Skip to main content

All Hell "Bakes Loose"

When I reached home last evening, my kid cousin brother wanted to go out for a drive and so we did. Old faithful recently restored and painted red Maruti 800 was our ride for the evening. Yeah as though I have an Aston parked in the garage too. Yeah but a Maruti 800 is the best car for Kolkata. Whatever!!!

So we head out and take the road around the house, drive till the Park Circus round about and hit Theatre Road. Half way down Theatre Road and approaching on of the many intersections, I hit the brakes. Half an inch down, there was a small jerk, a snapping noise and the brake pedal plunged right down to the floor. I calmly turned left to Rahul, he already had it figured out, but as though to confirm his fear of the worst, I informed him that the brakes had failed.

It’s as though time stood still for three seconds, while I noticed Rahul pull back deeper into his seat and his hands clutched the seat, till I involuntarily snapped back into fast-forward mode, my left hand shifting into 2nd gear and pulling the hand brake all in the blink of an eye.

The car pulled over to the left of the road, engine still running, I switched on the blinking hazard lights and weighed the situation. Rahul was a bit out of words, but that’s OK for a kid his age with his first experience of being in a car with the brakes failing. OK, mine too, but I was driving and knew things could’ve ended up much worse. I decided to drive back home at 10 kmph and with the hand brake lever in my left hand all the time. We reached back home without much incident, I have got to admit.

Labels:

Comments

  1. Anonymous3:58 PM

    You have nothing more to learn from me my son......go and preach my teachings.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

AKIRA: A Tiny Japanese Universe in Kolkata

Since we were already out and dinner was calling, we decided to keep things light and find somewhere nearby. A quick search by my wife produced a promising result—a new Japanese place just 9 minutes away , according to Google. Nine minutes? That sounded dangerously convenient. And so off we went to AKIRA , a cute little Japanese cuisine restaurant that is, by almost every definition of the word, tiny . But what it lacks in size, it makes up for in character. The place is done up in Japanese Pop Culture, with Anime and Manga influences everywhere you look. We arrived and, as expected, had to wait a little before we could get in. Which was perfectly fine by me. Because parked outside were two rather handsome motorcycles—a Honda CB350 and a Honda H'ness CB350 . Now, I have a weakness for motorcycles, and apparently, so did the universe that evening. I was admiring the two bikes when the owner of the CB350 appeared. One thing led to another and within seconds we were engaged in that v...
1 comment
Read more

The 7 Wonders at Eco Park

Pyramid & Sphinx Our last excursion to Eco Park in Rajarhat dates all the way back to February 2015. Since then, a myriad of transformations has swept through the park. During a recent journey to the airport, we caught sight of the park's latest additions, which had become the talk of the town, visible from Biswa Banga Sarani. That sighting ignited our decision to revisit the park. Naturally, we concurred that visiting on a weekend would be an exercise in chaos, so we opted for a weekday to fully savor the wonders that awaited us. To our surprise, even on a weekday, the park teemed with visitors. Upon entering Eco Park for a nominal fee of Rs. 30, we were immediately struck by the sheer value it offered. Personally, I would have willingly paid more for the privilege of glimpsing these marvelous creations. Rather than expound further, I'll let the images convey the essence of what lies within. That being said, it unquestionably merits an in-person visit to truly appreciate ...
5 comments
Read more

HAL Heritage Centre and Aerospace Museum

I was in Bangalore and this was the only place I actually wanted visit. So here I am taking the tour of India's first aerospace museum located at the HAL facility (opposite the old Bangalore Airport) spread over 4 acres. The displays of actual aircraft are very cool and so are the galleries showing historical pictures and evolution of HAL and its contribution to the nation in Military Aircraft as well as Aerospace. The disappointing thing at the end of the tour was the Gift shop, where I was hoping to find Scale Models of Aircraft and other Memorabilia from the IAF (Indian Air Force), but instead it was a dreary sight to see a shelf which housed Handicrafts! That just didn't make any sense whatsoever. Anyway for those of you who would like to visit this wonderful Museum, the details are below: HF-24 Marut 1T (D1698) IAF MIG-21 Bison (Trainer Version) HAL HJT-36 Sitara (IJT), Intermediate Jet Trainer Prototype. HAL Tejas mock-up (LCA) Light Weight...
1 comment
Read more