A Legend And Love from History -Maruti 800

back in the days of my childhood when the definition of a car was a lot of metal , a cabin large enough to play football in and a big obsolete engine that refused to start on a winter morning. Cars that featured these were the "Fiat Premier Padmini" and the "HM Ambassador".
 I  remember the Fiat that my uncle owned and the struggle we had starting it while going on  outdoors and due to their financially demanding nature not everyone could afford them.
  On weekends, i would spend most of my time in the Fiat on the steering wheel virtually racing against all those odd racers who were keen to destroy my car with their missiles and lasers.mom had to pursuade me out of it for a bath or for a breakfast . back again mom was compelled to get me my lunch in the car itself and at times i often received ocassional pampering on my cheeks which marked her hand on my skin.
Think of that time, and you'll remember Ambys and Fiats looked flabby and round . it seemed that they possesed some extra fat on it's curves than they really need to impress. On the other hand, 800 flaunted the streets with it's beautiful edges and perfectly crafted bodylines.
  It was an unsual evening when dad brought the 800 to the home and parked it outside the premises . there were clouds scattered all over the sky , the sun was about to set and everything else seems to be painted in acrylic. i was still dreaming about it when a loud noise broke my dream and i saw mom struggling to wake me up.To my surprise there was this beautiful lady standing in front of me as i walked through the door . enthralled by its edges and distinctive looks, this snow white was a sheer beauty.   
  Days went on and i began to fall in love with this car.i remember every morning before leaving for office dad used to take me for a ride in neighbourhood in his 800 , and my weekend races against all those phantom racers was shifted in 800 from the old Fiat.
Before the introduction of 800 , this car had to go through a lot of criticism and   abhorrence.this car was a shocking contrast to our defintion of cars  and back in the city where Fiats and Ambys were  the only vehicles seemed on road people exposed to these two fat ladies would find it difficult to handle 800.
the 796cc inline 4-cylinder engine was enough to out-accelerate any Fiat or Amby. As a result , 800 accidents beacme a common sight . wrecked cars could be found everyday in the garage behind my home and people  raised it to the "Hall of Shame". at times it was often referred to as " Maa-Rotti Hai". 
 Later a few sceptical buys and exceptionally happy customers ,almost everyone could afford to this. also it was easier to maintain ,easy to buy and decent fuel economy adds credit to it. personally i believe this car marked the beginning of era for hatchbacks in India.
 Time rolled and 800 went numerous body and engine upgrades to meet the demands. 
 As soon as Maruti launched it's "Alto"  in 2000 , dad switched to it and my 800 became a spectator of the new kid in the house and change. i could feel it's heart weeping under that hood and i began to spend more time with it . 
 Standing in a isolated corner of the house premises she used to watch the same spot which was once occupied by her and where she posed in great attitude and pride , but now her postion was snatched and handled over to the Alto and she was left with nothing else other than to envy her and watch her rolling out everyday . 
 During my class 12th my heart began to fondle again for her and by now i was determined to restore it's pride and position back in my house. i was lucky enough to get my friend Anshul's support who helped me a lot to understand the pros and cons , stats and performance  upgrades . a few bucks spent from my pocket money and a bit contribution from my parents helped me to heal the pain and wounds she went through.
 First time i switched on the engine and and we went crazy hearing the loud noise . "HALLEJUAH !!!!!!"....The car is alive. their was happiness all around . the world seemed to b a better place to live.
since then i am driving the car around the city with great pride and enthusiasm with my friends.my dad is now planning to buy his 3rd car and may be he would now switch to a sedan from a regular hatchback.
  Although 800 is agening now with time  ity still retains it's old charm and smell which makes me to drive her whenever i am near her.
  Officially Maruti has discontiuned the production of 800 as a result of new emission norms let's hope Maruti resurrects the 800 sometime in near future as a new classic . it sold over 2700000 units averaging over 100000 per year. 
800 is retired now and the sales are declined in almost all the major cities in the country .it has became a gloroius tale in the automobile industry 
             "ABSENCE WILL ONLY MAKE HEART GROW FONDER "
Love you...800 ..!!!

Some Days at Coaching.

Baam!!!!!!
The door of the room where i was sitting quietly studying opened up and a man rushed inside. He scanned the room with his suspicious eyes and gave a dismal look at three of us sitting over there.
Next he moved  to the guy at the last bench and asked for his ID card. next it was Himi's turn. He checked her card moved to me. i looked into my bag and
"Damn it!!!  i said to myself.
"I forgot the card at home".
And there goes my careful planning all in vain.
I cursed myself . I must have asked Himi to leave for home that day.

"Ok!! dude. Would you like to accompany me to the front desk and have a little chat". said the receptionist.
"Pick up your glasses and helmet and follow me."

Badly agitated and frustrated i left the room in disgrace.

So now  let me make the situation clear to you.
  It was my lecture going on in the class and I  was bunking it just to read and learn some thing that i felt was worth. Frankly speaking , i was never interested in learning the facts and recalling them like a trained parrot.
In fact , skipping our lectures was the most common thing for Ananya and me . God knows ,how many times we must had skipped our class trying to do something we felt was worth and useful. But things got worse for me when he stopped coming to the class and i was left alone .

Back then , most days were bad because i had to go to that hateful place every alternate day that I began to hate from the very first day i entered it-my coaching class.
I only wished that someone could take me away but I knew there was no point in even asking . I knew the answer would be,"You have to stay there until you had completed your course".

Going to the class did not cheer me up. I did not mind the bad management and lack of comfort , or even the dirt and squalor, but I simply hated the atmosphere of those "nasty weird looking creatures" who always had there head buried deep inside their books and recalling the every word imprinted in it loudly .
It was a strange place with more strange people.

That day I came home and as my head hit my pillow I found myself talking to me .
"Damn man!!! this sucks. what a creepy place.at least you have a room of your own,which is more i can say".my mind said to me.
"At least you live among civilised "Human Beings" . i replied.

MY NUMB MIND WAS STRUCK  WITH A THOUGHT THAT MAY BE I WAS GOING ALL CRAZY and i thought maybe i am going way too far with this and thinking too much about this stuff. I ought to sleep.
Apart from books on automobiles and physics , My only interest was music and i played my 6-strings regularly until my mom asked me to stop. There was enough noise in the house with all the kids howling. but I was tempted to the point that most of the time it was me only who made them howl like hungry wolves , but then decided to say nothing.

  I was determined to leave this town. I was sick of increasing pollution and crude environment and in a hope that may be I could find like-minded people outside.
Back at the class,  I knew a lot of medical students and some of them were even friendly. I mentioned this because I knew that sooner or later I am going to have a nervous breakdown if I stayed any longer.
"Suppose a doctor would say it's bad for me to go to class and I need to get away right from it?"
          I can't imagine a doctor saying that , but at least I must have tried..
         And for a moment I was lost within my own words
      "Oh yeah!!! i am going to have a real nervous breakdown".
   Obviously I had lost my mind when Himi asked me if there's some chemical imbalance in my head.
She was one among those medical friends of mine and her keen interest in human psychology surely helped her a lot to understand my state of mind.

The next few days I spent wondering what to tell a doctor if I really had a nervous breakdown and so most of the time I found myself skipping my lectures and continuing my own studies. I was never interested in learning what they taught in classrooms and with this I was still willing someone to prove that I had a real  problem and thus so I could stay back at home happily doing my own work and also sparing time for my family and friends.

But then,that day all my willingness and tragic expeditions came to an end and crushed to the floor of the room and now I  was surrounded by a handful of those "nasty weird looking creatures" staring at me as if they've seen a ghost.

Never mind , I was held the culprit and the receptionist was about to announce the charges on me and then he asked for the worst thing that can happen to me.
He decided to call my parents .

  I was  scared to death and my heartbeat rapidly.Of all the bad things that could have happened to me this was the worst.Worse than loosing my appetite.Worse than loosing my secretly preserved scale models.
But then I was also a wicked child. I handled him my cousin's Ritu's cell number telling him
"Well,mate you want to call my parents ?? go ahead . Feel free to complain".

Sitting there and staring at the walls of the room I saw Himi passed by . She texted me and asked me to leave for home with her but I was so badly agitated and frustrated that I didn't even cared to smile.
Poor girl!! She waited for me almost for an hour in the blistering cold and finally left in agitation.Later, though I apologised to her .

 It was 7.00 Pm in the clock and finally I decided to leave and walked straight out of the premises where I had spent 5 miserable months,without turning my head to give it a last look.

I  knew  I was going to leave before I knew myself. I hardly bothered to wonder, why I had been sent for ,but vaguely supposed I was to be punished again for my hard work and laziness.

Well, I had finished with my punishment and I was finally happy to be expelled.

I was determined that within next 3 months I would be leaving this town behind and head towards a better place for me.

On my way I saw the same man , the receptionist and passed a evil smile at him.I called my schoolmates Aaron, Mohit, Ronn and Arpit to the "Mugs " and we had a great time over their.

Lately, I could not think of anyone I wanted to say goodbye to before leaving.

Indeed , Himi was the only person in the  town I felt like I wanted to see before I leave the town I had come to hate the most , almost as much as i did my class......