Life in reverse gear

Be Indian, buy Indian, was the motto at the tip of hubby dear8217;s tongue, when he wanted to buy our first new car. No amount of sulking o...

Be Indian, buy Indian, was the motto at the tip of hubby dear8217;s tongue, when he wanted to buy our first new car. No amount of sulking or dissuading would make him change his mind. We therefore consciously shunned the charms of American, Japanese, European and Korean technology and settled for an Indian car. To acquire this masterpiece of Indian technology, the husband came all the way to Delhi from the Kashmir valley.

The initial days were sheer luxury. It was cool inside despite the sultry weather and we would cruise along the Delhi roads feeling really good. Being a diesel car it was pocket friendly too. I was chided for even having second thoughts about not wanting to buy it. It gave the soldier a true sense of patriotism for being desi in his purchase.

All was well until one fine morning, barely ten days later, our dream machine decided to misbehave. It only obeyed the command of forward march, no reverse. The reverse gear had packed up and at the apt time, too: we were about to head for the Kashmir valley the next day to wind up after a posting of two memorable years.

The trip had to be made, come what may. The risk had to be taken. Looking heavenwards, we set off. Our pocket friendly car was not so pocket friendly now. It began to make a hole in our pockets. Where we could have just pulled in to have a snack or a quick cup of tea we had to, many a time, go a few extra miles in order to find a place with suitable parking 8212; a place where we didn8217;t have to reverse. What a focused machine. Just moving forward, obeying no other instructions.

Driving through the plains was not much of a problem. Our ordeal was to begin later. First, a uphill drive to Avantipur. On my earlier trips, I had prayed to the lord to protect us and not let us encounter militants or landmines. This time it was different. God must have been amused at this lone prayer on the Jammu-Srinagar highway: 8216;Lord, let us not have to reverse.8217; We chugged along, praying all the time and moving ahead one mile at a time. We heaved a sigh of relief when we reached our destination in one piece.

After a difficult stint in the valley this was the last thing one would have wished to happen. But it did happen and we survived. Not to be bogged down by these not so trivial matters, we decided to see a few places just to make us feel good but all the time we kept our fingers crossed, hoping that nothing else would pack up before we reached Delhi.

With this problem uppermost on our minds there wasn8217;t enough time to even thank God for our safe stay in the valley. We were just looking forward to touch base and get our car in full working condition. Back in Delhi, with the gearbox changed and the problem sorted out, our four-wheeled beauty was back in action. This time not only moving forward but reversing too. Once repaired, the ordeal was put behind us. But it could never be forgotten!