Car Dash

 

Car Dash

Memchoubi phanjoubam

In Imphal, the fault always lies on the four-wheeler in any case of accident. In other parts of the world the responsibility is properly fixed. I have been driving four-wheelers for the last fifteen years or so and thus have been involved in many such occasions.

The first instance occurred when I had just started driving my brand new car. It was a lovely blue car. Its makers called the colour ‘Deep Pearl Blue’. I loved it and enjoyed driving it. One day, in the hospital campus where I worked, an auto rickshaw passed by me and made a deep scratch across both doors on the right side. The driver looked at me and I also looked hard at him. We were assessing each other in a battle of stares and planning on the next move. The scratch was going to cost me a lot and it was obvious to everyone that I was not at fault. In my heart of hearts, I knew that he would be earning hardly a thousand rupees in a day. So, I shifted my gaze to the road in front and let him go away without uttering a single word. Later that day after work, I took my car to a garage and the repair involved a lot of work like taking down the doors, rectifying the dent and repainting the scratch. The whole activity took about one week and made a dent of ten thousand rupees in my pocket. Being jelly-hearted has its faults! But, unfortunately, one can’t change one’s nature overnight.

The second instance occurred when I had sold this blue car and bought a silver one. With age, one tends to mellow out and the mood is reflected in the colour one chooses. It was a new model and everyone seemed to spare a glance when I drove it or maybe it was just my imagination. One fine morning, just as I was driving out of home for work, a teenager came riding a two wheeler with his eyes focussed straight ahead and not looking right or left as if he was wearing blinkers. Naturally, he did not see me coming out slowly on the side and so came right onto my front bumper. His scooter flew to one side and he landed on the road a few yards away from my car. I ran out of my car and saw that he was still conscious and with help of the onlookers took him to the nearest hospital. A few stitches were given on his knee. Otherwise, he was fine and was discharged. Now, the whole thing came down on me because I owned the car. So, I had to pay his hospital bills and his father also requested me to help financially in repairing his scooter. Now, that was too much. Even if I had not been present at the scene, he would have wrapped himself around the nearest pole considering the speed and the tubular vision with which he had been driving. But, as I said earlier the fault always lies on the four-wheeler. So, I ended up doing all these unwanted things even though my heart resented. On top of that, my bumper was completely torn and it cost me twelve thousand rupees to have it replaced.

The third instance occurred when I was rushing for my class. Students were already waiting and I was running a little late. A parked SUV suddenly started moving and dashed against my rear bumper. I did not even have the time to get down and assess the damage and the liability. At the end of the day, the cost came to a sum similar to the one I had spent for my front bumper earlier. The hassles of insurance are tiresome and all these issues have been handled from my pocket despite mandatory car insurance.

The car tale is not over yet. My car is bright and shiny again with not a scratch in sight, though many dents have been made in my pocket. It was a sunny afternoon with no traffic in sight. I was cruising calmly on the road just near my residence but I had a gut feeling that the two girls who were coming towards me would surely do something unpleasant. Even from a distance, it was obvious that they were novices and were learning to ride the scooter. The balancing seemed difficult and the vehicle was moving from side to side quite out of control. So, to avoid any untoward incident, I drove far away to the side of the road and even reached the adjacent lawn next to the road but their vehicle came slowly but certainly towards me and made a long ‘screechy’ scratch on the right side of my car again. As soon as I got down from my car, the girls got up quickly and informed me promptly that they were not hurt and were perfectly alright, completely oblivious to the damage they had caused me. This escapade of theirs cost me another seven thousand rupees to touch up the paint.

The latest in the odyssey is something which happened today and which has prompted me to write this story. I arrived in my office at nine in the morning and had just started my work when the security officer came in to inform me that my car which had been left in my designated parking slot had been hit. I went out to see what had been done. The left side of my rear bumper was scraped off of all paint and the tail light was also broken. The intern who had hit it with his two-wheeler was standing there. I saw his face and could not ask him for anything and so I just let him go. I knew the damage was going to cost me atleast twenty thousand rupees but I would not be able to digest any money I took from a mere child. Such is the fate of four wheeler owners in my part of the world. I came inside my office and got back to my work. After about half an hour or so, the boy came back again with a friend. He was very apologetic but still I did not want to bother him and just asked him to consider this as a learning experience in life.

So, I don’t know whether I am a very submissive person who cannot react aggressively to any situation or just someone very resigned to her fate. But, I would love to think that small acts of peace would help in creating a larger quantum of solace in this troubled world.