The turn threw a curve ball...

Life appears to swing hard at you as you head out to work in big cities! The moment you step out, morning rush becomes visible. Urgency, hurry, rush…and you want to quieten your head space as noises come at you with increasing pace and higher decibels!

This was one such morning on 23rd March! You expect more of the same as you try and ease through the traffic with thoughts ensconced in the background, battling to escape.?

It is intriguing how we weave through sea of vehicles without really being totally a part of the whole! Driving through this chaos has become second nature and we just know how to get through without really being “there” at all times. Not to say we slack, just that we have understood our regular paths very well and the anticipation is attuned to mostly all possibilities! Did someone think of Machine Learning here?

I digress! The day was about to unfold in front of my eyes. As is my wont - cruising through the debris that we call city infra - I passed the regular corner of signal lights and suddenly felt the dread descend on me! I realised that my car (Electric – E2O) was struggling to move ahead. And I could hear the horns blare away, autos squeaking through the crevices, motorcyclists jumping through the space ajar…but cars were sounding horns! They could not get past!

I quickly checked my charge status, it said I could drive 23 kms more! But alas, she refused to budge! A painful drive of about 4 meters and then she refused to move. The 4 meters allowed me to make way for other motorists! I saw some sympathetic eyes, but most were angry glares! Some decent looking gentlemen muttering invectives under their breath, few others were not so courteous and did let me hear a few words.

A rude awakening from the regular life is never easy! It took me a few minutes to understand the predicament! I was about 3 kms from my office. Never in my 11 years with driving electric vehicles had I been in this position. My trust was built over the years, and here I was! Standing on a narrow and busy lane, wondering what the next steps could be!

I looked to my left and there was this car showroom – La Maison Citro?n – and I felt slightly relieved! I was parked right opposite their showroom on the road. I walked across to the Security sitting outside. He asked about my intrusion, I smiled and told him if I could speak to someone from the showroom. He walked me in, and I met Sanjai, a Marketing professional. He smiled and asked me how he could help!

I shared my agony and checked if I could charge my car for half hour and reach office! He was a kindred soul and immediately set about checking for a power point I could use. He checked the length of my charging cable etc. But alas, there were no sockets available except for the 5 Amp ones which were useless for this task! He tried speaking to the building admin and went out of the way to make it smooth for me. No luck!?

I was in distress, but I was also thinking of how beautiful this city has always been. Never lets people down. Goodness isn’t geography-specific, but Bengaluru does reaffirm from time-to-time that the city has not lost its character despite the poor traffic that we endure all the time.?

Back to the issue - I was stranded again. I was also nervously watching if police would come and make it harder. Then I realised there was another car dealership down the road - of Jaguar. As I reached the periphery, I saw some power sockets on the pavement, but they were all 5 Amp ones and not of any use for my need. Yet, I was enthused because there was hope. I walk in and am greeted by a soft-spoken and gentle young man! He listens to my ordeal with purpose and then goes away looking to see if there was a 15 Amp socket available that could be used.?

He came back and no luck yet! And yet again, it was a good interaction! Genuine effort to find a solution, not being annoyed by a stranger requesting something unusual! It made me happy; it was strange mix of emotion for me given I was stranded on a busy road but was offered help without a blink of an eyelid!

I made some calls for help and stood near the car! I wasn’t sure how long the wait could be to get any outside help or to find some towing assistance! I reticently thought of checking with La Maison Citro?n one more time. I went in and spoke to Sanjai again, and I saw they had a coffee corner with a 15 Amp socket. This was near a service door! But I could also clearly see the cable length was nowhere near enough. Sanjai came out, took the cable in again and confirmed my fears again!

Just then, a helper boy emerged from somewhere and grabbed the cable and took it to the floor on the other side. There was a power socket on the ground, hidden socket. He pulled it open, lo and behold, it was a 15 Amp socket. And the length was also just about right for me to push my car near the door and get her some juice!?

I drove a couple meters, then we pushed her near the door. I had to reverse and she had enough juice to allow for that! We tried, and it worked!!! The relief was palpable, everyone was relieved!

The security guard was smiling now, Sanjai was elated, everyone heaved a sigh and were genuinely happy that we extricated ourselves out of the quagmire! I spent the next 40 minutes looking at the C5 Citro?n SUV as Sanjai showed me the vehicle. We shared some good conversation and he said how fond he was of Bengaluru. That is when I told him that it was people like him that made Bengaluru such a lovable city in spite of the traffic woes!?

What appears a big, heartless, and relentlessly busy city does have a heart that retains the old Bengaluru charm at various levels! My love for Bengaluru continues to grow.