My Old Lady !

Emotions swell high the moment you start haggling price for selling this old lady to a new owner. The memories flash like a power point in the mind and suddenly this old lady becomes revered enough, for any conspiracy against it. Luck, marriage, career, children, romantic drives, long drives, festivals all stand tall and archived on faded and not so agile frame of the old lady today. The brand and year of model play pivotal role in the negotiation for a resale but what goes beyond fixing a price, is the exhilaration and thrill this old lady has brought you fore, time and again when she was young and smooth like a mango slice!

The rich aroma of a new car cabin, with poly-ethened seats were a welcome souvenir for a long time inside the car  and every traffic jam was frightening not because it was a gridlock of energy and time, but it made my new lady to rub really close with rest of the traffic which often teamed up in all sizes and tried to scratch my lady from different angles. And what a painful experience it was to witness the first scratch on the glistening charm. It took me couple of days to get used to that faint scratch but at that time it became the only thing I noticed about the lady after fuel tank needle and tyre pressure, convincing myself every time with the power of blackmagic- Nazarbattu!....will prevent more such occurrences.

The lady was a killer with looks and snob value when I bought it after being declared as credit worthy for the first time in my life, the interiors which today look straight and jaded oozed out luxury and style. The odometer rolled like a clock beaconing me every time to the service centre before the due milestone. To add supplements to the good health of the lady I never hesitated initially to pamper her with premium quality petrol or sometimes extra premium from one particular fuel station. Every new accessory from seat covers to music system was only finalized after the same has been spotted in majority of it’s siblings in the various parking lots.

The lady which rolled out of the showroom with color consent of the lady love, was ribbon clad on bonnet and garlanded on steering wheel. It was further baptized by Panditji and his Asian paint teeka enduring couple of initial car washes to ward off the evil eye! That day, everybody zipping ahead of my lady looked like a maniac to me and the ones left behind were like morons! The upgrades like central locking, gear lock which today come as standard accessories where picked up without a second thought to make me comfortable in the parking lots of the mall with the luxury of remote lock/unlock sound declaring the arrival or departure like a whistling train. Even after parking it with utmost care, I never missed a second glance after walking few steps ahead to ensure the car has not disappeared or needs relocation.

Together, we were a great force to reckon with. I don’t remember backing out of any terrain or distance because my lady could not negotiate the challenge, we overcame them all. Time flew by and the family also grew putting forward fresh needs. Today, more spacious, more curvaceous, more intelligent, more fuel efficient cars have taken on the road. The problem of maintaining the vintage is the cost at what it comes. Gradually, you reach a point where servicing this lady would become one fifth of the depreciated value. What seemed like a bundled offer for your life time starts getting second attention in front of the more eligible set of wheels you buy to keep yourself contemporary? The new lady evokes similar feelings and behavior but obviously the degree of emotions dilute. The OLD LADY still rules the roost of your heart and mind. The make and brand were only means to categorize it with similar ones on the road but somehow I know for sure, the particular car I had was the best one ever produced from that make and it landed up with me!

My sweet OLD LADY!!

DL3CAD 2298 Wagon R