It all began almost 18 months ago when I was questioned by a senior bureaucrat in Government of India that my travels on Indian highways were in easy-to-travel mainland.
"Have you done it in the north east?" was the moot question and the trigger for the trip am embarking on today (28 October 2012/Sunday).
Naturally, I was stung.
Had never crossing Kolkota in the east and hence even Guwahati is alien to me.
The senior bureaucrat kept poking me.
Gutless?
Seven sisters (Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh) were never new to know.
Almost a decade ago, I did a project for National Informatics Centre (NIC), Govt of India, when late Pramod Mahajan was handling the IT portfolio in the Atal Behari Vajpayee government.
Under NIC, I was 'site-mapping' for CIC being established in all these states. Harjeek Kakkar (now running VHire4u.com from Bangalore) was the biggest support that time.
That is when I trawled on the cyber highway to read about north east earnestly.
I had several colleagues from north east: Angana Barali at TVI and Mona Lisa @ Investors India.
Beautiful people. And brilliant too.
Once the fire has been lit about northeast, I began quizzing 3PLs and transporters about their interest and how they serve this region. Heard a lot of gory tales from everyone.
Transporters, who became my closeknit friends, told me: "You proceed. We are with you!".
Automotive OEMs were also pushing their vehicles with a vengeance into this region. My association with London-based Automotive Logistics & Finished Vehicle Logistics magazines also helped me to pursue this area.
It was also the same time, Vipul Nanda, Chairman of Mercurio Pallia Logistics who was instrumental in getting my maiden book, 10,000 KM on Indian Highways (www.10000kmonindianhighways.com), established his Guwahati branch and a standing invite to his new perch from where he services the entire north east, provided the extra and fresh fillip.
Last, but not the least, is the recent induction in the Government of India's National Committee on Supply Chain & Logistics, under the Ministry of Agriculture.
As Member of this Committee, I have been asked to visit cold supply chain infrastructure (beyond cold storage facilities) to gain fresh perspective on post harvest marketing of agri-produce from this region.
Transport, Highways, Marketing etc. all rolled into one 30-day, 7 state trip on road.
Plus the biggest attraction is by the time I complete this north east trip, I would have completed fresh 10,000 KM on Indian highways in this calendar year (January 2012 onwards)!
Already done 8,500 km on highways in trucks only.
North east will provide opportunity for me to finish the balance 1,500 km.
Yes, Yes.... This will provide fresh inputs for my forthcoming book, An Affair With Indian Highways to be released sometime in Feb/March 2013.
In a few hours from now, I will be on this trip.
By sunset, I should be in Guwahati, my first halt.
Will keep blogging during this trip.
Of course, I will continue to use @konsultramesh (my twitter handle) and linkedin (www.linkedin.com/in/rameshkoman) to help you about fresh updates and quick comments/views.
Cheers
This region is in my bucketlist for a couple of years. Will wait for your experiences that would help me in my trip.
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