My Maruti 800 Story

This December, my Maruti 800 completes 15 long years with me. It travelled along with me all these years to all the places I stayed. But my wife and children are not very amused by my special attachment towards the cute small green car. They tried all these years to cajole, coerce and intimidate me to buy a better car. All the three of them used to show me every new car on the road and narrate the advantages of buying one of them. And I hated any such narration and retorted them with the merits of my Maruti 800. I keep telling them,  ‘as long as this car takes us to our destination without any trouble, I don’t think there is any necessity for a change’. Though its use has come down these days because of the leased vehicle from the organization where I am working, I used to travel hundreds of kilometres in my Maruti on my trips to my native place earlier.

On one of the trips to the hills in 1998 (scanned photo)

My Maruti 800 has never left me stranded on the road all these years. I have never spent any large sum for repairs.  This is in contrast with my first car, a second hand ‘fiat’, bought from my maternal uncle, just before my marriage. That car almost ruined me both emotionally and financially. Imagine, you learn driving in a car that gives you all sorts of mechanical and electrical complaints every now and then.

Unfortunately, all my prime energetic young age was spent in classrooms and university libraries. I never thought of learning even to ride a two wheeler at that time. Main blame for this should go to my mother.  She said ‘Two wheelers are very dangerous. Don’t ever think of riding even a bicycle’. She also used to say: ‘Don’t play, you will get spoiled; Don’t pray, you will become a priest’.  So, my childhood was without any toys or many friends, but a lot of ‘General Knowledge’ books!

(Photo of a fiat car. I used the same model. My blood boils even now)

First few months of valuable family life were spent learning the art of driving and repairing the car. My friends, staff, and many strangers extended their ‘push’ at unexpected times when the battery, wiring or the engine failed. Finally I managed to get a buyer for the car. (And even now, if I see a fiat car on the road my blood boils and my mood spoils. And my wife laughs and tells our children, ‘there goes Appa’s favourite car!’) I decided to buy a car on my own without any help from my doctor wife, rich in-laws or my mother. I approached a relative of mine who is the manager of a scheduled bank. He said, ‘loan can be sanctioned at 16% interest, but bank requires original document of land holdings in your mother’s name’. Ridiculous! Apart from the hypothecation of car to the bank, I have to pledge the agricultural land to the bank! I went to a nationalized bank and they sanctioned the loan in two days for much less rate of interest and without any other collateral security. And thus I possessed my Maruti 800.

Thanks Sajjive for this wonderful creation on this occasion 

I get really furious whenever there is a demand from my children to throw this car. I ask them, 'in our city, whether it is a Maybach Exelero or a Ferrari or a Rolls Royce Phantom or a BMW, all can go only at the same speed as the Maruti 800. Then why do we need a better car?' But I know, I may have to abandon my favourite car one day. My children say, 'send it to the vintage collection of classic cars museum'. I said to my son, 'we will do that only after you get a licence learning driving in this car'. But my daughter is the most scared person since I told her, ‘this Maruti 800 will be our gift to you when you get married, may be after another fifteen years!’

( With my car on  its 16th year)




Thanking God for His protection all along!