A passion and a dream trip came true for Ashok Kumar, M.D., RAH Infotech, who ventured to complete the trip by road from Gurugram to London. It was a 59 days trip by road on his car accompanied by his wife Ms. Rekha Yadav. Ashok and his wife were part of a 29-member team of people on this challenging road trip from India to London.
Ashok started the journey from Gurugram for Imphal where they were flagged off by Mr. N. Biren Singh. Chief Minister of Manipur. To reach their final destination they had to drive via Myanmar-Thailand-Laos-China-Central Asia and Russia before entering Latvia in Europe. They reached Brussels from where they took the ferry to cross the English Channel to reach Dover, the last stop before London.
A Carnet was issued from an authorised automobile association for that acts as a passport for the car, which enables to travel without paying any taxes or duties for it.
Ashok has undertaken several trips in the past, but this was a life time experience. During this trip Ashok had to drive an average of 500 – 600 kms per day. They had to adjust to the driving rules of different countries and many other formalities. Even though he was en-route, business has been always his priority. He has opened an office in Europe.
What made you take up the challenge to drive from Gurugram to London by car? How was your experience?
Prior to this trip, I had the opportunity of roaming the world either on a plane, or by a chopper but watching the world from the comfort of your own car and through the windshield to me is an out of the world experience. It gives you an opportunity to get up close with the countryside, experience the local culture and celebrate the local cuisine, one country at a time and about 18 countries at a stretch spread across 19400 kilometres in over 55 days. We had to drive on an average of 500 – 600 kms. per day and had to adjust to the driving rules of different countries and many other formalities.
In short, exhilarating, enthralling and unforgettable.
During your stint of journey, how connected were you with your business?
I’m someone who believes in work hard, party harder. While I was partying on one side, I was constantly in touch with my passion i.e. my business. I was updated on all the key aspects of the business on a day-to-day business and was available to my team on and off for any important matters. The fact that RAH Infotech established its presence in Europe during this trip affirms the same.
How were you able to make certain critical business decisions?
RAH Infotech has a very experienced management team with each member capable of running the show on their own. My involvement during these 59 days was limited to certain strategic decisions only. Rest was managed by the team efficiently.
You have proved that you can take-up any challenge, how it has helped RAH Infotech to grow to next level From being a not so popular brand in the distribution market to becoming one of the key players in the country today in the value added technology distribution domain it was a great journey and is a result of grit and determination to bring this organisation into the big league. Be it business or adventure, always game for some serious challenges.
Share your experience in opening up a new office at Europe during this trip.
While most of the ground work was done before this trip, I just had to complete some formalities to officially launch our presence in Europe. It was all about making the most of this trip and being in connected with business even while having some serious fun.
