" Celebrating LIFE, this Whitefield family of four drives through 11 countries in 111 days "
By Apurva Venkat, Bangalore Mirror Bureau | Aug 1, 2015, 04.00 AM IST
Celebrating LIFE, this Whitefield family of four drives through 11 countries in 111 days
The Baids returned on July 28, completing a journey of 22,780 km
No academic institution can possibly give anyone, especially children, lessons in understanding the spirit of humanism as much as a road trip through several foreign lands. A young family of four residing in Whitefield in Bengaluru went on their trip covering 11 countries in 111 days from April 8 to July 28.
The foursome, including two children aged 12 and 8, exposed themselves to temperatures varying from -6 degree Celsius to a scorching 42 degree Celsius - luckily, none of them fell sick during the trip covering Nepal, Tibet, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and France, in that order. Call it LIFE: That's what eight-year-old Dhriti Baid wants her family to be called, short for Little Indian Family of Explorers!
It all started with a comment Dhriti's father, 38-year-old roadie Anand Baid, an animator by profession, made once after a road journey to Rajasthan. He casually told Dhriti and her elder brother Yash Baid, 12, that it was just a warm-up for a round-the-world car trip in 2020.
"But why wait so long?" he then thought. "Why not cover half in 2015 itself?"
Anand proposed the idea to his wife Punita Baid, 36, and his children who thought it was impossible. Punita says: "'How about a trip from here to Paris?'
he asked. My immediate reaction was 'Yes, why not?' Although I had said yes, it was mainly because I thought it was impossible."
But Anand did not think so. After seven months of planning and making arrangements for visas to various countries planned to be traversed by road, the vegetarian family of four was ready to move out in their one-and-a-half-year-old
Fiat Linea.
On April 8, they left Bengaluru from JW Marriott Hotel and returned on July 28, completing a journey of 22,780 km.
The trip included moments ranging from exciting to scary and downright thrilling.
That included getting stuck in an earthquake on Nepal-China border just after Friendship Bridge; crossing the Mediterranean between Greece and Italy where ships often attacked by miscreants in boats on the couple's anniversary; managing to live through in the absence of easy availability of vegetarian food in Iran; and getting stopped at the Turkish border for hours for checks and finding it worth the wait to finally experience the thrills that country offers.
But through all that, the Baid family found people to be extremely friendly. Even when they were stuck in the earthquake at Nepal-China border people were very friendly and offered food and help to them although they had to remain there for six days till roads cleared up.
Yash, who studies in Dean's Academy, says, "We often hear about much hatred and differences among people of different regions. But on this trip I learnt that every human being, from whichever area, has a heart of gold. In every country I went to I found locals extremely helpful — right from offering us places to stay in to giving us food.
"At almost every place my sister (Dhriti) and I got gifts from the locals who just wanted to give us something that would remind us of them. They were very loving. The biggest lesson I learnt from this trip: Be ready to help everyone and be thankful to your parents always!"
Being on a budget trip, the family had not made any pre-bookings and decided to book hotels as and when they reached a respective place where they decided to stay. While they are yet to calculate the exact expenditure their plan was to keep it below Rs 20 lakh.
The family felt the amount of flexibility one gets while travelling in one's own vehicle is significant. Anand says they could decide when to start or whether to stop or stay on a day extra at a place or not. This, along with the thrill of adventure is what prompted the family to take up the car journey.
They fit their car with an overhead box carrier. The vegetarian family took just five pairs of clothes each and used that space with veg food items.
Anand and Punita both drive and took turns at the wheel on a 75:25 share ratio and covering a maximum of up to 400 km a day, although most of the time it was much below that.
Says Anand there were no issues with the car and it only required one service after completing 15,000 km of the journey.
As preparation to the trip, Anand had sent emails "to around 1,000 people" telling them about their plans and getting inputs - including those of ridicule and surprise. "Most people were surprised by the fact that I had planned to take my children along. But my whole point was simple: It will make them learn much more in life than what books can teach."
Punita says, "As we moved from region to region we could clearly see the change. Right from facial features to languages to gestures to food habits - everything was changing."
The family managed to interact with the locals using gestures and also used a translator app to translate various languages to English. "But being with the family always made us realise that as a family we are prepared to face anything," she says.
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS IN A SCARY SITUATION
From Greece to Italy, the Baid family had to ferry their car in a ship. This particular stretch is known for various notorious activities and many a time ships mysteriously drown here. Anand was particularly scared for the safety of his family on this stretch. He had not informed them about the dangers here, praying that nothing should happen.
But the two kids ensured that even scary patch became enjoyable. The kids decorated the cabin and arranged a small cake for their parents. As the parents entered the cabin they were greeted with a song by the kids. For Anand, the small little anniversary party was a relief as they reached their destination without any problems. Anand, said, "Just as I came out of the ship and turned around, I saw another ship being as burnt. I cannot be more thankful to God that we were safe."
The Baid family has decided to celebrate LIFE every April 8.
Tough Experience in Turkey
There were bad times and good times but for all the bad times the scenic beauty would make it up. Anand said, "In Turkey, I felt I was being harassed a bit. They wanted to check my car at the border but were taking four hours for it. We were all hungry and the officers could clearly see there were kids in the car. We decided to take it in our own way. My wife actually cooked on the border, and we all ate. It turned out good. I could say I ate in two countries at the same time." Once they crossed over into Turkey the family felt the long wait was worth the beauty of the place.
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/banga...w/48301633.cms
25th May 2015, 17:08
(4)
Thanks
