Hachette India

The Nanologues: 10,000 KM Across India in the World's Cheapest Car

Vanessa Able

What does it take to drive across a nation full of rash drivers and maddening traffic?

As Vanessa Able discovered, all it takes is a little bit of gumption, infinite reserves of patience, and the world's cheapest car — the Tata Nano.

Travelling across the length and breadth of India, clocking up an impressive 10,000 km on her odometer, Vanessa goes to places where modern GPS systems fail to give directions, where the size of your vehicle determines your standing on the road, where bullock carts compete for space with SUVs on eight-lane highways, and where a blessing from the gods is better road insurance than safer driving. Her constant companion is her trusty steed, Abhilasha — the lemon-yellow Nano.

Humorous and entertaining, The Nanologues is an adventure unlike any other. Filled with wisdom gleaned from the dusty highways — where 'speed thrills but kills' — it is an ode to the road and to the unparalleled experience that is driving in India.

Vanessa Able

Vanessa Able was born on the island of Jersey in the English Channel in 1977. After completing a Master's degree in Fine Art in London, she left for Istanbul where she worked as editor-in-chief of Time Out magazine. After moving to Mexico City in 2008, she began to freelance as a writer for the New York Times, Esquire and National Geographic Traveler. In 2010, she bought a Tata Nano and drove 10,000 km around India. The Nanologues, the chronicle of this journey, is her first book.