When Car India embarks on a venture seeking prospects, we do it a little differently. We’re not looking for fortune and gold; instead, we’re taking on the Golden Quadrilateral in a Toyota Fortuner. Join us as we discover the grandeur of modern India and her most sparkling cities along the G-Quad
Story: Harket Suchde
Photography: Rommel Albuquerque
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
— Gandalf the Grey, from The Lord of the Rings
As dawn breaks and the rays from a languid sun peek out through an indolent separation of clouds I’m rushing through the process of packing the car with my belongings and those almost trivial tit-bits you think of carrying with you at the very last moment before heading out on the road. The rushing isn’t a consequence of tardiness, but a result of a longing for that inexplicable rush, that surge of adrenaline that only comes with a road trip. As I walk towards the Toyota Fortuner to load it up for the long journey ahead, a little shimmer of light catches my eye. The shimmer is a reflection of the badge on the rear. It reads ‘3.0 D-4D Full Time 4WD’ on one side, and ‘Automatic’ on the other, and as soon as my not-yet-fully-awake brain comprehends that, I punch the air out of spontaneous jubilation. Six thousand kilometres in an all-wheel-drive automatic SUV? Talk about a recipe for a mad, memorable road trip. Sleep is now all but a vestige in the recesses of my cranium, as my colleagues and I finish arranging our luggage into that enormous boot. Once properly packed, I climb into the driver’s seat, twist the key, the engine roaring to life, and here we go.
