[Hart-BEAT]

Originally Posted by gaurav_diavolo

You are lucky.

A friend of mine in a similar incident last year was unnecessarily slapped by the random villagers (Rajasthan) just because he lost control and his Ford Endeavor crashed in someone's mud wall and they thought he was drunk. He was so scared even when he told the story on our way back (me and other friend went to bring them back) that his wife was asked to step out of the car and random people hooted at her and many hands made numerous attempt to grope her. He was then asked questions like 'iss gao mein kya kar raha hai? Akela ladka ladki mauka dekh rahe the kya? Kahan se laya isse? Kahan rehta hai? Shadi ki hai to maang kyu nahin bhari, jhoot bolta hai?'.

To his good luck few senior villagers appeared from nowhere and asked others to let go. He gave away 4500 in cash (all he had in wallet) and his gold ring (worth 25k atleast) to the villager who's wall (of mud!!!) was broken. He wasnt even given water until he really requested for it and his wife was made to sit in senior member's house on floor (while his wife sat on cot). She was very decently dressed in top and trousers but still repeated comments were made by women 'aurat aise nahin nikalti ghar se'. It was an area not covered by any tow service and one of them asked for 5k. Me and another friend we left with water bottles, towels, spare wheel (only damage was that both wheels got punctured landing on barbed wires for goats), another SUV and my Civic.

Villagers treated us like aliens but we got the job done. While leaving the place my friend and his wife still thanked the couple of good people but just when we left people from crowd started hooting names to my friend's wife. I have learnt that I will never diverge from highway into villages ever in my life. In my native village too in rajasthan I am never casual while driving. Its a fact that villagers look at city people like aliens and with very few rational approach prevails. Whenever I meet them I only feel sad about his wife for going through this cheapness and unexpected behaviour for no fault of hers. Being a man myself my eyes are full of apology for her that someone of my kind caused her mental torturer she will remember for life. I now also keep in mind that I do not start long distance journey with women with me very late at night.

Hey Gaurav,

Really sorry to hear what happened to your friend; my stomach churns and blood boils simultaneously upon hearing it. It may be in Mahatma Gandhi's time that the spirit of India lived in villages, nowadays, it is full of hooliganism. The dominant feeling among these people is a jealousy towards urban cities, its resident and urban lifestyle. Add to that people in large groups tend to get cocky and arrogant.

Regardless of what the guide books say, for the love of God, stay on highways and don't try to discover the 'soul on India'; the filth that you may across will shock you. Forget physical brawl; stone pelting and even torching vehicles to fire is a common occurrence in these areas. God help you if you have female passengers along with you. Who the hell were these villages to ask who the lady was to your friend, and then even misbehave with her (so much for the so called male chivalry which this particular area boasts of)

These are long lost left behind losers who have to find excuses for their own miserable lives, and they find people from the city, as if they are the ones who have caused their situation.

Thank God you were able to recover your friend, his wife and his car intact. Tell him very clearly to avoid such places and even if he has to go through them, be on DEFCON 1 alert.

Hart-BEAT

[gaurav_diavolo]

Thank you Hart Beat. You are right, these so called must-visit villages are full of hooligans, specially wana be molesters. Most of the men in cities grew up studying and working in an open society with women having a lot of say and being treated equally and mostly respectably. But many villagers still look at women as an object and if one is from city and is wearing non-traditional clothes (no matter decent) they think they are straight out of x-rated movie and is a s** object. A miles to go with educating a large number of men of our country with respect and decency with women, they are supposed to be the protectors of women, its sad how they just want to force themselves on the weaker sex.

Sadly and unwilling, we all involved have learnt our lessons. We stick where we belong do not want to explore deep into India, not in this life.

[acroback]

Sad to hear about your accident.

I agree Renault service is a sleepy dog, never barks when the trouble arrives.
When will the French learn about service and parts availability?

I had to leave my vehicle in Whitefield Renault for 2 weeks for a minor front bumper replacement.

Wish you luck in your endeavors to get your vehicle fixed.