[SJM1214]

And we are worried for children popping out of the sunroof.

[ninjatalli]

These are not really "on the road" but they were when I was traveling on hundreds of wheels, than just four wheels, so I guess it counts!

Situation 1:
This was sometime back in 2003; I was on an overnight train from Bombay to Baroda with a college friend. I had a sleeper class ticket, but he didn't. The TC arrived about an hour after the journey began, and the negotiation began too. The fare would have been around ~150Rs, the TC asked for 100Rs. My friend was only ready to give 50Rs and stuck to it.

After a few rounds of threats of being dropped at the next station and many many pleas of being a poor college student having only 50Rs in his pocket; the TC finally gives up and agrees to him.

Then my friend does something that I can never ever be able to do in my entire life. He opens his purse and pulls out a 100 rupee note and boldly asks the TC for 50Rs change back


Situation 2:
The year was 2008, and I was running late to catch a train from Jamshedpur to Agra to attend a friend's marriage. I hadn't been able to get a ticket from Jamshedpur, however I had a reserved AC ticket from Bokaro Steel city, the next stop after ~4 hours. While booking I had decided to just board the train with a general class ticket till Bokaro and try my luck with the TC if he could extend me a seat for the interim journey.

When I landed at the station, literally minutes before the train departure time, I realized I had less than 10Rs in my purse after paying off the auto. Strangely none of the ATMs at that platform were functioning. I didn't even have money to buy the GC ticket.

At the end of my wits, I decide to nevertheless board the train. I walk across the bogies to land up in a sleeper class bogie that had a wide space in the door section. It was filled with without-ticket passengers so I think I'm "safe" there.

An hour later, in walks the TC, glances at the entire lot of 10+ men, and picks me out to ask for the ticket. I told him the situation and showed him my confirmed ticket from Bokaro. A lot of help that did, for sure. He asks me to pay for the fine; a sum of ~300Rs or pay a bribe (no amount was mentioned but it was certainly a 3 digit number). I again tell him square that I would have happily paid him off, but unless he accepted credit cards or had an ATM; I could not pay him anything.

He then calls for a security guard/cop who was in the adjacent bogie (all the trains back then had a few cops due to naxal related issues) and asks him to do a search on me!!! After a brief 2-3 mins, the cop tells him what I had been muttering all along.

A long pause, and with a scowl at me, he turns around and walks away A few hours later, we finally reach Bokaro, and I'm able to get to my confirmed seat and doze away to glory with my small victory!

[swiftnfurious]

This happened during my recent ride - I was coming from Goa to Gokarna. I was looking for the last fuel pump in Goa and I realised it at the border - so turned back to fill whatever space I had in the pump, which was 1 km away from the border. I was waiting at the 'Air' station and a young man was looking at my CBR. He asked me something and I just answered in a very casual manner. Topped up air and was wearing my gloves when I noticed a BEAUTIFULLY maintained RX 135 which the same guy was getting oil changed. I glanced at the bike, drooled a bit and I asked whether it was his bike & he nodded yes. I gestured him TOP CLASS. In a moment, his face lit up and a broad smile stayed ON. I am sure I made his day and waved to him and moved on.

[Thilak29]

Incident narrated by a colleague of mine.

He drives a Corolla and is passionate about upkeeping. With age issues pop in and out. He noticed the trend of ASC always insisting on part changes instead of mending or repairing same. The driver side window used to stop rolling once in a while and this time he takes it to a mechanic at a FNG based on his friend's suggestion. He opens up the assembly cleans everything and puts it back and it continues to work flawlessly for many months. One fine Summer morning while driving through TN it refused to roll up and my colleague had hard time driving through heat with family onboard. He considers calling this mechanic (fondly calls him Charlie uncle), reports issue. This mechanic uncle takes a calm breath, pauses for a moment and asks if there is a grocery shop nearby and if he can manage to get Parachute hair oil (pure coconut oil) , if yes get a small bottle and pour drops through the gap till window begins to respond. Viola , couple of drops later it works and worked for many more months.

[LegalEagle]

One to add to this thread -

This morning, everyone is in a hurry to go to office. I was too, but was sensible enough. Was driving from Serilingampally Railway station in Hyderabad towards Hitech city. There is one choke point - where it is always jammed during office hours. Everyone is mad - being Monday morning - but trying to follow the lanes - even in the absence of medians.

All of a sudden, one genius in a Swift Dzire (want to use other words, but can't due to the rules) decides to go full speed in the wrong lane, all the way to the choke point - a distance of around 200 mts. He makes it almost, when suddenly, a traffic cop walks out of the shadows and stops him one feet before he could join the merging traffic.

The show starts - the driver begging, and the traffic cop holding his camera up recording the violation and not budging. After 25 minutes of begging and cribbing, finally, the guy is forced to turn around, and join the proper lane - while we, the common persons, had happily crossed the traffic.

Lesson for me - No matter how manic your Monday morning maybe, do not get on the wrong sides of the traffic cops - they can and will do anything. .


One point for the lane drivers.

[dailydriver]

Happened yesterday.

I was in the company of a fairly well known orator cum television personality at a tourist place near Chikkamagaluru. Unsurprisingly, he was mobbed by his fans, including an NRI family from the USA. After multiple rounds of kushaloparis, the said family wanted a picture taken with him but were averse to a selfie. They looked around and found a gentleman standing nearby, watching the crowd. He too had spoken to the guest a few minutes ago. They beckoned him and he obliged by taking photos using their phones and walked away with a smile.

Just as he was handing back the phone, it struck me that the face was vaguely familiar. A few seconds later, I realised that he was actually the Deputy Commissioner of a nearby district - an IAS officer.

No pretensions; no false veils of power, nor of arrogance; no throwing his official weight around.

I was left wondering why all bureaucrats can't behave similarly.

[aravind.anand]

While on a recent ride to my hometown Coimbatore, there was an empty road on a deserted highway and so I felt like staying on triple digit speeds for a few kilometers. The CBR being a trusty old workhorse chugged along comfortably, and few kilometers ahead I came across an impeccably restored 2-stroke Jawa doing a good 80-90 km/hr. Just as I slowly overtook him, I couldn't help but admire the bike in my rear view mirror. The rider frantically waved at me, much like several like-minded well-geared riders do while on road trips. I waved back showed thumbs-up et all and continued... The enthusiastic chap was still waving even after I gained some more distance.

And few kilometers ahead I wanted to slow down for crossing the toll plaza, and just as I tried to down-shift from 6th gear, I had a very weird sensation of not placing my foot on the gear lever. I looked down while still holding the clutch in, and to my horror I could not see the gear lever at all So I braked and came to a halt still in 6th gear, still holding the clutch lever, killed the engine and got off the saddle to assess the situation. Thankfully the gear lever that had come off its place was still hanging onto the bike with the help of the other linkages. Just as I got that fixed back in place, the Jawa rider pulled up right behind my parked bike and said he noticed my gear lever dragging on tarmac and he tried to signal that to me, while I happily showed signs and sped away! Little did I know that waving hands was the new universal code to let a fellow-rider know that his gear lever is fighting to stay with the bike

Now comes the history - during my DIY servicing last time around, I fixed all the nuts and bolts that I removed (CBR has too many of these to remove the fairing to access the engine!) and after assembling everything back I was still left with one screw. For the life of me I couldn't figure where it went, and looked at all possible points for close to 10 minutes. I even rode the bike very carefully for a few days, as it could be a very important screw that held some critical component to the bike. Nevertheless, I put that odd screw back in my bag in a small zip to use it when the time came. Now that the time has come, that is one mystery solved for me.

[ninjatalli]

PART I
This was back in 2005 when a bunch of 20+ year olds pooled in money and bought a 2nd hand M800. And we had a blast with that car. Within a month of purchase, a plan was put to do a long trip and we decided on Goa as the destination. So holiday approvals were taken, the car was sent for a check-up at a nearby FNG and we were on the road deciding to hit Goa via the route Pune - Kolhapur - Belgaum - Panjim. We had done zero research on the road options; we didn't even know about the route via Amboli ghat back then; instead deciding that Belgaum route felt better than via Kolhapur.

We reached Belgaum around late evening and decided to cross the hills than stopping for the night. The road we took was a crumbling 2-lane state highway with minimal signage boards; except for a few that were hardly visible in the faltering sunlight. Back then we didn't have google maps, so it was a mix of guess-work, asking the rare person/vehicle seen on the road and the very few signages that appeared on the road.

(Note - I can speak hindi fluently, however my knowledge of hindi vocabulary is far from perfect)

So I was driving, with my friend in the front seat pointing out crater sized holes in the road as well as looking out to what the signage boards were saying. Suddenly, he quips at me
"Talli, gathirodak"

Blissfully unaware of what that meant, I nod my head and continue driving as usual, bumps and all.

A few kms later, another sign appears on the left, and again he quips, albeit a bit louder
"TALLI, gathirodak"

Again I nod my head and continue driving as usual.

A few more kms ahead, a 3rd sign appears on the left, and all 3 of them shout together at me
"TALLI GATHIRODAK!!!"

I brake immediately and look at them surprised.
Then my friend points at the hardly visible sign - it was an image of a speed breaker

[GrammarNazi]

Originally Posted by SJM1214

And we are worried for children popping out of the sunroof...

Didn't think this still happens in India until I came across people ON a bus during my Rajasthan road trip last December!


PS : Didn't risk a clear pic as I guessed I'll use the vid from my Dashcam, but lost that file.

[Thilak29]

That moment when I found car parked next to mine bears sequential registration number , that too in a restaurant in a remote place in Tamil Nadu. Coincidence at its best.

[Miyata]

Happened last evening. Returning from work somewhere between the Manyata Tech park and the Hebbal Flyover in Bangalore:

A lady on a two-wheeler wanting to cross the road and none of the drivers allowing her the space to do so.

In comes the good samaritan BHP-ian. A red-ish i20. Stickers of LTD and I drive safe. Didn't get a pic due to crazy traffic scene. The number was possibly KA 03 XX 8848 (I think). He was courteous enough to stop and allow enough space for the two-wheeler to find her way across.

Fine gesture . I was right behind when that happened.

[condor]

Signal red, and I stopped behind the vehicles there. A KSRTC bus going to a near-by town was at the front, in the right lane. Smaller vehicles to it's left and ahead of me. There were some gaps and a soldier on a bike came up from my left, made use of the gap in front of me and stopped adjacent to the bus. One of the bus passengers who was standing on the steps of the bus looking out of the door, saw the soldier - and saluted him. Glad to see people acknowledging our soldiers.


Jai Hind !

[Thad E Ginathom]

This is a small thing, but such consideration is rare enough to impress, these days...

I had driven into a narrow, dead-end side street looking for a parking place. There was none, so I turned and drove slowly back. Right at the start of the road, three or four guys, one on a scooter, were chatting. One looked at me, and gestured, "do you want to park here?"

I opened the window and said, yes please, and they all moved so that I could.

[ashwinprakas]

Circa 2015.

I was being driven in a friends VW Polo, it was night and it was raining, about 20 km's from my place he starts speeding up frantically and was visibly shaken all of a sudden, I tried to ask what the issue was but he was murmuring something that didn't make much sense, he suddenly pulls to the shoulder gets out of the car and starts wiping the windshield with a piece of cloth in spite of the wipers working as intended, runs back into the car and starts off again.

I ask him what the issue was and he tells me about a WhatsApp forward he'd received about car thieves who throw eggs at a moving cars windshield, the story goes like this(procured from Google);

If you are driving at night and eggs are thrown at your windshield.

Do not operate the wiper and spray any water because eggs mixed with water become milky and block your vision up to 92.5% so you are forced to stop at the roadside and become a victim of robbers. This is a new technique used by robbers. Please inform your friends and relatives. This also happens on interstates near exits.

It took me a while to realize that the case for panic was the mist that had formed on the windshield which he couldn't get rid off even after manually wiping which be believed was the result of someone throwing egg white on the windshield to cause him to stop as a result enable them to steal his car.

Without a change in expression I shifted the blower to defogger mode and a short while later the mist disappeared. I was about to break out laughing but seeing the look of awe and gratitude on my friends face I simply did not have the heart to rub it in his face.

P.S. Down south we seldom face the need to use the defogger, hence a good number of drivers are not educated about the feature, even cab drivers aren't aware of it, they simply carry old newspapers which they swear by when it comes to defogging the windshield.

[Thad E Ginathom]

An encyclopedia of fake "facts" could be created from WhatsApp forwards. But is there any truth in the egg/visibility/robbery thing?

My "common sense" tells me that it falls at the first hurdle: broken egg would wash off the glass, especially with screen wash additives. I don't have any problems washing egg off glass bowls in the kitchen!