Col. Kulbir Singh Chauhan recalls eighties’ Himalayan
New Delhi, 12 Nov 2021: One of Col (Retd) Kulbir Singh Chauhan’s most vivid memories of the great Nazir Hoosein revolves around a stage of the Himalayan Rally in 1989. Col Chauhan, a four-time winner of the Himalayan Rally was, along with co-driver Col (Retd) SS Sekhon, a part of the most competitive Indian team on the circuit at the time.
“The leg started from Lansdowne towards Mussoorie. I was perhaps the fifth car to flag off, and say after about 30 kilometres, I saw the cars ahead of me, driven by international rallyists, turning back,” he reminisces. “I didn’t really understand why that was happening, and with a true fauji mentality, went on anyway. There was a village, with some crowd and then I reached the checkpoint, where the time controller told me my time and asked me to move ahead. I refused because it felt unsportsmanlike. I’d seen drivers ahead of me turn back, and it played on my mind.”
Within a few hours an announcement cancelling the leg came through. The cars turning back had been scared by the crowds gathered at the village. Col Chauhan ended up being the only car that had braved through, even if he had refused to cross through the line and, technically, finish the stage. “Much later, when Mr. Hoosein met me, he admonished me, saying if I’d crossed the line, I’d have been the overall winner,” Col Chauhan says, “But in the same breath he also commended my sportsmanship, and in that moment, I truly understood what a great man he was — a true rallyist who understood competition but also understood motorsport ”
As the 100-car cavalcade of participants at the Nazir Hoosein Memorial Drive drove through Jalori Pass yesterday, Col Chauhan watched their progress with keen interest, regularly checking up with some friends who were taking part. Jalori offered them the best views of the Himalayas yet, with the Dhauladhar range spreading to the west and the Great Himalayas stretching off to the east, right into Tibet.
But despite the beauty that surrounds the pass, for most travellers the real joy is in driving through it — a test of mental fortitude and skill. A single, narrow, curving road is all there is and as you approach the pass, the climb gets steeper every 100m, making even the smallest mistakes cataclysmic — for the car and those inside.
“In my opinion, there were faster stages at the time in the Himalayan Rally. What made Jalori different was that you needed to have power to climb it efficiently, which few Indian cars did, at the time,” Col Chauhan says. “If you had guts, you could do it. It is a test of your endurance more than anything else.”
The fleet of cars participating in the NH Memorial Drive reached Manali, via Auth and Kulu to take in a well-deserved break from hard mountain driving over the past few days. The drivers will proceed to Koksar, via the Atal Tunnel, before being allowed a free run to Rohtang and return to Manali, for the final day of the Drive.
