Kerala fan to drive to Qatar World Cup
A HOMEMAKER from Kerala is combining her love for travel and football by travelling to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar by car.
As the World Cup fever is slowly gripping people and football fans, Naaji Noushi, an avid traveller, YouTuber and vlogger, commenced her journey to Qatar by driving a Mahindra Thar from Kannur last Thursday (27). When transport minister Antony Raju flagged off the trip in the presence of village panchayat authorities, it was a dream come true for this football crazy woman who has always loved to take adventurous trips.
After reaching Mumbai via Coimbatore, she and her Thar, which is fondly named “olu” (means woman in local parlance), would land in Oman by ship.
From there, she would travel via road and would cover Arab countries, including UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, before reaching Qatar, which plays host to
the FIFA World Cup this time. Noushi said it may be for the first time that a woman from Kerala was undertakin an overlanding trip to the GCC nations and that too to watch the football world cup. “My plan is to enter Qatar by December 10 and watch the finale. I am so excited about this trip. I am a hardcore Argentina fan and Lionel Messi...really want to see my favourite team lifting the cup,” she said.
She will continue her stay in Qatar till December 31.
Noushi said the trip was expected to be a complete van-life experience as all essential cooking articles were stocked in the vehicle. It is also planned to park the vehicle near toll plazas and petrol pumps and stay within it during nights.
She said she has an Oman driving licence, which has already been converted into an international one.
“I am a person who has been dreaming to see an Indian team playing the FIFA World Cup. Through this innovative trip, I am trying to be a part of the gala by reaching there in an Indian-made vehicle,” she said.
Noushi married at a young age and became a mother at the age of 19. Describing the family as the pillar of support, she said her husband and children were her actual cheerleaders and were encouraging her to travel more.
She already completed four travel series, including an all-India trip to Ladakh. Noushi said her youngest child is just two years old but her mother is taking care of her children when she is away for travel.
“If a woman like me – a homemaker, a wife and a mother of five – can realise my dreams, any ordinary woman in Kerala can chase her dreams confidently,” she added.
She also wished that her trip would become an inspiration for more women to come forward to realise their dreams.