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Impractical Dreamer

~ Dr Sweety Shinde: As a butterfly flits; so does the mind waltz in innumerable flights. Mine hovers over books, spirituality ,humor and random gems from everyday life.

Impractical Dreamer

Tag Archives: car

Scratch on my car; Wound on my heart!

05 Monday May 2014

Posted by dr sweetyshinde in My cars- my chariots, Random Musings, Social Causes, Spirituality

≈ 35 Comments

Tags

Accident, car, car accident, emotional attachment, Emotions, feelins, Heartbreak, possessiveness, Scratches, Trauma

I saw a gleaming Porsche in my colony yesterday. I eyed the beauty with a single thought, ‘How does it’s owner manage to sleep peacefully? Every night this dream is parked outside unguarded; must be possessive agony till he/she sees it safe and sound next morning.’

I found out the next day…Today. The Porsche was fine. My car had been banged into by an unknown reckless driver.

I received the gloomy details courtesy my maid. Time: 9.30 am. Damage: Emblem ripped off, Bumper hanging out. Witness: None. (Yes, on a crowded, buzzing with life, weekday morning. I can totally see why Nobody Killed Jessica can happen in our country). Assailant: Absconding.

I heard in silence. My heart held anything but silence.

2 voices babbled within me. The Intellectual one; saying ‘Don’t react. It is a mere material object; not worthy of emotional attachment. The mind always blows out of proportion a minor problem. Intellectualize the problem.’

The Emotional voice sobbed, “It is not a mere material object. She is My car. My baby!’

Intellectual said, ‘Possession is a Momentary Joy; and Permanent Agony at the thought of losing it.’ When  I brought her home 2 years, the dread started: regarding the First Scratch.

My Liva is an electric blue. IMG_0034 The tiniest scratch would stand out like a jagged scar. Why hadn’t I listened to my brother’s sensible suggestion of White or Silver? He then offered me another sensible suggestion, “Make the first scratch yourself. It will hurt less.’ I had shuddered at the mere hint.

Back to today. As I rode down the elevator, I steeled myself for the inevitable. Practical one reminded me gently to carry the home key(or you are stuck outdoors), turn off the geyser (nobody wants two accidents to crash into their lives). Intellectual one prodded me- ‘Visualize the damage and make it as worse as you can. Reality will seem much bearable in comparison. ‘

Emotional one screwed shut its eyes before they saw. Practical one glanced to see if the car was jutting out; badly parked? It wasn’t. I was not guilty. Then why? Out of all the cars parked in a row…unaffected. Why my car? Why Mine?

Intellectual one reasoned , ‘It could have been worse.

1.You could have been inside when the other car banged into it.

2.You could have been the cause of your car accident.’

Maybe. It could have been worse. Perhaps the blow we receive is a pre-softened version of the one meant for us.

Emotional one stooped over the car, with trembling lips. ‘No, it was not mere metal and paint. She was my darling. Hurt, bruised, ripped. I wanted to scoop her up in my arms and carry her home. She was my private Oasis from the humanity overflowing outside it, my  Chariot. Mine.’

Wynand says in Fountainhead, ‘Whenever anything becomes Mine; it acquires a special quality,  a halo around it.’ I identified completely with him.

The Practical one assessed the damage in cool detachment. It checked the Insurance date. Checked the PUC. Mechanically reached for the service station and dialed an appointment.

Tomorrow, the mechanic, the  truly emotionally-detached will decide whether my Baby gets hospitalized or waltzes home with a mere band-aid.

So, is  ‘Emotional detachment’ a farce?

If a Philosophy is not practicable, can it still exist?

What does your car mean to you- Possession, Object or Beloved?

Queries

05 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by dr sweetyshinde in My cars- my chariots, Random Musings, Social Causes

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

car, driver, driving, orange light, pedestrian, road crossing, road rage, rules, traffic

1. The orange light. Press accelerator or press brake? The blinking orange is that alluring last-chance warning to escape the red. How many of us slow down on an orange light? Unless… see point 2…

2. Do you modify your decision according to presence of traffic personnel? I do. What seems right on an unpatrolled road suddenly seems forbidden otherwise. And forbidden fruit is so tempting!

3. Blood Alcohol test on the victim? Is it ever done? I know nobody in a sane mind would sacrifice life /limb  to end up as a road-accident -victim. But then, neither would any sane mind want to be an accident-maker. Think of suspended license, penalty , loss of face,  a lifetime of survivor guilt…

4. Why does the mobile-addicted cool dude sauntering across the road think his life is my duty?

5. Why does every group of women need to join hands and create a human chain , simply to cross a road?

6. Why is spitting on the road easier than just swallowing it,  for certain people?

The art of driving in Mumbai- Part I

24 Sunday Nov 2013

Posted by dr sweetyshinde in My cars- my chariots, Random Musings, Social Causes, Spirituality

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Accident, adrenaline spurts, car, driving, Matiz, Mumbai, Nirvana, owner, patience, peace, road rage

OK, I admit it is a nightmare. It escalates blood pressure, boils blood, creates stomach ulcers, gives visions of bloody murder.

I am now trying to achieve Nirvana while driving. Here are my pointers.

1. Start early. Nothing like those extra 15 minutes to soothe fragile nerves.

2. Dont make it a competition between that I-have-a-deathwish taxidriver and the Why-the-hell-do-girls-drive testosterone bravados. In my early nervous stints at the wheel (and even now in unexplainable spurts of adrenaline), I do press on the accelerator.

If you cannot control the competitive urge, make it a different type of competition. I pat myself on the back and say “I won’’”, if I do not give in to that adrenaline surge, if I ease on the accelerator and allow the idiot to overtake.

Those 5 seconds honestly make no difference. Invariably, we end up side to side(or bumper-to-bumper) at the next red signal!

3. Listen to fabulous music. It is the magic elixir to shorten and sweeten any journey.

4. Anticipate the sadistic tendencies of truck and taxi drivers. They almost always turn left after giving a right indicator, take a U-turn if the parking lights are blinking and veer into your lane with no intention of acknowledging ur existence.

5. Remember, you always appreciate patience in the driver behind you; but never in the driver ahead of you.

6. Indicators are genuinely meant to replace horns (in daytime). So dont use them as synonyms.

7. Never admire another bigger, better, newer model. Just like you wont admire a younger, slimmer, prettier girl in the presence of ur current one.

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