CHENNAI: Homemaker in the morning and tuition teacher by evening: Hamsa Rani (62) is a bundle of energy. Now, she is looking forward to yet another thrilling adventure at the Indian Oil Duchess All Women Car Rally, which will be held on July 4.
The mother of two and grandmother of three has been a part of the Duchess Club from the beginning, as she reunited with two old friends. The trio has always been part of the rally team, with a fourth participant, every year.
With this year’s theme being Madras to Chennai, Hamsa is quite confident of pulling off another big one.
“I’ve lived through Madras and Chennai, so I have my two friends. Our fourth participant, this year, is in her 30s. So, I believe she will know about the happening places,” added Hamsa.
Her team has always been among the top three and has won the rally a couple of times.
“I’ve missed only one rally, a few years ago, when I suffered a heart attack. I really wanted to get back to the car rally, but my husband was wary. After continuous queries, my doctor gave a written statement which read, ‘Hamsa Rani can hop, skip and jump’,” she said with a laugh.
When CE asked her if she drove the car at the rallies, she laughed and shared an amusing incident, “I am a crazy, good driver. But once, long ago, I was driving with my husband, when I hit a stationary vehicle after making a U turn. The vehicle wasn’t supposed to be parked there and I tried to use it as an excuse, but well, my husband said that I was better off with a driver,” she said.
Hamsa has always been the calculator of her team at the rallies. “I go wrong with the calculations some times, but I am still good. And the best part of the rally is that our team has never missed a single marshal (checkpoint),” she said.
Recalling an incident, Hamsa said, “There are 15 marshals at different points in the rally. Once, during a rally, we thought we had missed a marshal. So, we went back a good distance, as we did not want 50 negative points, as penalty. It turned out, that we had not missed any! We came second that year. “Though the team’s costumes aren’t ready, Hamsa is excited and ready to learn more about Chennai’s heritage.
To register and know more details about the car rally, call 9841288631.