Since I began my first job in July last year, I commuted on a Honda City gifted to me by loving parents during my college days. Seven months into the job and the wise guy inside me realized that the peanuts that I was earning in the name of salary were not enough to justify the City’s high fuel bills.
Fed up, I finally decided to switch to a 1998 Maruti Zen. A pre-owned vehicle, it joined us a couple of years ago for the sole purpose of my mother trying a hand at driving.
But soon she realised that the mad traffic in Delhi coupled with the some morons who think that their green and yellow autos have the liberty of turning anywhere at high speeds without indicating was too much for her to handle.
So, the humble vehicle after a few weeks of outing began successfully hogging parking space in the street outside our home for its bigger sedan sibling.
Although both the cars run on petrol, the Zen obviously returns a better mileage because of its size.
Honestly, the switch from the City to a Zen was an altogether bitter experience for me as I was parting ways with my college sweetheart with whom I had many memories. Bought just two years back, the city had all the bells and whistles to satisfy my luxury needs.
But in stark comparison my new mode of transportation did not even have a POWER STEERING!!! The only saving grace was the air conditioner which I must confess was damn good for a car that was more than ten years old.
So, driving it for a few months I realised a lot of things about this puny car as well as the society we live in. For example how a simple thing like the size of the vehicle you drive in a city like Delhi can be a boon in rush hour traffic and at the same time a status symbol too.
The Zen being smaller is obviously much easier to drive and park in the city and can squeeze into any possible openings in traffic. But then, other motorists do not take you seriously and would rarely give room to overtake especially if the car in front of you is bigger than yours.
Motorists in the capital take pride as well as judge you by the size of your car, the bigger the better.
I have also realized that the number of people wanting to race me have increased too probably because cars belonging to the category of Zen i.e. budget hatchbacks rule the city roads.
So, a number of Santros, Wagon R’s, Altos etc. are challenging me every few weeks on the road and sadly defeating me too. A car that old does not have the lungs to accelerate past 80-90 kmph and that too being achieved in not less than a couple of minutes!!!
But like every cloud has a silver lining same was the case with the Zen.
To start of with, it has a very simple and humble appearence, which means traffic cops would seldom stop you even though I still do not have the car's registration certificate for reasons beyond my control.
Surprisingly, on a few occasions when I forgot to put on a seatbelt, traffic cops on bikes passed me and did not bother to flag me down. It was as If I was invisible to them.
Had it been the City with its black tinted glasses, fat tyres and alloys I would have definitely burnt a hole in my pocket paying fines. Cars like my City are easily noticed by cops because usually they are driven by youngsters who love to flout rules.
There have been times when I was driving the city, that I was pulled over by cops for not wearing a seatbelt or smoking at the wheel but nothing of that sort happened with the Zen, which in a way I believe maintains a 'low profile' easily.
But then again, it was definitely not a practical option because of its interiors, space and performance which belongs to a bygone era. And this I knew deep down inside, a few days after taking over the Zen.
But neither was the flashy and expensive to run City, which was very desirable but could not fit in the over all scheme of things.
So, I had to find a middle path, the best of both the worlds. Simply put, I wanted to have my cake and eat it too.
Happy Hunting!!!
P.S. The only creature comfort that the Zen provided-- the awesome a/c broke down today morning.
