Every
person desires from within to possesses a four wheeler.
When
ones earnings are less and responsibilities are more one also gets tempted to
possess a four wheeler that can also fetch you some etc. amount by plying it as
a taxi.
In
1995 both my wife and me were in our eighth year of service and had saved some
amount. (Around Rs. 50,000/-) with which
we were intending to go in for a four wheeler in a year or two. We looked forward to save some more amount in
the next couple of years and purchase a second hand Ambassador Car for 1 or 1.5
lakh without taking any loan.
One
day while I was doing my correction work in the Sr. Staff Room of DPS Korba one
of my colleagues Mr PXX, called me and took me to the
Economics Classroom because the class was vacant and he wanted to talk to me
alone on some money matter.
He
asked me, “Sukhwant, please suggest how can I invest money ? I don’t want to
buy land or gold. I don’t want to go in
for any fixed deposits or buy shares”.
I
told him, “See, you have caught the wrong person.
I have no idea how you can invest
your money.”
Saying
this I had started moving out of the classroom.
While moving out just for fun sake I told, ‘Yes, if you trust me you can
leave some cash with me for about couple of years and take the same back from
me as and when you would need it.”
His
immediate response was, “Take it from me whatever amount you desire within a
day or two failing which I may give away the money to someone else.” I said, ‘Give
me a days’ time. Let me talk to my wife on the issue.” He said, “OK.”
My
dream plan of owning an Ambassador Car and plying it as a taxi seemed to come alive
and closer.
That
evening after my wife Rina came back from the school I had a word with her. She didn’t like the idea of borrowing any
money from Mr. PXX but then I had prodded her and tried to convince her
that we won’t have any problem in returning the amount in time. I gave her
example of Mr. H.S. Khurana, a family friend.
He had purchased an old Omini Van Maruti for about Rs.65000/- some two
years before and was plying it successfully mainly on Jamnipali – Champa route
so much so that he used to send his Van thrice a day to Champa almost on
regular basis and each trip used to fetch him a profit not less than Rs.
200/-. Within two years time Mr. Khurana
had purchased two Ambassador Cars, one old and one from the show room. He had also purchased a TATA Truck. And his story of success had all started from
Omini Van Maruti. So I was pretty
convinced that our second hand Ambassador Car will also help us to come over
our financial constraints and I convinced Rina into agreeing to borrow loan
amount from Mr. PXX. Next morning I
confirmed Mr. PXXi that I shall take some money from him within the next
fortnight.
Meanwhile
I spoke to my Dad who used to live in Jeypore Odisha along with my Mom. I told
him to make a trip to Jabalpur where we believed good second hand cars could
be procured.
My
parents also initially disliked the idea but on my persuasion Dad agreed to go
to Jabalpur where my in-laws lived.
We
conveyed to my in-laws also and I told Rina’s Dad to look out for a good second
hand Ambassador Car and also told him that within a week’s time my Dad would be
reaching Jabalpur.
Both
our Dads spoke to a Car mechanic called Pappu who had his garage near the
Shastri Bridge in Jabalpur.
He
(Pappu) took over Dads to Sehora after three days and showed them a white
coloured Ambassador Car which belonged to a Rice Mill owner. Both Dads were pretty much pleased on seeing the
Car. According to Pappu the car had been lying in the garage at Sehora unused
for the past 6 to 7 months. Inspite of
the long gap when Pappu had tried to start the Car the Car engine had taken off
with first turn of the self-key. Both
Dads were pretty much impressed and they finalized the deal with the owner.
This blind trust in Pappu later proved to give us so many sleepless nights.
24.08.2015
Over
the phone it was conveyed to us that the vehicle would be costing Rs. 1.05 lakhs
and it will take another Rs. 15-20 thousand for making the Car perfect.
So
the next day I conveyed to Mr. PXX in the school that I need Rs.
75000/- from him. He said, “I was
expecting you would ask for 1.5 to 2 lakhs, I said, “No dear, I would like to
borrow only Rs. 75 thousand.” He said,
“OK! Come to my home in the evening. We
shall go straight to the bank and do the needful.”
In
the evening I went to PXX’s house with lots of excitement. He welcomed me and made me sit in his living
room. I was expecting that he would lend
the money in cash. But instead he took his cheque book out and sat at his table
and had opened his pen to write the amount on the cheque. While filling the cheque, he asked me to
spell out my name and then while he was filling the amount, I still remember he
had said, “Sukhwant Dhaiya (2.5) lagega.”
My
response was, “Kya ? Dhaiya matlab ?” he said, “2.5% interest per month will be
charged which you need to pay in advance.”
I
was pretty confused and also a bit shocked because this part I had not
calculated. But then immediately Mr.
Khurana’s roaring taxi business flashed in my mind again and provided me with
strength to go ahead with the deal.
Moreover with both Dads waiting at Jabalpur with an almost finalized
deal also weighed upon me. I said to
him, ‘OK, No problem.” To this he said ‘Have you brought your cheque book ?” On
my denial he said, ‘Come let’s first go to your house. You can handover to me
the first cheque of Rs. 1875/- towards the interest of Rs. 75000/-.
So
we first went to my house. Rina had
returned from the school. I asked her for the cheque book and wrote the amount
of Rs. 1875/- on cheque no. xxx446 dated 18.10.1995 and handed it over to Mr. PXX as first installment of interest for the period of October 18th
to November 17th 1995.
After
this both Mr. PXX and me went to the evening branch of SBI Jamnipali. He deposited the cheque I had given him into
his account and I applied for a Demand Draft of Rs. 80000/-.
I
applied for leave of 2 days and went off to Jabalpur. Our plan was to pay the amount, get the car
and return to Jamnipali as soon as possible.
Before
I could reach Jabalpur an unfortunate event took place in our family. We got
the message that my sweet paternal grandmother had passed away in Jamshedpur.
My
Dad had to leave immediately for Jamshedpur by train. Our plan of driving the car to Jamshedpur got
hampered.
As
I had less time in my hands and the pressure of interest was also there I
desired that the car should reach Jamnipali as planned. Instead of Dad and me driving I hired out a
driver through the mechanic Pappu.
Both
Dads were so happy with the looks of the car that they didn’t drive the car
themselves. They believed in Pappu to a
great extent. Anyway after my Dad left for Jamshedpur Pappu delivered the car
at my Father's-in-law place (Fair Deal Apartments, Madan Mahal) and left the
keys with me. He fixed a driver for
accompanying me to Jamnipali for next morning and left. I asked the hired driver to report in the
afternoon so that all my in-laws could get a ride in the car and go to Gawri
Ghat Gurudwara.
The
car that we had brought was splendid in appearance. It looked like a VIP s Car.
That
afternoon my mother-in-law and father-in-law along with my sisters-in-law and
brother-in-law got ready and came out of the flat and got into the car. Other Fair Deal Apartment residents (15
families) were also peeping out of their flats and watching us. When the driver tried to start the car it
didn’t start. Everyone went back to the
house. I went to Pappu. He sent a mechanic. He checked the engine and
said four of the spark plugs were short.
So immediately I had got the plugs replaced at a cost of Rs. 1200/-.
With
disappointment we all slept bit early that night I was excited to drive the car
next morning through Amarkantak valley and hoped to reach Jamnipali before 8:00
pm. Next morning the hired driver
arrived at 4:30 am. I was waiting for
him. My father-in-law was also awake and
we all went towards the car. Once again the car engine refused to start. So we had to try push start.
Dad
and me pushed the car out of Hathital Road and reached the main road, i.e.,
Nagpur road with the engine refusing to start. Finally we positioned the car
near Mahanada and then shoved the car with all our might down the slop. Finally the engine started off. I touched the feet of Dad, got into the car
and thankfully left Jabalpur for Jamnipali a distance of about 450 kms with not
so good roads.
After
about half an hours drive I took over driving and drove all the way to
Jamnipali without any further hassles and was very happy. The hired driver left for Bilaspur soon after
parking the car in front of our house B-654 Yamuna Vihar. The car looked very beautiful and
luxurious. Little could we guess how
much trouble was this going to give us in the days to come and shall prove the famous
axiom, “All that glitters is not gold.”
After
attending the school for a day or two I had left for Jamshedpur along with Rina
and Navleen Kaur who was less than two years old in order to attend my grandmother’s
bhog ceremony. We had left the car at Mr. Ahuja’s place (a very close
friend). Soon after returning from
Jamshedpur we went to Mr. Ahuja’s place and brought the car home.
I
had already requested Mr. H.S. Khurana to extend his taxi facilities to me.
That
very evening he gave me a call and told me that an officer from the Irrigation
Department Darri wanted to hire the car for the next day for Amarkantak trip
and was ready to pay Rs. 800/-. When I
told him that so far we had not deployed a driver, he said that he had one to
spare. Both Rina and me were happy and agreed to send the car on its first trip
to Amarkantak. We felt pretty rejuvenated at our plan of buying the car. But
when Mr. Khurana brought the driver I was reluctant to send the car because we
had seen his driving. He used to work as
a driver at Mr. Sudhir Ahuja’s. His
driving was very rough but he assured me that he had given up rough driving and
was a safe driver now.
Reluctantly,
I had agreed to send the car with that driver. Mr. Khurana also assured me that
he was a safe driver. There were two
ways to reach Amarkantak. One was a shorter one from near Ratanpur, but the
shortcut was in bad shape, and the other one was via Bilaspur. Inspite of 40 odd kms which the car would
have to travel via Bilaspur I instructed the driver not to take the shorter
route.
In
the evening the driver came back with the car around 8:00 pm and to my
disappointment he told me that he had taken the shorter route.
Next
morning when I had gone to clean the car and had raised the engine hood I was
further disappointed and troubled to find the presence of oil in the radiator.
On
inspecting further I noticed that the chamber of the car had got damaged on
that rough road and the oil had got leaked.
When I took the car to the mechanic he inspected and said, “Engine has
to be opened and ‘head gasket’ has to be replaced to stop the oil leakage.” I
had asked him, “How much would it cost ?”
He replied, “Sir, cost of ‘head gasket’ is Rs. 150/- but the repair cost
will be Rs. 700/- plus another Rs. 250/- for cleaning the radiator. “Altogether Rs. 150/- + Rs. 700/- + Rs. 250/-
= Rs. 1100/- plus fuel charges plus two to three days of time that it would
take.”
This
was for the first time that I had to sit in a mechanic’s garage to get the
vehicle repaired. Earlier to this I never had to go to a mechanic’s garage for
the scooter that we possessed. Even for
getting the scooter service I used to go to the scooter mechanic in Jamnipali
near the vegetable market. The mechanic used to drop me home and then take the
scooter with him. Complete the servicing
and then bring it home and I used to go and drop him back.
25.08.15
The
car had to be put into the garage for necessary repairs. It took around five
days to get the car back home and it cost around Rs. 1400/-. To our surprise the next day again oil was
found in the radiator. The reason given by the mechanic was that the ‘head
gasket’ had not got stuck properly.
So
the car engine had to be again put under same repair procedure and it cost me
another Rs. 1400/-. To our bad luck even
this time the ‘head gasket’ couldn’t be placed properly and oil reached the
radiator.
We
decided to take the car to Korba for repair.
On consulting a mechanic in Korba he said, “Before fixing of ‘head
gasket’ it is necessary to get both sides of engine head thoroughly rubbed”. I had responded that “Is it done with sand paper
?” The mechanic said, “No it is done
with the help of machines which are available in Raipur and it would cost Rs.
3000/- and then another Rs. 1500/- for ‘head gasket’ and radiator job.
We
were left with no alternative but to go through the whole process yet again.
I’m
talking of the times when my home take salary was around Rs. 2800/- and Rina’s
around Rs. 2000/-. We had to send some
money back home, pay an interest of Rs. 1875/- and manage our household
expenses too. The principal amount of
Rs. 75000/- was also weighing upon our heads.
Against
the earning of Rs. 800/- from Amarkantak’s trip we had to spend around Rs.
8000/- on car’s repair. Due to my school
work I was not able to spare time to attend car’s repair. I remember I used to
go to Korba garage on our scooter. I used to carry Test Copies along with me,
sit there and correct them.
As
the whole process was disturbing my professional life I called by Dad and explained
to him the whole situation and requested him to take the car away with him to
Jeypore and ply it there as a taxi. He agreed for the same and came down to
Jamnipali and took the car to Jeypore.
We
had remained pretty tensed till we got a call from Jeypore that he had reached
safely without any problems and the car was in good condition. He also said that whosoever was seeing the
car was highly appreciating it. We hoped that at least now the car would start
providing us good earning. But we were again to be proved wrong very soon.
At
Jeypore Dad sent the car on its first trip to Rayagada which is at a distance
of 110 kms. The road is full of ghats.
The driver while driving on one of the ghats dashed the car from the
left side on to a road side. The trip
fetched Dad Rs. 700/- and he had to spend Rs. 1500/- on denting and painting of
the car.
Soon
Dad took the car to Vishakhapatnam for his personal work. There he showed it to
Captain Sharan protruding uncle Sharma who was a close family friend. He was to
retire soon from Indian Navy and intended to shift to his native place in
Himachal Pradesh. When he saw the car he
was highly impressed and requested Dad to sell it off to him. He and his family members drove the car in Vishakhapatnam
for about 3-4 days. After being
thoroughly satisfied he offered Dad 1.5 lakh for the car. He told Dad that he
should take the car back to Jeypore and after few days he will visit along with
his whole family by train and while returning will take the car with him.
Dad
called me from Vishakhapatnam and asked me what should be done. By then we had almost spent about 1.35 lakh
on the car. We had not brought the car
for selling it but the way we were troubled I gave my green signal to Dad to
sell it off to Sharan uncle. But things were not going to be so easy.
With
no steady income from the car Rina and we had started feeling the suffocation.
We were having sleepless nights.
Interest installment of Rs. 1875/- had started pinching us to a great
deal. More that the interest now we had
started worrying about the principal loan amount of Rs. 75000/-
We
all started looking forward to Sharan uncle’s visit.
It
had so happened that after having met Sharan uncle in Vishakhapatnam when Dad
was returning to Jeypore one of the front wheels of the car had gone loose. Dad
said, “While driving the car over Salur ghat all of a sudden I saw something
rolling in front of the car. I applied
the brakes as soon as I realized that it was one of the front wheels.”
He
was fortunate that the car had not toppled off.
He
had to go back to Vishakhapatnam by taking lift, get the mechanic from there
along with necessary tools and spares and had got the wheel placed properly
which had cost him more than Rs. 4000/-.
(To be continued)
