Day 1 of the Swift ICOTY Drive saw us travel through the heartland of Incredible India. The bright red Swift that we had at our disposal had Indian Car of the Year 2019 liveried on the sides along with a ‘W’ on the roof to denote the letter that we are tracing on the map of India.
We started from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh and made our way towards Kota in Rajasthan. PM Narendra Modi was addressing an event in Jhansi and that meant droves of people coming in. As a result, the traffic on the roads out of Jhansi was a lot more than usual.
The Hindi heartland had great highways interspersed with huge potholes and stray cattle in store for us. Thankfully the Swift’s punchy Diesel engine along and smooth five-speed gearbox were a boon for the high-speed cruising that we put the Swift through. The sharp brakes and the nimble feet of the Swift often saved us the blushes when a stray cattle found itself on the highway in front of us. Also, the comfy suspension settings made sure that we kept feeling fresh despite a relatively long day behind the wheel. Lastly, it was night by the time we arrived in Kota and after gorging on some delicious Lal Maas we retired for the day.
Tomorrow we move to Chittorgarh for the second and final day of the Swift ICOTY Drive.