Picking up a team member from the airport and bringing him back to base is a routine affair for most people. Most includes Pashatuks- well most of the times. Its an odd event here and there which keeps the adrenalin rush flowing in full form. And these odd events happen to be a part and parcel of Pashatuks daily lives.
This story starts with hitting on the road for the airport and after negotiating through the routine traffic snarls and road blocks that happen due to truckers and VIP movement alike, we managed to pick up our team member and hit off for base camp HOME.
The journey three quarters covered with us appreciating a late night Delhi- all lit up- wide roads,relatively empty roads,monuments looking forlorn but beautiful and we suddenly see all lights blinking in the dashboard,like a Sci-Fi Hollywood movie and the 1980 Kilo SUV sputters to a halt.
Someone up there in the skies above does love Pashatuks.
For here we are in Delhi,not exactly the safest city for a woman and the car breaks down close to midnight at not a remote dark place(as they show in movies)but at a very very busy and well lit up crossing with a huge State Transport Bus depot within eyesight.Lady luck smiles at us,even when throwing challenges. The male members get out of the car and the bonnet is opened.They are sure that its a matter of minutes before we are up and moving.
Tuks sniggers inwardly,but keeps her mouth tightly shut and she rolls back the seat and settles in to catch up with friends on social media and telephones. A couple of cigarettes later and checking out of the locality for some tea(there was no tea vendor but a lone ice cream vendor who looked at us hopefully- the 8 degree celcius,windy, post midnight weather didnt induce any of us to help the poor hopeful though), the men decide to call in for help. So an emergency call goes out to 1800-209-7006- the 24*7 helpline number for Mahindra vehicles. The MNCs need to take a lesson or two from this indigenous company on customer care- within half an hour we were located, picked up and dropped to the service station closest to home.
The interesting part of the story comes when the recovery van comes in. Accompanied by the trained engineers the open van has a hydraulic ramp which opens up and the vehicle is pulled up through winch cables. Pashatuks has tried to record it,but the lighting was poor and maybe you dear readers have to strain your eyes to fathom what really happened.
After the bully was pulled up without a whimper like a chastised schoolboy, on the van we clambered into the car and took an early morning ride on top of the world, gleefully staring at the cars rushing by below.Our filmy moments. A rather expensive ride this, at INR 1800 for around 6 odd kms,but the experience and thrill of the moment more than made up for the lighter wallet. At the workshop, the same procedure was repeated to bring the car down and we looked around for transport for the last 1.5 kilometer home. The humble autorickshaw was the paid for knight in shining armour. We trooped in with our luggage and were dropped at our doorstep and this was the end to yet another journey.
This story starts with hitting on the road for the airport and after negotiating through the routine traffic snarls and road blocks that happen due to truckers and VIP movement alike, we managed to pick up our team member and hit off for base camp HOME.
The journey three quarters covered with us appreciating a late night Delhi- all lit up- wide roads,relatively empty roads,monuments looking forlorn but beautiful and we suddenly see all lights blinking in the dashboard,like a Sci-Fi Hollywood movie and the 1980 Kilo SUV sputters to a halt.
Someone up there in the skies above does love Pashatuks.
For here we are in Delhi,not exactly the safest city for a woman and the car breaks down close to midnight at not a remote dark place(as they show in movies)but at a very very busy and well lit up crossing with a huge State Transport Bus depot within eyesight.Lady luck smiles at us,even when throwing challenges. The male members get out of the car and the bonnet is opened.They are sure that its a matter of minutes before we are up and moving.
Tuks sniggers inwardly,but keeps her mouth tightly shut and she rolls back the seat and settles in to catch up with friends on social media and telephones. A couple of cigarettes later and checking out of the locality for some tea(there was no tea vendor but a lone ice cream vendor who looked at us hopefully- the 8 degree celcius,windy, post midnight weather didnt induce any of us to help the poor hopeful though), the men decide to call in for help. So an emergency call goes out to 1800-209-7006- the 24*7 helpline number for Mahindra vehicles. The MNCs need to take a lesson or two from this indigenous company on customer care- within half an hour we were located, picked up and dropped to the service station closest to home.
The interesting part of the story comes when the recovery van comes in. Accompanied by the trained engineers the open van has a hydraulic ramp which opens up and the vehicle is pulled up through winch cables. Pashatuks has tried to record it,but the lighting was poor and maybe you dear readers have to strain your eyes to fathom what really happened.
After the bully was pulled up without a whimper like a chastised schoolboy, on the van we clambered into the car and took an early morning ride on top of the world, gleefully staring at the cars rushing by below.Our filmy moments. A rather expensive ride this, at INR 1800 for around 6 odd kms,but the experience and thrill of the moment more than made up for the lighter wallet. At the workshop, the same procedure was repeated to bring the car down and we looked around for transport for the last 1.5 kilometer home. The humble autorickshaw was the paid for knight in shining armour. We trooped in with our luggage and were dropped at our doorstep and this was the end to yet another journey.
