Adieu Letter to My Petrol Car

Dear Car,

I never wanted to abandon you, you know how much I love you, how many fights I have been in when some other vehicles got a liking for you and tried to kiss your smooth left and right cheeks, leaving a dent on you, but now times have changed, even I cannot help it. Seems like the whole world has conspired against us. I am equally heartbroken as much as you are, but we have to part, as now I cannot afford you.

Initially when the petrol prices hiked, I did not care for it, all that was in my mind was you, my sleek black beauty, your shimmer, your speed, your mileage, but you know I am not one of those who cry over spilt milk. So I decided to cut of my expenses, I started going to theatre once in two months, did minimum shopping in end season sale, cut down my holiday trips and long drives with my girlfriend. But no matter whatsoever I do I cannot change the fact that world is physically connected so I could not cut down my unavoidable journeys.

In order to reduce the fuel cost by optimum driving technique, I committed your optimum speed manual in my memory, I ceased my aggressive driving, avoided tailgating and abstained route with several traffic lights in order to lessen chances to accelerate/ press brake. I started working late night to avoid traffic of the peak hour. I hardly care to look at myself in the mirror before going out, but I never failed to check if you are in perfect condition with properly inflated tires. No matter how romantic, cool wind is blowing outside, I never fail to roll up the windows with air conditioner switched off to reduce the drag and energy consumption. My life was changed; I started behaving like an educated grownup instead of a blockhead egocentric beast.

In order to afford your food, the petrol, I switched to a higher paying job and now the office was 45 km one way. If I miss the bus I loose almost half a day, so had to drive by car which started highlighting effects on my wallet thus incessantly increasing my monthly expenses, thus even job change went astray.

Petrol price hikes used to haunt me

( Photo Courtesy : allaboutindia.org )

Even after all the hardships the petrol was unaffordable to me when it reached its soaring price of 70 Rs per liter. Still I decided to be faithful to you my car, and I decided to stop spending on expensive petrol. The idea of travelling by auto rickshaw was equally inordinate so the good old childhood days gave me an idea to travel by Tonga, a horse cart, on which a four Km ride is 8 Rs. (maximum four people). The tonga ride use to take time but it gave me a change to think about myself, to look at the road hoardings I have never read, to look at the road side shops that I thought never existed, I started enjoying my ride.

I knew I was star crossed , so my city’s last tonga service shut down a few weeks ago. On asking I was told by Mr. Tonga that nobody drives or uses a tonga service nowadays, the deranged traffic, the weaving bikes make the horse scared through the traffic, so even the tonga riders feel unsafe. Another issue is that it costs about Rs 100 to nail the horse shoe on, or Rs 400 for four hooves. On tarmac roads, the horse shoes have to be changed every 15-20 days. So they are limiting Tongas for joyrides in tourist area.

The good old days of Tonga

Now it was time, I had to take a step, I cannot see you, my car, idling in my basement parking and getting rusted. I knew you wanted to move out enjoy air, feel free like a bird, but I am not that rich to afford you, I was getting equally affected at. I stopped visiting my friends, I had a breakup with my girlfriend because she says I have become old and pestering and don’t want to hang out with friends. It was time for you, my car, and me to start a new life again, so I decided to give you away to a richer person, who can bestow you and love you more than I do.

My friends advised me to get a diesel car which is more affordable, but I did not have enough money to get a new car so I had to sell you, ‘my love’ in order to fulfill my needs. I was among those people who use to think diesel cars are more expensive when it comes to maintenance, performance and life years. So I did an extensive research on internet to clear my prejudice of diesel cars.

The thing I came to know is petrol engines are generally quite and smooth but the new diesel cars are not far off, with the higher technology newer cars are less noisy than the older models. Almost all new diesel cars are turbocharged, giving them a befitting pursuance.

I thought it would be better to share the technical stuff with you, though I didn’t get much, as its a car thing so I thought you’ll be able to understand it better. So here it goes, a diesel engine is more easily turbocharged than a petrol engine as it has no fuel in the cylinder, diesel engines have higher torque than petrol engines, which means that a diesel engine can pull a heavy load easier than a petrol engine plus diesel engines don't need an ignition system, so they use glow plugs rather than spark plugs which generally need to be changed every two years or so.

Now my favorite part comes, "cost", diesel engines have better fuel-efficiency compared with petrol as they have a higher compression ratio. There is also a smaller "environmental" cost, as diesel cars emit less carbon dioxide since they use less fuel than petrol cars.

I knew I have to foot the bill with a little more money to get a diesel car but it seems a long term investment because diesel is always cheaper than petrol, and I don’t think I should worry more about the maintenance as it don’t seem to be a big problem nowadays.

When I saw Fiat Punto and read its reviews, I knew it was time to move on so I put an advertisement with your picture in a news papers and I knew nobody could resist such a scintillating beauty. So I started getting calls within four hours of the post, I priced you at 2.5 negotiable, many people came to have a look at you and tried to get you from me at 2.0 to 2.1. But I denied knowing the fact how priceless you are. But then I met this person, I had a feeling he cannot fight back your glamor, he tried to make a deal at 2.1, I did not agree , after few hours he called me back and you were his when the deal closed at 2.3.

The money is transferred in my account, and my new car is at door step, you will never believe how smooth it is, it’s been a week I am driving it and I am already in love with it. Driving my all new Fiat Punto powered by diesel makes me feel that it’s smoother and sexier than you were.

The New Punto, Sexy na ?

Guess what? I have also asked my brother to give away their petrol car and update to a new Diesel Car using Fiat upgrade offer and he seems quite interested. It’s an awesome offer, isn’t it?

Now , I think its time, the man might come anytime to take you away from me, these are your last few hours in my garage. I want to look at you for the last time, to appreciate how faithful you were when it came to performance and maintenance. But I still, want to feel the comfort of your cozy seats, from your clear speakers, so much I want to listen for one last time, my favorite, Diary of Jane (Acoustic). So much I want to get that last drive with you, but alas! I cannot afford you. You were becoming more demanding like a nagging girlfriend, so I had to disown you.

Your Ex-Driver, Ex-Lover, Ex-Admirer,
Shubham

P.S. I Love You, but I’m Poor!