My experience with the wheels - Part 1

After shifting to Mumbai from Delhi, my parents were on a shopping spree. New fridge, new TV, new washing maching, new AC and new Car. And thats precisely when my journey began. We previously owned a humble Maruti 800 like most middle class families in the good old 90s. And like most dads, my dad to replaced it with a big lavish Chevrolet. And again, like the fate of most Maruti 800s these days, it came to the learner, who can bang and dash and experiment with the poor old car. Me!

It was a different experience, owning a car, hey whetever, it has 4 wheels!! So with the help of my friend (the poor soul who offered to help me with the learning), we decided to take the car out for a drive, to show it around Pune, the city that is going to be its home for the next couple of years atleast. So we start the car, smooth, and take it out the society gate, when my friend suddenly stops abrubtly and gets out. And before I could realize what is wrong with him, I understand its not him, its the car. Puncture!! And we spend the next 20 mins replacing the tyre and then another 20 mins to fix the stepney. And that was my first drive with the car.

Well no, it didnt scare me away, because I feel, every person and every car has its bad days. So two days later, on New years eve, all my friends gathered at my place and we decided to go for a long drive and spend the New years some 40 kms from Pune at a beautiful place, surrounded by hills, that looks amazing at night with moon overhead and cool breeze flowing. And the same "driver" friend of mine, who is also a "musician" brought along his guitar. So with due preparation we left for a celebration. On reaching the place, we were amazed, it was just perfect. So satisfied with the place, we parked the car and turned it off. The engine went off, but the headlights just wouldnt!

After every wannabe engineer in my circle tried their hands with "turning off" the car, we were left with no other option but to return back immediately. Because if the batteries drained out, we would have to spend the entire new years eve(till morning) in that stupid barren place!! So suddenly the place that was so beautiful, serene, perfect started seeming secluded and scary! And we take a U turn to back home. Never mind how we spent the time later. The car accompanied us back to each of our houses faithfully after that. I was feeling sorry for the poor car. It happens with me too, so I decided every person and every car should be given a second chance!

It was a nice cloudless Sunday! And we decided to give my car the golden chance, only this time we decided to be a little careful and not go to any secluded area. So we decided to show it around the real Pune. We met many of my 800's brothers and sisters on the way, and that made me very happy for some reason. We were on the highway, stopping for the signal to turn green, two huge trucks loaded with milk on both our sides,when it happened very fast. We sensed smoke somewhere, then saw it coming from our engine bay, and then as we opened the doors, we stepped on green fuming poison also coming from our engine compartment. And by that time the signal had turned green, and since it is India, people had started honking horns; in short it was total chaos! Two traffic havaldars came rushing from across the street and diverted the traffic, and to our luck there was a garage just across the road. He checked the car, and told us that we had to change half the internal parts. Since I was too scared by all this at the time, without thinking about the money (I was bringing it to use, not wasting it) I just told him to replace everything and also check the car for any other damage. So that was the third chance.

By the end of this episode, my confidence and the spirit regarding my "4 wheeler" had dropped to an all time low. Let alone driving it, I was afraid to even move it from its place. But my spirited friend had promised me that he would make me ride the wheels. So he patiently made me understand that infact, there is no more damage that can happen now. All has been replaced. I took time but finally understood his point. After all, what more can happen now!!

So with this attitude in mind, we left one fine day to pick up a friend from the station in my car. The roads there have many one ways and people who are always in a hurry to catch the train or meet their loved ones. The car hadn’t been any problem all the way, and we were happy about it. It is amazing to meet a friend after a long time!

So we were having fun , and taking a turn to head back home, when a biker in medium speed, heading wrong way, comes and crashes into us! It was totally his mistake and he agreed to it. And so my friend who was driving rushed out of the car, shouting at the fellow, who was so scared I could see him trembling! And again, there was a scene, Indian crowd simply enjoys watching a "lafda" more than any movie or sport! When I got down to see the damage to my baby, I saw that that the headlight and the front guard and the indicator light were all smashed. Well, the poor fellow was so frightened about going to the police; he quickly gave us the damage money and left off. And so I took my car to the hospital and got it admitted till it got back all fine. Well, we learnt a lesson that day, that you should never underestimate your fate and your car's fate. So that’s what more happened to my car that day!!

[To be continued...]