A project my office had assigned some time ago demanded one thing from me above all else — endurance. To learn it, they sent me to an Olympic skier. What the project actually entailed, however, remained a mystery. When my colleague finally called, I expected answers.
‘Good start,’ she said over the phone. ‘We’ve been watching, and you handled the endurance bit quite well.’ ‘What’s the project, then?’ I asked, still confused about what exactly was being asked of me.
All I got in return was: ‘You need more training. Be ready.’
The call left me more confused than before. There was more to learn, more to absorb, and somewhere on the other side of all of it, a better version of myself presumably waiting. A fresh set of coordinates arrived shortly after, and with them, the quiet understanding that a new challenge was already under way.
Since I had learned endurance with the Virtus last time, I needed a fresh set of wheels for this new exercise.
This time, I chose the Volkswagen Tayron R-Line, Volkswagen’s biggest SUV in India, and one that plasters a smile on your face every single time you get behind the wheel. Whatever challenge lay ahead, I had a feeling the Tayron R-Line was going to ace it. There’s something about the way it carries itself — confident without being loud, substantial without feeling heavy — that makes you believe it’s ready for anything before you’ve even thumbed the starter.
The new location turned out to be a few hours from where I was, which meant a long stint on the Delhi–Chandigarh highway, where I could finally stretch the Tayron’s legs properly. In the city, the Tayron had been comfortable, composed, and thoroughly capable, but it gave off the feeling that it was holding something back, waiting for open stretches of road to reveal what it was truly capable of. Not just me, but the Tayron too, quietly thanked my team for setting this leg of the project outside the city limits.
Where the Virtus had been about enduring the punishing heat and bumper-to-bumper Delhi traffic, the Tayron on the highway felt like an entirely different conversation.
The Tayron R-Line wears its intentions on its sleeve — sharper lines, an athletic stance and the kind of presence that makes you look twice in a car park. But the way it looks and the way it drives are two entirely different conversations. In the city, it is mature and composed, content to absorb traffic without fuss. Out on the highway, something else surfaces. The 2-litre TSI — 201 bhp, 32.63 kgm of torque — has a distinct Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde quality to it, and the Delhi Chandigarh highway is exactly the kind of stage it had been waiting for.
The more I drove, the more I noticed it constantly reading the road and making real-time adjustments through its 4Motion all-wheel-drive system, which seemed ready for any terrain that was thrown at it. It was sending power to any of the four wheels, within milliseconds, depending on the need. It was thinking through the kilometres, rather than merely absorbing them.
That’s when it hit me. This new task was more about being precise, about getting things right, not just getting through them.
Precision, it turns out, isn’t limited to how the Tayron drives. Step inside and the cabin makes the same argument. The driver-oriented 15-inch infotainment touchscreen sits exactly where you want it, the massaging front seats — heated and ventilated — take the edge off long stints, and the overall layout feels considered rather than merely equipped. Whatever the roads throw at you, the Tayron will make sure you arrive in a fit state to handle it.
The coordinates led me away from the field where I’d sweated it out last time, to another ground that — as you might have guessed by now — had another Olympic athlete waiting. The absence of any visible training equipment had me puzzled. What exactly was going on?
Then she walked in, and the doubts began to clear.
Jaismine Lamboria — World Champion Gold Medallist, World Cup Gold Medallist, and an Olympian who represented India at the Paris Olympics 2024. Widely regarded as possessing one of the sharpest boxing minds in the country, she arrived in full boxing attire, looking every bit like she was ready to make this a session I wouldn’t forget.
She told me I’d been sent to her to learn precision, a quality every boxer depends on. ‘In boxing, power matters,’ she said, ‘but timing matters more. If you’re not precise, you’re late.’
I’ll admit, I found myself dividing my attention between Jaismine’s instructions and the Tayron R Line sitting nearby in its striking Ultra Violet Metallic shade, a colour that somehow manages to be bold and elegant at the same time. Jaismine, to her credit, was having none of it, and swiftly brought me back to reality.
Our session began with warm-up exercises before progressing naturally into the fundamentals of boxing — the uppercut, the hook, the straight punch. Each one a study in control, in reading the moment, in committing at exactly the right time. It reminded me of the Tayron navigating the unpredictable surfaces of our roads: not brute-forcing through them, but responding with poise, making the right adjustment at the right moment.
Seeing Jaismine’s moves, it was impossible to not draw parallels between her athleticism and the Tayron’s agility. The way Jaismine moved, with swiftness and suave simultaneously, the Tayron also managed twisty roads and long, straight highways adeptly. Every jab, hook, and uppercut punch Jaismine threw had power, and every time I pressed the accelerator in the Tayron, I could feel a similar kind of power.
Watching Jaismine train — with that combination of discipline and razor-sharp instinct — also brought to mind Volkswagen India’s halo product, the Golf GTI. A car with a legacy spanning five decades, it finally arrived in India to demonstrate the qualities it’s built around, and to quietly pass on its philosophy to its Volkswagen siblings. The Golf GTI has always been up for anything put in front of it. Like the Virtus, it can endure. Like the Tayron, it is precise, kilometre after kilometre, corner after corner, without breaking a sweat.
This time too, I left tired but not drained. Arif, the skier, had taught me endurance. Jaismine had taught me precision – two qualities that feel essential for any task worth doing well.
