31st Jan 2011 - It was Day 4 of my driving lessons. Pushkar had been a good tutor (so far) and I had been an even better student. Today's agenda was to learn reverse and half clutch. As usual, we finished our dinner by 10:30 pm and left for Ballard Pier. I rehearshed whatever I had learnt in the last 3 days for some time, feeling more confident than before. Then, it was time to learn the new tricks. Pushkar told me about reverse and asked me to try it. 1st attempt was ok, 2nd one was slightly better. Confidence was seeping in and then it all began - the engine stopped and refused to start!
This had happened before as well, on my Day 2. That time, fortunately, we were close to Pushkar's place. When the car broke down we dragged it to his house, took us around 15-20 minutes. We got the car repaired again, replaced the battery as well. In spite of this, it happened again. It looked to be a battery problem. For those who know less about Ballard Pier, it's a commercial area and has a lot of offices. At that time in the night, the place is empty - ideal for activities like driving. In fact, Pushkar learnt driving there itself, so I had to follow him. So, the battery was down and the engine was unconscious. We looked at each other wondering what to do. Pushkar called up Hari bhai, the mechanic, and told him about the problem. He was available only in the morning, which left us the option of leaving the car there itself.
There were a few cab drivers there and we thought they could help us. Pushkar approached them and they oblidged. They inspected the problem and confirmed it to be a battery breakdown. We tried a few techniques to get the car going but it was not going to be. The cabbies told us to leave the car there as it is safe and we can come down tomorrow morning to pick it up. We agreed, and we parked the car. We asked one of the cabbies to leave us to our house - at Mumbai Central. Just when we were about to leave, a teenage boy approached us. He asked us, "What happened? Did your car breakdown? Should I have a look?" We were looking at him, thinking what to do. He asked the same thing again. We said, "Yes. No. Actually, we have.." The boy replied, "That's OK. If you don't wish any help from me, that's fine!" He left, leaving a deceptive smile on his face. We left, and all the way Pushkar could not stop wondering about the safety of his car. Our cabbie was telling us things like which battery to use, what he did before driving cabs, why were the earlier batteries better, and so on. We were not listening to him at all. I was disheartened, as I had decided so many things to try that night. Pushkar was tense, quite obviously. We reached our house, and then suddenly we decided to go back. Back then, we did not realize that Pratik's house was close by and we could park the car there, where it would be certainly safer than the current location. In tense situations, we tend to overlook sensible things. We paid the cabbie, and I went to my house to get my bike keys and helmet while Pushkar was waiting, impatiently, below my building.
My family stays in 2 separate rooms, my parents sleep in one and my sis and me sleep in other. I knocked on my door and my mom opened it. She felt I had came back from driving. I took the keys, as the lights were off and went to my room. There, Sayali was busy watching her favorite tv program. I seized the opportunity of quietly getting hold of my helmet without her realizing anything. I had to do all this to avoid my parents from knowing what had happened, as they would have nagged me for it which I did not want.
We left from my place and reached Pratik's house in 15 minutes where we parked my bike. We left to get the car. At that time, it was confusing to find the car as the roads and buildings seemed to be similar. Just when we were about to panic, I saw a glimpse of Maruti 800 from a long distance. We approached, feeling better and better when we came closer to it. Yes, it was the car we were looking for! I tried opening the door and it opened. By that time, Pushkar had not even keyed the car. I had forgotten to lock that particular door! Thank god, we came back. Again, we dragged the car for about 15-20 minutes and parked it below Pratik's building.
We were sweating and felt hungry as well. While going back home, we stopped at Say Cheese and Fruit Juice corner at Churni Road. It was already 12:30 am by then. We ordered chilly cheese sandwich, cocktail juice and water melon juice. All the while savouring these, we were thinking about the incident. Pushkar claimed that whenever I would drive it happened. I argued that his car is old, and had been lying uselessly for months so it happened. Our snacks were over soon and it was time to leave for home. I dropped him, came back and quietly entered my room. Sayali was sleeping by then, and my parents were already asleep. I changed, and was in bed real soon. I am glad nothing bad happened that night. All this did leave some good memories of a wonderful misadventure!
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