his April, Airtel became the first telecom operator in the country to be present in all the 23 circles in India. Bharti Tele-Ventures decided to celebrate this event in a special way, and the Airtel One India Challenge, a road rally, took birth. "The idea was to involve the whole country and the company, and build a kind of �unifier�," says Hemant Sachdev, corporate director, marketing, Bharti Tele-Ventures. "The rally has been conceptualised as a tribute to the spirit of �One India, One Airtel�. It commemorates Airtel�s 23 circle all-India footprint and celebrates the diversified yet unified spirit of India."

Part of Airtel�s "One India" celebration, the rally was flagged off from 23 cities on April 23, that is the eve of Baisakhi (in the north), Bihu (in the east), Varusha Pirappu (in the south) and Gudi Padava (in the west). After travelling the length and breadth of the country, the rallyists in each zone reached the four metros - Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. Two hundred participants, who were selected by a panel consisting of officials from Federation of Motor Sports Club of India (FMSCI) and Ernst & Young, began driving to Nagpur on May 8 and reached the city on the May 11. As part of the second leg, they set out to cover a distance of 1,300 km to Delhi, their final destination, the next day.... more