Lekha had got up at 4 to the alarm that she had set last night. It was pouring at that time and I wanted to tell Lekha that we could cancel our journey because I was not very keen to drive through the blinding rain. However, the possibility of the rain stopping completely a few hours later shook me out of my stupid apprehensions and went through my chores. But Lekha had no doubts about the day's programme. We, finally, set off on our journey by about a 10' mast 6! And it turned out to be a bright, sunny day!!
The transit through Thrissur town was smooth, as the traffic was sparse and we reached the Paliyekkara toll where there was an inordinate wait and soon, all the vehicles were let off without having to pay the toll fees, wonder why? And it was then that I noticed that the warning lights of the brake and the ABS (Anti Brakelock System) had begun blinking on the dash board! Now, an emergency of this sort was the last thing that I was expecting at this point of time because:-
(a) Lekha had an appointment with her dentist and there was no question of cancelling the
programme.
(b) There were quite a few events that were scheduled within the next fortnight and a
rescheduling was not possible.
(b) A plan 'B' was not even thought of.
With the trouble looming large behind, we had breakfast at the Saravana Bhavan, near the toll gate and soon after it, I and Lekha had run through the Cruze Manual to see the cause of the error and the way to tackle the emergency......Speed had to be restricted to avoid harsh braking till I showed it at the next Chevrolet service station at Kochi and I had over a 100 kms to go to reach there.
After handing over the Chevy at the service station for defect rectification, Godwin who was assigned the responsibility to attend our vehicle, got us an Ola cab that saw us at Dr. Mallan's clinic well within the time assigned to us. Samish, the sa'arthi, was damn sweet to agree to drop us back too. Without much ado, the doctor had gone through the x-ray, the correction and the treatment after which he discussed a lot of non-dental issues with us.
It was a nice lunch at the Indian Coffee House, enroute, followed by our return to the service station to collect the Chevy. The order for the spares, required for the repairs, were placed on line and I shall have the job done at the service station at Thrissur. Padmakumar, meanwhile had reached the mall near the Kundannur junction to show us the way to their place. Meanwhile, another anxiety was looming large - the 'Shenoy Care' had not called up Lekha to confirm her appointment with the doctor tomorrow. After leaving the both of them in the Chevy, I decided to go to the clinic, myself, to clear the doubt.
Had hired Moncy's autorickshaw that was at hand - he was very rude and told me that he would charge me Rs.130/- for the short trip because of the potholes enroute and I'd meekly agreed to his demand. But it was the clinic's reception that beat me ultimately - one of them tells me and I quote, "Sir, we would have made that call before 1800 hrs and by the way, your wife doesn't have an appointment with Dr. Shenoy tomorrow, as per the records". My reply brought about a deathly silence around the reception area which was, "Young lady, I would be out of my senses to have driven all the way from Guruvayur, dreaming of an appointment with your doctor. Should I meet him now to sort out the matter?" She quickly added Lekha's name on the register and asked us to be there tomorrow at 1000 hrs.
Moncy, was watching the entire spectacle and on dropping me near my Chevy just took Rs.150/- as fare for the up and down trip! I was surprised to see his benign transformation!!
We were at Rema's flat at Thrippunithura by about 1600 hrs and it was a quiet evening thereafter! And an end to a day of twists!! Phew!!!
Tailpiece.
We hope to be back at Guruvayur by late afternoon, tomorrow. The proposed trip to the canteen will have to be postponed as it's gonna be a half day!
The transit through Thrissur town was smooth, as the traffic was sparse and we reached the Paliyekkara toll where there was an inordinate wait and soon, all the vehicles were let off without having to pay the toll fees, wonder why? And it was then that I noticed that the warning lights of the brake and the ABS (Anti Brakelock System) had begun blinking on the dash board! Now, an emergency of this sort was the last thing that I was expecting at this point of time because:-
(a) Lekha had an appointment with her dentist and there was no question of cancelling the
programme.
(b) There were quite a few events that were scheduled within the next fortnight and a
rescheduling was not possible.
(b) A plan 'B' was not even thought of.
With the trouble looming large behind, we had breakfast at the Saravana Bhavan, near the toll gate and soon after it, I and Lekha had run through the Cruze Manual to see the cause of the error and the way to tackle the emergency......Speed had to be restricted to avoid harsh braking till I showed it at the next Chevrolet service station at Kochi and I had over a 100 kms to go to reach there.
After handing over the Chevy at the service station for defect rectification, Godwin who was assigned the responsibility to attend our vehicle, got us an Ola cab that saw us at Dr. Mallan's clinic well within the time assigned to us. Samish, the sa'arthi, was damn sweet to agree to drop us back too. Without much ado, the doctor had gone through the x-ray, the correction and the treatment after which he discussed a lot of non-dental issues with us.
It was a nice lunch at the Indian Coffee House, enroute, followed by our return to the service station to collect the Chevy. The order for the spares, required for the repairs, were placed on line and I shall have the job done at the service station at Thrissur. Padmakumar, meanwhile had reached the mall near the Kundannur junction to show us the way to their place. Meanwhile, another anxiety was looming large - the 'Shenoy Care' had not called up Lekha to confirm her appointment with the doctor tomorrow. After leaving the both of them in the Chevy, I decided to go to the clinic, myself, to clear the doubt.
Had hired Moncy's autorickshaw that was at hand - he was very rude and told me that he would charge me Rs.130/- for the short trip because of the potholes enroute and I'd meekly agreed to his demand. But it was the clinic's reception that beat me ultimately - one of them tells me and I quote, "Sir, we would have made that call before 1800 hrs and by the way, your wife doesn't have an appointment with Dr. Shenoy tomorrow, as per the records". My reply brought about a deathly silence around the reception area which was, "Young lady, I would be out of my senses to have driven all the way from Guruvayur, dreaming of an appointment with your doctor. Should I meet him now to sort out the matter?" She quickly added Lekha's name on the register and asked us to be there tomorrow at 1000 hrs.
Moncy, was watching the entire spectacle and on dropping me near my Chevy just took Rs.150/- as fare for the up and down trip! I was surprised to see his benign transformation!!
We were at Rema's flat at Thrippunithura by about 1600 hrs and it was a quiet evening thereafter! And an end to a day of twists!! Phew!!!
Tailpiece.
We hope to be back at Guruvayur by late afternoon, tomorrow. The proposed trip to the canteen will have to be postponed as it's gonna be a half day!
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