It is an “expedition to explore” for a 62-year-old car enthusiast from Kochi, who is attempting to cover around 25,000 km through the 28 states of India and neighbouring Bhutan in a Tata Nano car.
“It is not a joyride but an expedition to explore the country and know the people,” Thomas Chacko, a company secretary by qualification, said here on Sunday.
He reached Guwahati on Saturday and has so far covered 5,400 km during the trip.
Starting from Mumbai on May 3, Mr Chacko has travelled through the cities of Indore, Bhopal, Khajuraho, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Ranchi, Murshidabad, Malda, Jalpaiguri, Gangtok and Darjeeling before entering Bhutan.
From Thimphu, he drove down to Assam border and then went directly to Shillong, before retracing his steps back to Guwahati.
Departing from this city tomorrow for the north-eastern states, he will come to Kolkata and subsequently cover south India by the east coast.
Mr Thomas, who has previously authored two books, including a historical novel, plans to write another based on his experience during the tour.
“I have thought of a title for the book Mano on Nano: India to its Farthest Corner,” said Mr Thomas, who is also an avid blogger. On the inspiration behind the attempt, he said that a friend undertook a trip across India about two years ago in a Swift car.
“I helped him turn his blogs about the journey into a book and that is when the idea came that I should also go on a similar expedition and that also in a Nano,” he said.