How to make the perfect 'popat' of one's self!
Remember the post about the hand
brake? Well, here is another incident that adds to our car woes and people
around too. How you may ask? This is how –
Recently my mom had invited a mother-son pair
home. They were old acquaintances and generally nice people, so catching up
were fun! Plus, they had a lot of gujju-gossip to share which made it even more
fun. However, the chit-chatting session went on for too long before one could
realise that as hosts we’d have to ask them or rather offer to drop them home.
And because my mom was enjoying the company so much I pitched in to get Manu to
drive them home.
Now my sister was recently trusted with the car
and hence, she and I would sneak in a few long drives now and then. Thankfully,
dad was beginning, although reluctantly, to see her as a safe driver. So
driving the guests home was going to be a cake walk.
About twenty
minutes later Manu, head-popping out of the room, says to me, "I cannot
find the car keys. Check the hall or go ask the watchman downstairs." I
ran down to do so. No keys. Now I was worried as I had given my word. However,
in a bit, Manu walked into the parking lot.
M: "Papa took the car keys."
N: "What? Why? WTF?"
M: "Funny. He doesn't take the car but the
keys he takes!"
N: "Now? No car? Oh shit...***%$&&***
[mumbling to herself]
M: "No silly I have spare keys and let’s hope
this remote works." [Please note: in addition to the hand brake, we had
major problems with the auto lock too. It was old and barely worked. So when
one pressed the unlock button, the auto lock siren went off]
So now Manu pressed the dreaded unlock button
while I waited with baited breath. Five whole seconds and no siren…yay
(mentally breaks into a jig)! It sure was our lucky day. But just seconds later
the horrible siren went off! And it wouldn’t stop. Bah.
Manu nonchalantly eases herself in the driver's
seat and pushes the car into reverse gear. She begins to reverse the car. Ten
whole seconds later, she is still reversing the car. How long does it take to
reverse the car, girl?
Unperturbed my sister carried on as I imagined our
disgruntled neighbours coming down and giving us a sound yelling. I wouldn't
blame them if that happened. It was past midnight and a siren for no reason is
not welcome at any hour of the day, let alone in the night!
As the seconds inched on, my palpitations
increased and Manu continued to reverse the car (remember tough hand brake et
al?). All this while all I continued to ask her was to get the siren to stop!
M: "How re? What to do?"
N: "Give the keys! hmmmffff"
What
followed was not pretty. To understand it better think of a hammer pounding a
plastic toy. Gory, very gory! Yeah, what do you think happens to an old remote
when it won’t work?" After a lot of hammering noises later, I got out of the
car dejectedly. The music score continued.
However, thankfully we had now managed to park the
car outside the building. But the guests were down by now and looking at the
car and us in complete dismay.
N: "Sorry aunty. You know this generally
doesn't happen. It is the handbrake generally."
Aunty's son,"How old is the car?"
M: "Never Mind."
We make small talk through the ride and finally
make it to their destination.
Aunty, "Son, go call your friend Blacky
na...maybe he can fix this!"
N: "No aunty it’s too late. We will
manage."
A: "No, no beta go to the petrol pump they
will fix it."
N: "Ok surely aunty. Thanks."
A: "Son go with them, alone girls in the
night...no no! You go."
Aunty's son, "Please follow my
directions."
We did as the petrol pump was just round the corner.
The guy at the pump fixed the issue in no time. [But while he tries to shut the
siren, dad calls. A frantic dad asks us, "What are you doing to my
car?" I say, "Tearing it apart what else!"]
Aunty's son:"Pay him some 20 bucks."
Big oops moment! I had no money and Manu never
carried money with me around. Aunty's son saved the day. He told us he would
handle it. We left red faced. Bah.
please change the microscopic font size.....i am sure my short-sight will increase from -0.75 to -1 by the time i finish reading....will come back to real later. :)
ReplyDeletemy first tym here...
ReplyDeletenys post...funny.. :D
that was a major one. A Big POPAT! :) i understand.. now get the complete picture of that night..
ReplyDelete@ ZB
ReplyDeleteSorry I had not realised this! It was a scheduled post. Mistake has been rectified!
@ humbl devil
ReplyDeleteThanks! Do keep visiting.
@ Mihir
ReplyDeleteYaar I was so embarrassed ya! :( But now when I look back the entire thing is hilarious and yeah, we have not auto lock now!
i can totally imagine your condition :P. sometimes you have to pay for helping people!
ReplyDelete@ Sumit
ReplyDeleteyou hit the nail right on the head! Hahahaha
I'm sorry, but I laughed through this entire post.
ReplyDelete@ Julia Smith
ReplyDeleteExactly what I do when I look back! hahaha.
Hehehehe! i had a smile on my face throughout this post! Lol! POPAT!
ReplyDelete@ Iggy
ReplyDeleteThanks! :) I am glad you enjoyed the post.
hehe get it fixed na both hand brake and siren..ask Manu to get it done ;)..its not popat re..you did help aunty :D..how is health?
ReplyDelete@ ani_set
ReplyDeleteThanks. Only you see it that way. lol. Health is decent ya. Chal raha hai.
happens with all of us.. our chowkidar( a reliable one), after cleaning the car, took the keys with himself recently.. and the spare keys were nowhere to be found as is the case in times of urgency..
ReplyDelete@ Dhirubhai
ReplyDeleteMy dad would have beaten up the Chowkidar! What did you say?
@ Nikki,
ReplyDeleteI just said.. theek hai bhaiya.. aagey se dhyaan rakhna..
But papa did nt spare him.. he had to hear a lot that day.. and I was like.. papa, wo bhi insaan hai..
@ Dhirubhai
ReplyDeleteObvious yaar..Insaan sab hote hai. Koi emergency hoti toh?
hahahahahah!!!! this is hilarious... aweomse awesome awesome... waiting for something else to happen now
ReplyDelete@ Dream3er
ReplyDeleteLol. Jald hee pata chal jayega!
Poor aunty and son. Who helped whom here Nikki?
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, this was awfully funny. Does your dad plan to change his precious car anytime soon?
@ Aparna
ReplyDeleteI am not of what to say to your first question. Lol. Yeah, dad's planning on another car soon.
Oh man!
ReplyDeleteLoL!!!!!!!!!!
@ StandbyMind
ReplyDelete:)
u drove a car around town with the siren on?!?!?!
ReplyDeletesome night that! :)
@ blunt_edges
ReplyDeleteHehee yeah...I was red faced throughout! :(
Hilarious :D
ReplyDeleteBest story I have read in months :)
@ The Walker
ReplyDeleteThanks! :)
Your story reminds me of an incident from about a decade ago:
ReplyDeleteRewind to grade 9. At that age you are bound to over-sell yourself leading to those foot-in-the-mouth experiences, and at other times - you have the Popat moments..
The story was too big for the comment section, so I posted it in my blog.
Thanks a lot for your post. It was a good read and I had a lovely evening reminiscing some Popat moments in my life.
ReplyDeleteLOL :D all wierd things happen to you nik...
ReplyDelete@ Little Girl Lost
ReplyDeleteRightly said...I guess I am a magnet for all the weird things. Hehe
aaahhh... what a night... undoubtedly eventfull... :P
ReplyDeleteFirst time here...
:)
Cheers
Chandi
@ Chandni
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
Liked your writing. Keep it up :-)
ReplyDelete@ Rahul Jauhari
ReplyDeleteThanks! Keep visiting.
Some days can be really trying... And unendingly hilarious as well!
ReplyDelete:)
Its nice to see people appreciate the lighter side of life.. always...
Cheers,
Ashen
@ AshenGlow
ReplyDeleteThanks! :)
the content is great..bt de background is so not conducive to reading without straining eyes. Bt nice post
ReplyDeleteHaha. Well I hope atleast he was hot :P
ReplyDeleteFun post!
ReplyDeleteLoved it!
Haha! It's such a simple and sweet post, and made me smile! :)
ReplyDeleteIt is so simple to write a post, and I used to keep thinking about what to write...lol.
PS - I hope that you've got the lock fixed! :P