Guess who was doing the backseat driving this time? You got it— it was men who had been relegated to the backseat in Chandigarh and the passenger/navigator seat in Shimla, where we were at TC (time control points).

Fathers, husbands, children, friends and servants — not necessarily in that order, were all there —on the back seat. Of course some husbands were more useful. In Shimla, Namrata Biswas was navigated by her rallyist-husband Manoj. She got the second position. Saras Oswal who took the chequered flag had the benefit of being navigated by her brother Sudev Brar. Many husbands seemed sheepish to be seen on the backseat—we are here to keep an eye on the vehicle was the common refrain.

The difference between the hill drivers and their city counterparts was obvious. So what if many cars stalled at the PC in Chandigarh, an apologetic smile, and off you go! This was yet another chapter of emancipation, a voyage of self discovery and confidence. The women who took the checkered flag at the finish line were not different from those who had taken the starters flag — they were just a wee bit more confident and walked a bit taller.

Young, mature, traditionally clad and funkily dressed, sisterhood was asserting itself, new friends were being made and there was a sense of accomplishment.

The ladies in Shimla were much more confident because they routinely drive in the hills.

As Neena Singh said as she steered her van on a hill track near Shimla: "I have been driving for a long time, tractors, jeep, cars, vans, I have driven them all."

There was a wide variety of vehicles, of the Maruti family in Chandigarh, and of all types in Shimla. Many of them were not quite what you would expect ladies to drive, Reena Singh and Pritinder Singh were in a Balero; Neelam Dewan navigated by her daughter in a Scorpio, which looked no less macho in manicured hands.

Their unfamiliarity with TCs and rules (you lose two points if you arrive a minute early, and only one if you are late) created problems in the beginning but by the second day they were bang on time—so much so that Krishna Kumari, navigated by her husband Purujit Singh who came a surprising third, all the way from sixth on the first day, managed not to get even a single penalty point on the second day.

Dr Daksha Gupta crawled all the way up to a TC without letting the car stop, much to the admiration of those who were watching this legitimate way of wasting time (you are not allowed to stop within sight of a TC). Kamla Negi navigated by Kanchan Negi came fifth, also by not committing any errors on the second day. However, Neerja and Abay Shukla lost points be coming early at a number of TCs.

What of the fun part? The partying was fun and a time for bonding, meeting new people and sharing the day’s experiences. Most of the people were sharing experiences. There were the inevitable disputes regarding results. Vijay Parmar, who had organised the rally in Shimla said he was happy about that because the participants are "finding out what the rules and procedures are" for such occasions.

Allan Pearse, author of Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Won’t Read Maps wouldn’t quite know what to do about this phenomenon —this once the ladies read the road books most of the time. Did men listen? We really don’t know. Most of them were a bit at odds finding themselves without a steering wheel in the vehicle. Did they do backseat driving! Oh! My God! Most of the ladies had interesting anecdotes about it. One dispute got so hot that the lady stopped her vehicle "in the middle of nowhere" and asked her husband to either leave or_ _ _!

What of another male bastion falling? Are they any left? We really can’t say. At the end of the rally in Shimla, it was being discussed by many that given four or five such events there would be some lady participants for Raid de Himalaya, one of the toughest events in the country that flags off from Shimla every winter. There have already been some lady participants in the past, but more the merrier.

"These ladies’ sense of competition was great; it were really no different than a regular rally," Says Manjeev Bhalla who was the Clerk of the Course for this rally. He should know, he also holds the same position during Raid de Himalaya.

Photos by the writer