Last week while chatting with a childhood friend,we remembered the car my family drove.
A light blue Standard Herald.
Oh boy ,that car did some major travels. Since my dad was posted out of the town we lived in ,the day school ended, the very next day we would be off to wherever he lived at that time.
My mum learnt to drive the year we got the car. She turned out to be a great driver,and I only remember the one time she backed into a lamppost . The day she came to pick us up from school and I must inform you that it was not her fault at all .So, she had just learnt to reverse and she would bring the peon to make sure she had help when or if there was a puncture or break down.A more than middle aged guy who muttered all day. Anyway he was told to get down and tell her how much of turning space she had ....and say "vanga"and show his hand for her to stop.I dont know where he was looking that particular day but she backed and hit the post. She was mad at him and I don't think he came back for work. Don't remember her having any other incident in all the years after though .
The car meanwhile travelled all the way down south...
Rameswaram,Karaikudi, Madurai,Dindigul,Nagercoil,...we were all bunched up in the back seat.I hated the long sticky drives,the Herald didn't have windows that opened in the back so the four of us had to make do ,the younger two in the middle and the elder in the sides. Where we went, the dog went too so some place for him too. I was the puking one, especially when we climbed up the ghats as we reached the top , my stomach would be in my mouth and often in the car as well.My brothers hated it,so no one wanted to sit next to me. Of course they had little choice.
The day before we left,mum would cook enough food,this would mean sandwiches,muruku, cake,and whatever else was needed to stave off four hungry children. We had this suitcase that so voluminous that our clothes (all four and mums ) would be packed.Sometimes we even took our cycles.(Again if the place we were going to gave us an opportunity to use them) Mum was tireless and the food hamper was filled to bulging.,it was a lovely green and white box that she bought off some missionary.
Once the journey began we would stop only for food .
Find a nice shady tree,and Mum would spread bed sheet for us to sit.If it were underneath a tamarind tree,well,our pockets would be full of the sweet and sour fruit.
The car served us for many years,though I do remember it had some problem with the crankshaft. I cannot say more for I have no clue which part of the car that belongs to. It's gearbox also began to wear down but not before many adventures.
One year on one of our many travels my Dad was the designated driver and it was raining. The rain was so heavy you could not hear much else and the sound of gushing water became so fierce as we neared a causeway,the water here flows over the road and dad had to slow down and keep to the very centre.As we cautiously made our way through suddenly in the mist ahead a man pushing his cycle in one hand and holding his umbrella in the other. No amount of horning made him move faster or to the side....well the slower dad went the water began to push the car and to our horror we were going sideways. In some presence of mind dad shut the engine and turned the wheel to the other side as much as he could turn it. We stopped at the very edge.
The man in the cycle had not even turned.
From somewhere some men turned up and helped push the car back to solid ground.
One time leaving the quaint little church at Cokers walk in Kodaikanal,we came down the steep driveway to find the gate was half closed. Dad pulled the handbrake to get out and open it. As he started back to the car the handbrake slipped and the car began to move forward.Dad was shocked, he put both hands forward as if he could stop it from coming further and plunging ,metres to its death..with the rest of us. Mum pulled up the handbrake but it didn't stop.My oldest brother then somehow scrambled over us and stamped the break.
Sometimes it feels like a premonition.
Sometimes I feel we had second chances. You don't give up on second chances. You grab them with both hands and live them fully.
Wonder what happened to our Herald ?
The weather has become dry and hot.Nights are still chilly.
Coffee plants are getting ready to bud and wait for the first showers in April. They need the dry weather to stress them enough to really blossom .
I just need coffee when I get stressed. Hopefully I can share some pictures of the blossom in my next post.
Until then enjoy the last days of winter as a hard hot summer beckons....
A light blue Standard Herald.
Oh boy ,that car did some major travels. Since my dad was posted out of the town we lived in ,the day school ended, the very next day we would be off to wherever he lived at that time.
My mum learnt to drive the year we got the car. She turned out to be a great driver,and I only remember the one time she backed into a lamppost . The day she came to pick us up from school and I must inform you that it was not her fault at all .So, she had just learnt to reverse and she would bring the peon to make sure she had help when or if there was a puncture or break down.A more than middle aged guy who muttered all day. Anyway he was told to get down and tell her how much of turning space she had ....and say "vanga"and show his hand for her to stop.I dont know where he was looking that particular day but she backed and hit the post. She was mad at him and I don't think he came back for work. Don't remember her having any other incident in all the years after though .
The car meanwhile travelled all the way down south...
Rameswaram,Karaikudi, Madurai,Dindigul,Nagercoil,...we were all bunched up in the back seat.I hated the long sticky drives,the Herald didn't have windows that opened in the back so the four of us had to make do ,the younger two in the middle and the elder in the sides. Where we went, the dog went too so some place for him too. I was the puking one, especially when we climbed up the ghats as we reached the top , my stomach would be in my mouth and often in the car as well.My brothers hated it,so no one wanted to sit next to me. Of course they had little choice.
The day before we left,mum would cook enough food,this would mean sandwiches,muruku, cake,and whatever else was needed to stave off four hungry children. We had this suitcase that so voluminous that our clothes (all four and mums ) would be packed.Sometimes we even took our cycles.(Again if the place we were going to gave us an opportunity to use them) Mum was tireless and the food hamper was filled to bulging.,it was a lovely green and white box that she bought off some missionary.
Once the journey began we would stop only for food .
Find a nice shady tree,and Mum would spread bed sheet for us to sit.If it were underneath a tamarind tree,well,our pockets would be full of the sweet and sour fruit.
The car served us for many years,though I do remember it had some problem with the crankshaft. I cannot say more for I have no clue which part of the car that belongs to. It's gearbox also began to wear down but not before many adventures.
One year on one of our many travels my Dad was the designated driver and it was raining. The rain was so heavy you could not hear much else and the sound of gushing water became so fierce as we neared a causeway,the water here flows over the road and dad had to slow down and keep to the very centre.As we cautiously made our way through suddenly in the mist ahead a man pushing his cycle in one hand and holding his umbrella in the other. No amount of horning made him move faster or to the side....well the slower dad went the water began to push the car and to our horror we were going sideways. In some presence of mind dad shut the engine and turned the wheel to the other side as much as he could turn it. We stopped at the very edge.
The man in the cycle had not even turned.
From somewhere some men turned up and helped push the car back to solid ground.
One time leaving the quaint little church at Cokers walk in Kodaikanal,we came down the steep driveway to find the gate was half closed. Dad pulled the handbrake to get out and open it. As he started back to the car the handbrake slipped and the car began to move forward.Dad was shocked, he put both hands forward as if he could stop it from coming further and plunging ,metres to its death..with the rest of us. Mum pulled up the handbrake but it didn't stop.My oldest brother then somehow scrambled over us and stamped the break.
Sometimes it feels like a premonition.
Sometimes I feel we had second chances. You don't give up on second chances. You grab them with both hands and live them fully.
Wonder what happened to our Herald ?
The weather has become dry and hot.Nights are still chilly.
Coffee plants are getting ready to bud and wait for the first showers in April. They need the dry weather to stress them enough to really blossom .
I just need coffee when I get stressed. Hopefully I can share some pictures of the blossom in my next post.
Until then enjoy the last days of winter as a hard hot summer beckons....
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