Car tales

Oh how much fun these car tales provided us. The setting is in 1980s and place is a Massachusetts, USA when many of us were deputed on an IT assignment from Mumbai to USA to work at a client site. 

Back then we were young and ignorant in many ways and certainly about cars. Unlike today, very very few people had ever driven in India let alone owned a car. As part of mandatory requirement from the company, they obtained a driver's license before setting off on a IT assignment to a client site in USA. Before they realized they were proud owners or part owners of a used car and that's when they started adding their own tales to the already vast collection of car tales created by their seniors and predecessors. 

Disclaimer: These CarTales actually did happen. These are to be enjoyed as pure fun and are not intended to point out shortcomings and ignorance of the individual. I have tried to mask their identity by changing their names. Frankly, knowing each of them well, I am sure that they themselves will read and remember these and laugh at themselves.  

I invite you to join the fun.

CarTale: Alok goes for his driving license test: 

Alok arrives in Cambridge, MA and soon becomes a part owner of a car. I say part owner because those days with limited budget, one had to share the car ownership with one or two other buddies.  Given a choice, none would have opted for being car owners but many places in US don't allow you that luxury of staying Car Less.  So Alok gets behind the wheel and starts driving albeit haltingly and under supervision from his senior colleague. He drives his car (with supervision) daily to commute to work. 

Feeling a little emboldened, he wants to apply for a local US driving license and schedules a driving test at the local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The examiner is an elderly official and our friend, Alok's sponsor (you require a sponsor who sits behind him but cannot talk or instruct) was his buddy who was helping him get to office each day.  The test commences and they come to a junction where our friend Alok ignores the STOP sign and a vehicle coming on the main road, despite that driver's best effort at avoiding collision, dashes against  front right part of Alok's car where the examiner has been sitting. 

Luckily all this resulted in a dented front right side of the car. There is silence in Alok's car as every one is trying to gather their wits. The examiner visibly shaken, alights from the vehicle and says to Alok, 'Alok why do you want to get me killed? I am about to retire in a few weeks". 

Our friend, ever the optimist puts up a brave and confident face and quips ' Sir, did I pass the test?'  

What audacity you would think and so did the examiner who actually replied ...NO.

CarTale: Car following us is lit up with Blue and Red lights. Why?

Suren and Samir arrive in a small suburb west of Boston called Westboro and with in a few days acquire a used car.  This was the first time ever that they would drive except perhaps when they passed their driving exam in India and got a license. However, strictly following the traffic rules was not something that came naturally to them. So, one evening they set off for a drive with Suren  behind the wheel and Samir navigating him. It was a nice open single lane suburban road where the posted speed limit was 30mph and their car was cruising along at higher than the posted speed.  Soon, as you would expect in a typical US town, a cop car waiting to catch rule flouters swung around and started following them. The cop turned on its Blue and Red flashers which signaled our friends to pull over. However, what happens next is why this became a CareTale. Our friends were blissfully unaware of the protocol and were clueless as to why the car behind them was all lit up. The driver, Suren looks in the rear view mirror and is puzzled and says to Samir, 'Samir is there some festival today? Why is the car that is behind us lit up with colorful lights like its Diwali?'  Samir equally clueless shrugs and responds to Suren 'may be whats it to us, lets just keep driving' and so they merrily drive probably a little faster than before. The cop now has no choice but to turn on his siren and thru his car's overhead speaker his booming voice announces that he is a cop and orders Suren and Samir to pull up.  Our friends realize that they need to comply and pull over. The cop car pulls right behind their car. In US, if you are pulled over by a cop, you pull over but remain sitting in your car until the cop comes to you. In India however, in a similar situation, you get down from your car and approach the cop. Our friends follow the later protocol and both open their car doors are about to step out when the cop roars and warns 'Stay in your car until asked to step out'. The cop also is now on the alert and not taking any chances pulls out his gun and walks to our friend's car with gun pointed at them and demands to see license and registration.

Imagine the plight and fright of our two friends who are trembling with fear. After the cop sees these two frightened youngsters, he calms down and resumes normal conversation which reassures our friends who tell him how they were ignorant of the protocol and could not read the flashing lights signal etc. The cop is convinced of their genuineness and lets them off with only a warning.