Those Four Wheels!

We sold our 10 years old silver coloured Santro in December 2008. The moment, it was taken away, the memories of the time spent in / with Santro flashed across my mind. February 9, 1999 was the day, when it became part of our family, our 3rd car in 15 years. I had not accepted it immediately. I did not like it’s manly, rugged look, though I admired the great space inside which was comparable to sea green coloured Maruti 800, my earlier very feminine vehicle.

We had the grand old Fiat before Maruti, and it was a great electrical marvel 🙂 It’s capacity to run you down anywhere on the road with its ever egoistic electric circuits is unbeatable. Yes, I would call its electric system egoistic, because the moment you forget about your last problem, they become active again. Anyway, it was a great friend of the car mechanics to keep their income flowing. It was with us for almost 6 years. We had many memorable trips in our white fiat. Few of them with the “stranding history” on road. 😋It had a peculiar habit: If you get it serviced just before going on a trip, it gets annoyed and start troubling . The garage mechanic will explain that it has “kachra in filter or carburretor”. Should it not be cleaned in the service? If you do not get it services, it again shows it’s temper while on road. It was typically behaving like a mother in law – Whatever way you care for it, it shows displeasure.

I liked the single front seat of fiat, as it lets you to be more romantic on the drive, unlike any other car of these days.

Now coming back to Santro, in last 10 years, it has taken us to more than 1 lakh km. We went to Musoori, Nainital, Manali, Ahmedabad, Bhuj, Dwarka, Jaipur, Ajmer, Udaipur to name a few places and thousands of miles in and around Delhi. It has also taken us to length and breadth of Gujarat in our last posting in Ahmedabad.

It has never given us any trouble..literally never. We have never stranded on any road either due to tyre puncture or breakdown in any of our sojourns. We had taken good care of it. Our keenness to follow the regular servicing schedules resulted in regular visits to company’s service stations. The regular spa-massages and oiling from Hyundai service stations across the country, wherever we had lived saved us from all the dramas Fiat did on the roads. And we never missed those dramas.

I only wish, its new owner takes good care of it and love it. May its association with its new owner be of happy travels all around !
Dear Santro, I had to go to market in a rikshaw after you left us. This was the only local transport available to the residents of this sleepy town in NCR, called Faridabad in those days. I felt so unsafe on its 3 wheels on the bumpy roads. But as I rode back after the my shopping in rikshaw, I started admiring the ride. While driving, I had never observed the changes and developement taking place around as the eyes were on the roads and not around the road. The slowness has its own charm, I guess. My Santro has taught me a lesson even when not being there….

I was just awaiting the “Spark” to add glitter to my life to get back to the wheels! Spark from Chevrolet was my next drive. The golden colour small cozy car was a gift from RB on our 25th wedding anniversary in the month of May in 2009. Spark has literally added glitter as I had many fond memories of local as well as long drives in it with friends and family. that was the time when both the boys were away to hostels and I had good friends circle. We had many driving trips to look back fondly. The most memorable trip in “Spark” was a visit to Badrinath. We were to go to Badrinath and Kedarnath. But unfortunately, roads to Kedarnath were blocked due to heavy traffic, so we could not go to Kedarnath. None the less, it was a very memorable drive.

We shifted to Ahmedabad from Faridabad in 2013. After the luggage was loaded and truck was sent off, we drove by road to Ahmedabad. Since, the truck was to reach on the third day, we had a relaxing drive with a stop-over at Jaipur. The good roads connecting the two capital cities made this drive quiet smooth. Many a times, we had covered this 1000 km distance in one day.

The love affairs with “Spark” ended when Chevrolet announced exiting India in 2017. This was the time, when RB hanged his shoes and opted for a relaxing retired life. He had disposed off his sedan before moving to Ahmedabad.

Retirement brings in a relief from hectic and busy life. We had opted for a relaxing life. Though I had changed cars every five years, I knew, now is the time to have long love affair with the four wheels. We bought a new i20 in bright red colour of Hyundai. With corona in place, this car is mostly seen in the parking. 🙁 I am still fond of road travel and with Mr. Gadkari at the helm of affairs (as our road and transport minister), the international quality of road network all around is calling me to be on road. I am looking forward to the days, when I can be again on a road trips.

Three road trips are in mind –

1. Covering the Golden Quaderilateral.

2. A road trip to Europe .

3. A road trip to Thailand.

With so much uncertainity and risks , I am not sure, if I can ever take these. But I am hopeful.

I’m taking my blog to the next level with Blogchatter’s My Friend Alexa.

This is my first post for Blogchatter’s My Friend Alexa 2021.