A drive around the nation, for a cause

CHENNAI: They make you feel like you’ve known them all your life, telling you such outrageous stories, that you always have to double-check to ensure that they are true. When they bought their first car 10 years ago they decided that they liked to drive. Say hello to Harsha and Prabha Koda, a feisty couple, who will soon be rallying across the Indian border to increase awareness for stem cell donation. “We haven’t taken public transport except when we really had to since then,” says Harsha. Having come far from that Maruti 800 in 2000, they now drive a Mahindra Xylo, which they fondly refer to as Haliaetus (a white-bellied sea eagle found in the coastal areas)Having covered over 4,00,000km over their many trips, they recently completed a 10,000km drive and like each of their trips, this one too was one of its kind. “We stayed at only home-stay places throughout the trip,” says Harsha. “We met so many different kinds of people, understood the culture better and even learnt small secrets about the place,” adds Prabha. Harsha does all the driving while Prabha helps with the navigation. “I need to drive all the time because I get motion sickness otherwise,” explains Harsha. “But navigation is no easy job,” he ensures to add, with Prabha waiting to cut in. “It is difficult to keep track of directions, potholes and over-taking when driving at such high speed,” clarifies Prabha. “So far, I’ve never slept even once when he is driving.” They work seven days a week, to accumulate a stretch of vacation time to go on their road-trips. “Both of us have laptops connected in the car and constantly catch up on work,” informs Harsha. “We never keep any client waiting,” supplements Prabha. With the kind of distance they have covered, the piece of information they share with us is startling. “We have never had a flat tyre or an accident in any of the trips,” says Prabha. “Also, we never fall sick or have stomach upsets.” This sure must be some track record! And their home must definitely be filled with memorabilia from these many road trips. “I have a table filled with colourful stones, they are purple, pink and blue,” smiles Prabha. The cause that they are supporting is very dear to them. “When we went looking for blood for Prabha’s dad in 1996, we understood how less people are aware of stem cells,” explains Harsha. “Jeevan Blood Bank is the first public stem cell bank and it was a natural step for us to get involved.”In the 20,000km long trip, the couple will drive from Mumbai, through the ends of Gujarat, to Rajasthan along the Pakistani border, to Punjab—the Wagah border, to Jammu and Kashmir, the Himalayas along the Chinese border, from Leh to Spiti (the Tibetian border), across Himachal Pradesh and Uttarkhand, moving on to Uttar Pradesh, along the Nepal border, to Bihar, West Bengal, the North Eastern states, passing Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, along the Bangladesh border, to Kolkata, down the east coast, to Kanyakumari, and then along Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and back to square one. They are inviting people to drive with them for certain legs of the journey. “People who join us can contribute by making logs, clicking and sorting photographs,” says Harsha. The couple is also hoping to enter the Guiness Book of Records at the end of the 70-day trip. To get in touch with them, email at harsha/[email protected].