Navigation device in Car.

Last year, I decided to drive to Surat to attend my cousin's wedding. Driving distance from Ahmedabad to Surat is 265km. I never drove a car on such a long route before. It was a long route for me because before that I have driven to a distance of 100 kms only. As it was a long route, I wanted to reach there before sunset. Thus I left Ahmedabad at 12:30 in the afternoon. I opted for Ahmedabad - Baroda express way instead of NH-8. I love driving on Ahmedabad - Baroda express way as the flow of heavy loaded trucks on that route is less. It is that kind of a route on which you can drive at the speed of 80 to 100 km/hr. You will hardly find these kind of routes in India where you can drive smoothly at the speed of 80 to 100 km/hr.

I crossed Ahmedabad - Baroda express way in just one and a half hours. After Baroda, I entered into a wide six lane highway accompanied by few heavy loaded trucks. I reduced my speed as the company of trucks was increasing. After driving at the speed of 60 to 70 km/hr for 20 odd minutes on that route, I stopped at one hotel for lunch. As I was having lunch, my cousin called me and informed that a bridge is under construction on that highway near Baruch. He told me that there is a traffic jam near Baruch and advised me to take golden bridge route from Baruch.

After lunch, I started driving again in the company of heavy loaded trucks. After the express way, I was driving on the wider road with the increased flow of commercial vehicles. Thus my average speed fell drastically. As I came near Baruch I saw a 2 km long queue of trucks. So I entered in Baruch city to take the alternate route which was advised by my cousin. As I entered the city, my speed went down to 40 km/hr. Moreover the way to golden bridge was not a straighter one. I never visited Baruch city before. It was completely new area for me. Thus, I needed a navigation device in my car. I started the GPS in my mobile phone and kept it in front of the speedometer as it was difficult to hold it in one hand and drive with another.

Mobile was not staying still on the dashboard. It was falling down again and again. So I put the earphones in my ears and started following the instructions given by the navigator. I reached the golden bridge in half an hour. Then I faced the real trouble. First, there was a huge traffic on the both sides of the bridge. Second, the bridge was so narrow that the two SUVs were not able to cross each other. The trucks were kept away from that bridge that's there was a 2 km long queue of trucks on the highway. It was a test of my driving. It took 45 minutes to cross that bridge. And then another 15 minutes to get on the highway again.

I entered in the Surat city at 6 in the evening. After entering in the city again there was a requirement of navigation device to reach at my cousin's place. At that time my phone's battery was down to 18% and I needed that to attend the calls. I called my cousin to ask the route but I was getting confused due to the flyover on every cross road. Then I started asking people and by doing that I reached at my cousin's place at 7:30 in the evening. It took 7 hours to reach at my cousin's place in Surat. Normally people take 4 hours to reach Surat from Ahmedabad and I took 7 hours. In that journey, I realised the importance of having navigation device in the car. Apart from that, these places were unknown to me that's why it took so much of time.

I stayed there for couple of days and then drove back to Ahmedabad. I reached Ahmedabad in 4 hours. The traffic was much less when I was driving back to Ahmedabad. Moreover my phone's battery was full. So I was using GPS without any hesitation. I fitted the navigation device in my car soon after that journey. It was a great experience.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

**Image credits:
1. http://www.gpsmagazine.com/2008/11/why_dedicated_gps_devices_wont.php
2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway
3. http://www.123rf.com/photo_22441102_mobile-gps-navigation-travel-and-tourism-concept-macro-view-of-modern-black-glossy-touchscreen-smart.html