a few kilometers and it’s risky to go it however after a little insistence and requests they allowed 7 vehicles to go in after registering their numbers in their diary.

It was bliss once we entered with the perfect location for off roading 4WD’s and even better opportunities to do some slush bashing and skidding sideways..as they say “ sideways is fun”.

Harjeevs TLC got stuck as he forgot to put the 4WD but was pulled out

The PB Pajero overdid the skidding with Amandeep enjoying every moment of it..he pushed it so much so that his coolant started leaking

[MileCruncher]

@Harish: Is that black Jeep the "THAR". How did it perform?

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

@Harish: Is that black Jeep the "THAR". How did it perform?

Yes, It was THAR. It did well besides it's brakes failed while we were driving from Bhuj to jaisalmer. He made it though.

[mashmash]

I am hooked. Awesome pictures and great narration.

How many of these vehicles were modified for this terrain? Especially the Land Cruiser, Pajero, Fortuner, Thar and of-course the Wagon R. Gypsies do look ready to take on anything.

BTW, I always wondered, why do Gypsies have mud flaps in front of the front tires?

MaSh

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by mashmash

BTW, I always wondered, why do Gypsies have mud flaps in front of the front tires?

MaSh

That is to avoid splashing of the water onto the windscreen which causes momentary visibility loss.

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by mashmash

I am hooked. Awesome pictures and great narration.

How many of these vehicles were modified for this terrain? Especially the Land Cruiser, Pajero, Fortuner, Thar and of-course the Wagon R. Gypsies do look ready to take on anything.

BTW, I always wondered, why do Gypsies have mud flaps in front of the front tires?

MaSh

Thanks for the compliment MashMash.

All these high end vehicles were stock and are equipped enough to take on this terrain but of course not at speeds on which Xtreme vehicles run. Only the gypsies need some strengthening etc to reach here.

The Wagon R was a stock one too but like i said , the mystery of how it made it would unveil later when the time comes .

[harishnayak]

A Jaw dropping video shot by me with multiple cars Running on the White Sand at the Great Rann of Kutch.

Atleast i could not find a better one on youtube.. Enjoy

YouTube - DSCN3796

[ramkya1]

Great video, good story. Keep it coming.

--Ramky

Originally Posted by harishnayak

A Jaw dropping video shot by me with multiple cars Running on the White Sand at the Great Rann of Kutch.

Atleast i could not find a better one on Youtube.. Enjoy

YouTube - DSCN3796

[khan_sultan]

This is an experience & an adventure of a lifetime you had my friend. Through your report it feels like all of us reading were also part of the O-Team.

Look forward to the report & your experience. I am sure there will be a deluge of people willing to be part of the O-Team next year. Needless to say, this would also have been very very gurelling and tough work -- but in the end worth it as this is done with people who share the same passions as yours.

I hope to be part of the O-Team next year. Let's see.

Originally Posted by harishnayak

Yes, It was THAR. It did well besides it's brakes failed while we were driving from Bhuj to jaisalmer. He made it though.

. WHAT..??? Please share what happened and why?