More than 150 people rallied through the streets of Kolkata and adjoining areas, solving riddles and fitting jigsaw pieces to hunt for treasure troves.
Cloaked in the riddles were clues that led them to the troves — museums that are repositories of the legacy of Kolkata.
The sixth edition of the Doctor Vahaan WHEELS 6th Corporate Car Treasure Hunt 2023 saw the participation of two to four members per car and had participants from all walks of the corporate world, including banks, petroleum companies, and IT and ITES firms.
The rally was organised by Kolkata on Wheels, a magazine on automobiles and the heritage of Kolkata.
“This is our signature annual event. With each year, the scale and popularity of the rally has gone up. It is now one of the biggest motoring events in eastern India,” said Joydip Sur, editor of Kolkata on Wheels.
It was flagged off from De Sovrani Hotel near City Centre Salt Lake.
At the starting point, each team was handed an envelope containing a sheet that had clues — in the form of puzzle — for reaching the museums spread across the length and breadth of the city.
After solving the puzzles, the participants could choose to take any route they wanted to reach the museums, which included Aircraft Museum in New Town, Police Museum, Presidency University Museum and Netaji Museum on Elgin Road.
At each spot rally officials and marshalls were posted and once a team reached a museum, their cards were stamped with the time they reached the spot.
The team that reached all the museums and finished the rally in the shortest span of time won.
The route that each car took was completely dependent on the driver and the navigator. The rally did not have any fixed course.
Participants had to pick their brains to figure out the name and location from the clues given in the clue sheet.
One of the clues read: “Rising like a colossus from the noisy urban landscape is this monument of enlightenment. Located at Kolkata’s most renowned college. From Jagadish Chandra Bose to Prafulla Chandra Roy. From Raja Ram Mohan Roy to Bankim Chandra Chatterjee or Bipin Chandra Pal. Know all about these famous men. Rare collection of historical pasts. From musical instruments to microscopes. A journey through space and time for you”.
It pointed to the Presidency University Museum and rallyists had to figure out at least five other such clues before they could make it there.
Payel Sinha, who who took part in the rally with her colleague and friend Ashish Choudhury, said they barely managed to finish the rally on time but termed it as “an incredibly fun event”.
“Although the rally was flagged off from City Centre in Salt Lake we figured out the clue leading to the Netaji Museum first and headed there. After reaching there we somehow solved the Aircraft Museum clue in New Town and drove there before reaching Presidency University, followed by the other museums. So it was definitely the longest way around the city for us,” said Sinha.