62-year-old on 25,000 km expedition in Nano
"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 today.
He reached Guwahati yesterday and has so far covered 5,400 km during the trip.
Starting from Mumbai on May 3, 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.
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 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.
"The car they (Tata Motors) provided is just a simple ordinary Nano, which had travelled 3,000 km before this trip, and without any modifications except for a new stereo system," Thomas, whose attempt is being sponsored by the company, said. (MORE)