Coming soon to an art movie house near you
BBC NEWS | Backwards driver's peace missionAn Indian taxi driver is planning to drive to Pakistan in reverse to help establish peace between the nuclear rivals.
Harpreet Devi, from the state of Punjab, has been driving in reverse for two years. And he has even mortgaged his house to pay for the Pakistan trip.
It is all part of his 'reverse philosophy,' built around his experiences since the day his car broke down.
Mr Devi told BBC World Service's Outlook programme that the idea of it was 'that you can improve a situation by going into reverse.'
In using this to improve ties between India and Pakistan, Mr Devi said his idea was to take relations 'back to what they were before independence'.
...
'What I have done is to modify the forward gears so they now work in reverse.
'This allows me to drive at higher speeds in reverse gear.'
However, he added that often driving backwards could prove a quite painful experience.
'I do have pains in the neck - frequent pains in the neck - and I have had severe vomiting in past,' he explained.
'I have got a severe backbone problem from driving so fast in reverse, because my whole body gets contorted.'
But he insisted the pain was worthwhile.
'To achieve something, you have to do something,' he stressed.
'So it's right that I should be experiencing pain.'
* Ray, 2/19/2004 01:24:39 PM
