When a car breaks down in India

What do you think happens when a car breaks down in India? Your list might include things like:

1. No help for hours
2. Frustration
3. Anxiety and perhaps
4. Fear

All if the above are so far away from reality. Let me tell you my tale of today to explain why.

I had a crazy day at work, not a moment to relax. Had some office errands to run later in the day, so was out in my car, planning tasks, routes and phone calls as I drove into the evening. It was drizzling, with a little breeze. The perfect weather to enjoy the evening, but my thoughts were so far away, deep into the black hole of the never ending To Do lists. 

Somewhere along the way, I sensed smoke was coming out at my windscreen. Some helpful passerby suggested I stop the car and put water in the radiator.

I searched for the nearest shop to buy water, pulled the car to a side and opened the bonnet. And then the mystery started. Out of so many nuts, bolts, wires, caps, which one had to be opened to put water in. While I struggled to make sense of the maze, a helpful gentleman warned me not to open the radiator directly as it would be very hot. Another extremely helpful gentleman guided me on how to check how hot the radiator was. He took the trouble of turning on the ignition and showing me the flashing red lights inside the car. Meanwhile as the radiator cooled down, another considerate man poured water into the radiator coolant tank. All done and dusted, they advised me to go slow and watch the heat signal as I went home. 

As I thanked them whole heartedly and started to get into the car, I requested for the keys to the car. All of them looked at each other in bewilderment, and Voila it dawned on me that the keys were inside the car, which was now locked, as the ignition had been on for some time. All of the extremely gentle men, all of a sudden had by now disappeared from the scene.

As I struggled to open the door of the car, there started another set of extremely supportive gentlemen, who tried to figure out how to open the car without a key. After a few futile attempts, I called home, requested for the spare key to be sent and found a comfortable spot on the car bonnet to sit and wait for it. Meanwhile, the well meaning advice and help kept pouring and I was offered water, tea, a chair and lots of gyan about cars, radiators, central locking systems and rain.

By the time the spare key arrived, I had relaxed enough to make some friends, enjoy the rain and think about what my next blog would be all about. Things I would never had done if my car never broke down. Life is definitely so much fun!