Solo drive to Imphal in a fantasy F1 race

For a day in a long time, there was time to kill. The only thing to do for the day was to reach Imphal in one piece. So, I filled my tank, updated my facebook status, and drove. As I crossed Lerie gate at Kohima, I set the meter to zero to see for myself the distance between Kohima and Imphal. Left to myself with no music system in the ‘powerless-steeringed’ Bolero Invader, I tried to do what I proposed to do in my facebook status, i.e. to contemplate on the bigger questions of life. To ponder on existential question like, ‘why is there something instead of nothing?’ or ‘why did the chicken cross the road?’ But I kept searching; searching for things to click. After frequent stops, I decided to just drive; else I won’t reach Imphal before dark. 

Then I imagined if I were in an F1 race. I started on P30 (assuming that 29 cars have gone ahead of me this day) opting to start on the soft tyres. Soon I was up to P25. But frequent stops for photo shoot kept pulling me back the grid. I changed to hard compound tyres at Mao gate and refuelled. Pit stop time? 3.6 seconds stationary. What used to be the worst stretch of road between Mao and Tadubi is well repaired. But without proper nullah, will it last one monsoon? If it were last monsoon, I would have gone for the wet tyres option. Then I met an army convoy. I wished in my heart that the driving behavior of the army convoy drivers be rewarded with ringworm on their groins. From Mao to Senapati, I was travelling at an average speed of 45 kms/hr. Then I refuelled at Senapati (Samosa and Chai) and changed into Intermediate tyres. The pace picked up and I was crusing at about 60 kms/hr. 

I looked at my watch and seeing that the shadows are still short, I decided to go for a dip. I drove into the Imphal River and bathed my car. The car besides being ugly was heating up and needed to cool down. In the DRS zone near Sekmai, I recorded my best lap time of the race and reached top speed of 90 kms/hr, thereby regaining some lost positions. On reaching the city limit, I stopped pushing and 2 cars overtook me. I overtook one again in the long straight at Koirengei, but the other one (a red Hyundai i20) got away. 

When I passed through the Imphal City gate, I looked down and saw that I had travelled 123.8 kms. That is the distance between Lerie Gate of Kohima and Imphal Gate of Imphal. From P30, maybe I finished further back and did not score any championship points. But it was an entertaining race and we (as the f1 drivers would say 'We' in post race interviews instead of 'I') managed to bring it home (being alone, I was scared if the car breaks down halfway). And as wise people say, it is not just about the finishing line, but it is the journey. (Photos to be updated soon)