It was around a half past three in the afternoon when my cellphone had rung, jolting me up from a light afternoon siesta. The number seemed to be a new one and I answered it as soon as I regained my bearings!
It was the driver of the Santro that had hit my car from behind, about a fortnight back, when I was returning from Thrissur after dropping my friends, Anil and Radha, at their home. What had happened was that I was overtaking a private bus, when all of a sudden, it had veered to the right abruptly, to clear itself off another car that had stopped on the side of the road, a few feet ahead of it. Since I was on a comfortable speed, I could bring my Chevy to a stop comfortably but no sooner had I done it came a dull thud at the rear end, thanks to a dark-greenish Santro, which had braked hard as it was obviously doing high speeds!
My heart sank because here was another dent on my car, immediately after its retrieval from the garage, following major repairs a couple of days back! I'd slowly negotiated the car to the side to inspect the damage fearing the worst but to my pleasant surprise, there wasn't even a scratch and I quickly thanked my stars for it. Turning my attention to the car that had bumped into me, I found that its front acrylic bumper had come off from its moorings, dangling in a grotesque manner and I immediately fell sorry for him.
On inquiry, I came to know that the owner, a lady, her son and their maid were being driven by a professional driver on hire who lamented that the vehicle did not have the mandatory insurance cover for the last five to six years, ever since the initial one had lapsed but never renewed. They're at a loss about their subsequent plan of action.
I'd asked the driver to take the car to its garage and get its insurance renewed forthwith, to help get some relief on the expenses that would be incurred on account of the repairs. In good faith, I'd handed over my contact number in case of further queries and had told the young man that I'd be away for a fortnight on account of the 'yatra'. He'd then sounded apprehensive as to whether I'd even take his call but I'd assuaged his fears then.
It was he who was on the line saying that consequent to the renewal of the insurance, a sum of three grand had been spent on the car and that I should give him at least half that amount. I'd to politely decline his request and remind him of his error, all over again. It was then that he'd got abusive and even threatened to 'see me' in future and rattled out my car's number! I could only laugh it off as a misplaced youngster's tirade that had no malicious intent!!
Tailpiece.
Was I naive to hand over my contact number to a stranger?
It was the driver of the Santro that had hit my car from behind, about a fortnight back, when I was returning from Thrissur after dropping my friends, Anil and Radha, at their home. What had happened was that I was overtaking a private bus, when all of a sudden, it had veered to the right abruptly, to clear itself off another car that had stopped on the side of the road, a few feet ahead of it. Since I was on a comfortable speed, I could bring my Chevy to a stop comfortably but no sooner had I done it came a dull thud at the rear end, thanks to a dark-greenish Santro, which had braked hard as it was obviously doing high speeds!
My heart sank because here was another dent on my car, immediately after its retrieval from the garage, following major repairs a couple of days back! I'd slowly negotiated the car to the side to inspect the damage fearing the worst but to my pleasant surprise, there wasn't even a scratch and I quickly thanked my stars for it. Turning my attention to the car that had bumped into me, I found that its front acrylic bumper had come off from its moorings, dangling in a grotesque manner and I immediately fell sorry for him.
On inquiry, I came to know that the owner, a lady, her son and their maid were being driven by a professional driver on hire who lamented that the vehicle did not have the mandatory insurance cover for the last five to six years, ever since the initial one had lapsed but never renewed. They're at a loss about their subsequent plan of action.
I'd asked the driver to take the car to its garage and get its insurance renewed forthwith, to help get some relief on the expenses that would be incurred on account of the repairs. In good faith, I'd handed over my contact number in case of further queries and had told the young man that I'd be away for a fortnight on account of the 'yatra'. He'd then sounded apprehensive as to whether I'd even take his call but I'd assuaged his fears then.
It was he who was on the line saying that consequent to the renewal of the insurance, a sum of three grand had been spent on the car and that I should give him at least half that amount. I'd to politely decline his request and remind him of his error, all over again. It was then that he'd got abusive and even threatened to 'see me' in future and rattled out my car's number! I could only laugh it off as a misplaced youngster's tirade that had no malicious intent!!
Tailpiece.
Was I naive to hand over my contact number to a stranger?
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