Introduction

I have a confession to make – I am in love with Rajasthan. It was the last place I visited before the world plummeted into the global pandemic, and as luck would have it, it called me back as things have started to return to the new normal. And would you believe that at both these instances I was attending a Mahindra Adventure event! Last year (before the lockdown) it was for Desert Survivor (you can read about it over here), and this time again it was for something special! For this time around we were taking the new-generation Mahindra Thar to its namesake – the Thar Desert. But to reach there, the adventurous guys at Mahindra Adventure had plans of taking the longer route there!

We were to cover three beautiful cities of Rajasthan – Udaipur, Jodhpur, and Jaisalmer – driving close to 1,100 kilometres over five days with some scenic wilderness thrown in the mix. Here’s how it all panned out –

Udaipur to Jodhpur

As Manish Sarser welcomed us on Monday evening at the Club Mahindra Resort in Udaipur, where nine newfangled Mahindra Thars were parked outside gleaming in the cold winter night. After a formal introduction, Vinod Nookla enquired about our off-road experiences and then Manish took over to instruct us first-timers and novices about convoy driving. We were also introduced to the diligent team of Mahindra Adventure present there to make this journey a memorable one.

Sleep came barely that night as I was thinking about the week that lay ahead. I was up before the morning sun, as the temperature was lingering in single digits. For a Mumbaikar like me, that’s as cold as it gets. With freezing fingers, I went out to gawk at the Thar ensemble now looking more beautiful draped in morning dewdrops than I imagined when lying awake the previous night. Before I was done taking in the details of these nine 4x4s, everyone started to join in the parking lot before the call time. Guess I wasn’t the only one excited and sleepless.

After a quick breakfast, I was informed that I’ll be driving the red Thar with number '1' stickers on it. And as Mahindra Adventure’s tradition goes, I’ll be 'Adventure 1' for the next five days. Sounds cool! Further, everyone was provided with a walkie-talkie and was to each one was provided to remain in contact throughout the expedition. With me being Adventure 1, my Thar was the first in line at the flag-off. With some cool pictures, we flagged off soon after. Driving in convoy, we drove not more than three-four kilometres before Lead (a sixteen-year-old Mahindra Legend driven by Vinod) exited the highway and made way in to the narrow lanes of Udaipur city. The pace was slow, so we were able to take in the local setting of a typical Rajasthani city. People were stopping in tracks from their routine work and chores, and were now ogling at nine gleaming Mahindra SUVs marching in a serpentine manner through their narrow streets.

Few minutes down, our convoy reached Shikarbadi, where there was a serene hotel adjoined to a cricket ground, a private airstrip, and a deer park. And the first agenda for the day was a big one – meeting a Prince! Here we got our first taste of ‘Rajasthani Royalty’ as His Royal Highness Lakhsyaraj Singh of Mewar walked in with royal guards paying their well-practised salute with the utmost respect. Reason to visit Prince of Mewar was of the essence because his royal family has owned many Mahindras in their lineage over many years, the newest one being the new-gen Thar.

His Highness shared his experiences regarding the vehicles in the family and how he has come to love the Mahindra’s utility vehicle. He went on to call the Thar the modern-day interpretation of Chetak – the famous horse ridden by Maharana Pratap. After our interaction, His Highness Lakshyaraj took us out to exhibit his very own Mahindra Thar Wanderlust. Before we departed, he advised us to visit the Vintage and Classic Car Museum of Udaipur before leaving the city.

Being short on time, we did visit the museum but in a haste. I regret that because each car present there has a rich and abounding history. And unlike a typical museum, you can actually get up, close and personal with each automobile. Hopefully, I’ll visit it once again soon and spend valuable time. Talking about time, we left the museum past noon and our route had the city centre in its way. I think that day the entire city of Udaipur was out on the road after or for their lunch. There was not an inch of space around the Thar when we took on the main road, all nine of us were divided and Manish Sarser had a hard time keeping the pack on the correct route. The walkie-talkie never ceased for a single moment until we cleared the traffic. I was thankful for being Adventure 1, as it was easy to stick at the tail of Lead. I wondered how things were going at the back of the pack.

But I stopped wondering that as soon as we hit the highway. And gosh how I wish that road never ended. Set in the tranquil backdrop of Aravali mountain range (which I had only read in geography books back in school), the NH62 had one of the most beautiful strips of tarmac I have ever driven on. With mountains looming on both sides, the road weaved through with some long corners both right- and left-handers, sweeping and flowing through the natural vegetation of Rajasthan as far as eyes can see. I was in awe at the flawless surface of the road and how empty it was through and through. And the new Thar was as easy to drive here at 80-90kmph, with as much ease as the next car. It wasn’t only comfortable, there was also a subtle fun taking the Thar out mile-munching.

As they say, time flies when you are having fun, we left that beautiful strip of tarmac behind in no time. A steady pace of our convoy meant we were soon approaching the next agenda of the day. Which was Jawai Dam, more specifically – the Jawai Leopard Sanctuary.

Here, for the first time, we got a chance to engage the real 4x4 credentials of the new Thar. Leaving paved roads for no roads crossing the sea of goat cattle, we steadily made way towards the sanctuary, where to the right of us loomed a massive rock structure which was certainly as big as a 70-storey building. The task was simple – scale this rock.

By now we were so deep in the wilderness that an average car with just four wheels couldn’t have managed to reach, yet we were only just getting ready to turn right and climb a mountain! Here, once more, I was dazzled by the capabilities of the Thar. Slot in 4L, gear slot in first and just the right amount of throttle input saw the Thar crawl up a near 45-degree incline as easily as a walk in the park. All I could see from behind the steering was the sky beyond the bonnet and rocky terrain all around.

Making the mincemeat of the rock, the Thar posed strikingly for pictures. Before the sun went down the horizon we were to climb down the mountain, which once again was pretty steep to describe. This was yet another easy task for the Thar. Instruction from Manish was simple, engage first gear and don’t touch the clutch until you are down, otherwise, you’d freewheel and lose control.

This was nerve-wracking behind the wheel, but Thar’s torque didn't let the engine to stall even when braked hard. And we were down at crawling speeds, one by one looking back at how easily we had scaled the natural landscape of Jawai, all thanks to our steed – the Thar! Our convoy parked close to a water body to watch the sun go down. As the sky turned auburn and scarlet and then black, we just gaped at our machines. Mind you, we still had more than three hours of driving left for the day to reach our destination in Jodhpur.

Jodhpur – Jaisalmer

Dreamy eyed and still tired, we had a late start next day from Pratap Niwas Palace in Jodhpur. Another Club Mahindra setting, the palace was as elegant as they come and made me realise one more thing – there’s no hotel more beautiful than the one converted from a palace. Today’s drive was a relatively easier one compared to the previous day – a straight jaunt towards Jaiselmer.

It was fuel-up time, although most of us were at halfway mark on the tank reading. As we lined up to juice up the Thars, the fuel attendants must have worked his entire months’ labour in just 30 minutes. Once tanked up and on our way, it was another picturesque drive where we even encountered a military convoy. The scene of nine Mahindra Thars interspersing through a large cavalcade must have been a delight to watch. We halted at another pleasant hotel called the Thar Oasis Resort and Camp for lunch. It had a huge landscape with hut-styled rooms spread across the facility. Here, we glimpsed at the national bird of India – the majestic Peacock refuging under a three in the 40-degree sunny afternoon.

Another day of convoy driving was an enlightening one as well. For Vinod commenced a quiz on walkie-talkie – all about Mahindra’s heritage. Scratching our brains to some amazing trivia, we also spotted a few of those actual Mahindra heritage vehicles from the quiz still running on the roads. Onwards, we saw the sun travel across. Driving towards the sunset was another highlight of the trip – long stretched tarmac laid up ahead, crackling noise on the radio, the sky turning tangerine, and the vast nothingness on either side. With the Jaisalmer Fort gleaming in the far distance, we reached Club Mahindra resort situated on the outskirt of the city, right adjacent to the airport for our overnight stay.

Jaisalmer – Sam Dunes

Another night with more dreams than sleep ended and we hurried through the breakfast for the thrilling day that lay ahead – dune bashing. But before we reached Desert Glamping (read Desert Survivor here for a recap), the Mahindra Adventure team had in mind another long route to go there – this time to the old Khaba Fortress. It was located on a small hillock; overlooking the massive oblivion of the great rock we call our little planet. It’s on such occasion we realise how minuscule our existence is in the big scheme of things. Coming back from my reverie, the nine Mahindra Thar’s lined-up here looked smacking, to say the least.

We moved on and crossed the Jaisalmer wilderness to reach Desert Glamping for lunch. As the sun went across our head, we got in the cars and geared ourselves for Sam desert. Part of the great Indian Thar desert, the Sam has one of the most scintillating landscape you can drive upon. Once off the tarmac, 4L was engaged and we got to the business in no time. Laid out ahead of us were some of the most astounding sandscapes one can lay their eyes upon, and we were to drive upon it in our Thar.

The old-gen Thar is like a goat here, climbing on and gliding down unlike anything else that has four wheels and steering. The new one then wasn’t any different. Oh yes, it was different, the new one was much more comfortable for the occupants while doing exactly what the old one was capable of doing. We got busy bashing some dunes and lost track of time. Mahindra Adventure team, including Manish Sarser, Vinod Nookla, Satyendar Singh, Gulshan Arora and Madan Chaudhary of Rajasthan Motorsports were ever so helpful to new timers and novices like us, not only getting through but also thoroughly enjoying driving over the sand.

Our finale for the Royal Escape was then decorated by the almighty god himself. Pictures wouldn’t do justice to what the sky turned into that evening. It transformed from its clear blue hue to cloud-filled burnt orange in no time. Dark grey cotton clouds spread across the horizon were lit on fire by the scarlet setting sun turning the entire canvas up above into one huge painting overshadowing the blue sky behind it. It was a view to behold, one which will live in my memory for a long time.

With the fireworks in the sky coming to an end, we left Sam contented and gratified, while equally sad that it all came to an end so soon. Over the last five days, each of us bonded like the sun and sand of Rajasthan. The last dinner on the dunes was filled with many happy-sad memories then. And as I’ve said before, ‘eating dinner at the dunes, under the night sky with no artificial light disturbing the ambience’ should be part of everyone’s bucket list.

Jaisalmer to Jodhpur

The last leg of our escapade was driving back to Jodhpur. As usual, it was a slightly different route than the one we came from and there was a small twist in the tale too. The order of our convoy was reversed. This meant that Adventure 1, who was yours truly, was now the last car before Sweep and Adventure 9 was up ahead behind the Lead.

Driving in the back of the convoy was a different experience altogether and I am pretty sure Adventure 9 was also having similar thoughts. The atmosphere was slightly gloomy thinking of how we’d be getting back to the concrete jungle soon, to the congestions and pollution, to the honking and bangarang of city life, to the mundane routine, and populated landscape came haunting me. We’d soon leave behind the smiling and welcoming faces, cool mornings and warm afternoons, spicy food and empty streets, and most importantly the inimitable golden hue of our Desert State. As these things crossed my mind, song Mishri by Anuv Jain sumed up my predicament as the lyrics were blasting on the stereo – ‘Main ho gaya hoon Sonay ke Mahlon mein, Mein ho gaya ho gaya hoon Mitti ki Shehron me’ (I have become all yours, just yours – in palaces of gold. I have become all yours, just yours – in cities of dust).