Published by: World Tibet Network News Saturday, September 27, 1997

SARADA BARRAGE (Banbasa) Sept. 24, The Hindustan Times (From G. Rajaraman). It was no ordinary day for P. K. S. Chauhan. The inspector of customs at the Indo-Nepal border knew he was in for a break from routine but it is unlikely that he had expected this together with the genial N. Prasad, Superintendent of Customs (Khatima circle), he was stretched.

Chauhan was so immersed in his work that he may not have noticed the beauty of the bevy of models that went past him. At the end of a long day, the uncomplaining officer could not have cared too much for the cars in the Peking-Paris Motor Challenge.

All great makes were there. Rolls Royce, Bugatti, Aston Martin, Triumph, Mercedes Benz Jaguar, Chevorlet, Ford, Bentley, Buick, BMW, Cadillac and many more not the least of which was a 1907 La France Hooper as the oldest car in the event.

The two Customs officials spent the whole day, dealing with a variety of people-from a Crown Prince to a carpenter, from chief executives to plastic surgeons, from a novelist to a lawyer-all bound by their singular love for vintage and classic cars.

Ninety years after five maverick drivers took their cars across the Siberian wastes to Moscow and on to Europe, as many as 86 of the 96 vehicles that were flagged off from the Chinese capital on Sept. 6 in the historic re-run reached India.

As the teams queued up in No Man's Land, waiting for the customs and immigration formalities to be completed, it was easy to see how much the thoughts of the drivers and co-drivers were focussed on their cars, attending to every minor detail.

It was clear that even if the historic rally is meant to be about people and places, car freaks, who form the majority of the rallyists, may have lost sight of that to the extent of exchanging notes on the cars and their behaviour every night.

It took the likes of Jane King, who has written 13 novels in 18 years as Rosie Thomas, to lend a perceptive human touch to the rally. She is among those who believe that the rally has not been enough about people and places-and their history.

"When nearly everyone talks cars as is often the case, it is easy to insulate oneself," she said. "It was difficult for instance, not to be moved by the women at work in Tibet I am surprised that it is not much about people and places."

Fifty-one-yearold Prince Idris Shah, whose 1932 Ford Model B saloon is a part of a big collection of classic cars and motorcycles, insisted he was touched by the hardships of the Tibetans but regretted he did not have the time to interact with them.

Be that as it may, it really seemed more than a mere contradiction that the rallyists love their machines so much and at once inflict punishment on them. How could they possibly put their beloved machines under so much strain?

Prince Idris Shah had a ready explanation. "What is the use of owning such lovely cars if you don't use them," he asked.

David Arrigo, a journalist from Malta who owns one of the handful remaining pieces of 1948 Allard M. Type, went one step further "The deterioration is greater when the cars are not used and the maintenance is easier when they are put to use."

"These cars were all built to be rallied and raced. Some of these were designed to be run at the Le Mans 24 hours race. With the technology available today, and with some money, it is possible to keep these cars going," Arrigo said.

Indeed, as they made their way to Nainital for an overnight halt the cars looked none the worse after over 6000 km and the stiff tests that roads or, in some cases, their absence-in western China, the forbidden land Tibet and Nepal have been.

As for the drivers and their co-drivers, there was unanimity that the interesting inter-continental event was a great once-in-a-lifetime experience, even if some of them suffered altitude sickness in Tibet.

"The road from Lhasa to Kathmandu was tough: a lot of cars got stuck there," said Erik Christiansen of the Bahamas who is driving a 1965 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud.

Briton Simon Anderson who is a co-driver of a 1934 Rolls Royce 20/ 25 saloon said the drive from Kohalpur in Nepal today was tricky as well in that the cars had to negotiate eight river crossings across bad roads.

And some have driven their cars too hard for the roads. It does not do the car too much good if the springs and the shock-absorber s are tested all the time," he said.

Then again, Paris may be a long way away but the rallyistsincluding the 10 teams in the Touring Category who are in the event to experience the pleasures of tracing the route-are all determined to finish the event in their own cars.

Over the next three weeks, it will take a lot of hard work-of the kind that Chauhan put in today to ensure that the event would progress without a hitch and that the rally can first reach Nainital tonight and the Ashoka Hotel in Delhi tomorrow evening.