'Sathrah number ke Goti' - Spanner Number 17 - Adventure with an Old Fiat Car!

This is an old story which came to mind on seeing an old spanner.   I was cleaning up the house and the 'Sathrah number ke Goti' came out!  A 'Satrah number ke Goti' is a spanner with number 17 on one side.   A Spanner with number 17 on one side has number 14 on the other side, as all normal spanners have two sides and they both are used for different size nuts.  The spanner number Seventeen side is used to loosen and tighten when the fan belt of the old model Fiat Car are either to be adjusted or re-fixed.  My car was a 1961 model with its front doors opening from the front.  Olden times of sixties and seventies they were the beauties on the road, without doubt!

Now I shall relate how the whole episode happened.  From one of the old stuffed away boxes came out a number of spanners, all too bright, and an old old spanner which was brown with colour and that was the spanner 17.  This happened on a journey adventure we under took as a small little family. Me, my wife, and two children of tender ages, my son aged 6 and daughter aged 8.  We had set up a trip to Kerala and from Delhi we made a tour programme which said Depart Delhi by car in the early morning hours, say, 4 am and reach Agra by 8 am.  Those were the days of the nineties and traffic in the morning hours were slack.  I got my old Fiat rechecked with my trusted old mechanic and told him of the predicament the day before and he checked up the whole thing, raved it up a couple of times, drove it a furlong and came back and certified clearance.  I had great faith and reverence to the Sardarji gentleman in Sujan Singh Park and we drove off in the morning in the Fiat.  All were jubilant and had kept our music up and within half an hour out of home we came to a place called Nehru Nagar passing Moolchand Hospital on the way.  The Moolchand Flyover etc. and the Metros were not there in those days.  After Moolchand Hospital the car started getting heated up and by Nehru Nagar it was so hot to make driving imbearable.

There was not a human being on the road and the first day light was breaking in the eastern horizen.  I made my children sit on top of the car and sing a devotional which we were all used to at home starting with "Yesu nallavan' Jesus is good, Jesus is Great etc...the song went by.  I could see one or two morning walkers here and there but no body else for the time being.  There were people who came out and walked with a piece of neem branch in their mouths as a matter of brushing in the morning.

One of the brushing gentleman came close and asked whether we are ok and if he could help in any manner if there is something he could do.  This was a matter of tremendous generosity and I knew he was shocked to see the family and the little children on the top of the car singing in the so early morning which is unusual. I told the situation and he said "Oh..car problem.  Open the hood,  we will see, hopefully we can fix it too".

That was a lot of relief in such a solitary time from an unknown friend.  Once opened he said, "Oh..it is the fan belt, as I presumed.  Otherwise a car can't heat up so much".  I agreed.   He thought for a while and said "Now to get a new belt is not difficult.  The shop owner, I know, but he may not have got up.  Anyway, since it is a problem with a family, I shall call him up and see if he can help".

He walked away and returned in a while with two other people one holding two fan belts and another with a spanner.   He told me he had no problem in calling up the shop owner, who was his friend, and he in turn has called and brought along the mechanic who works near his shop along with two fan belts and the Spanner for the fixing.   The mechanic gentleman showed me how the fan belt is to be replaced in the Fiat car and said never go on the road without a spare fan belt and the "Sathrah Number ke Got"!  He held up the spanner in his hand and said:  "This Goti I will give you as a present as you are a long route traveller and that too with a family!  You may have to pay only for the two fan belts.  One extra belt is for you to keep in case the one I put gives way en route"!

That was it!  Thanking them profusely and paying for their service and the fan belts we continued on our way saying and believing there are the Angels sent by God in such an early morning!  We did our journey up and down Kerala with so many other stories which came up on the way.  But the  'Sathrah number ke Goti' or the Spanner No.17 stayed with us!  The additional fan belt which we never had to use were given to the guy who bought our little Fiat after an year!

A prayer for those affected by the Kerala Floods! A bus ride from Noida to Dilshad Garden!

The day broke peacefully in Noida but those watching the net news on Kerala were not enthusiastic after heaqring the wide spread havoc the incessant rains and cloud bursts brought to the little shining state!  Many were appalled to see their loving loving houses being submerged in front of their eyes and they being pushed into nothingness.  Most were taken by the authorities to Life Saving Temporary Camps set up which was a very hopeful sight indeed!  Many people regardless of caste and creed and beliefs turned up to help and it continued for the last three four days!

The number of people who lost their lives and umpteen number of cattle and other animals were all thought provoking and making everybody rethink.  With all those heavy thoughts we entered our little route bus from Bhangel.  Just before entering the bus the climate became too stuffy and humid and it ended with a light shower with the sun shining bright.  Luckily the bus was airconditioned and it took away the heat to an extend.  Watching the side sights from the bus, especially an airconditioned one is really worth.  Both sides has lot of businesses going on and people and all kinds of vehicles from bicycle to our huge air conditioned bus pass from time to time.Dust, grime, and muddy water were everywhere and people moved everywhere on business.

Most of the bylanes and road sides are mostly taken by parked vehicles of all kinds and way side sellers of various wares.

The walls on either side had different kinds of huge writings One disease mainly catching our eyes was 'Bawasir' ek teeke me' meaning a particular kind of fever mostly affecting children as it is understood.  One teeke me  meant one injection.  An injection here is called either a teeka or a suyi.  (Teeka means a dose and suyi means needle-whihch is used in short for injection as the syringe always has a needle in front). One will be surprised if there are so many people suffering from 'Bawasir'.

Our bus reached the Mother Teresa Hall in time for prayerful mass.  The mothers children along with other sisters are looking after a lot of leprosy patients who limped around with their wooden crutches.  But it sdeedmed wonderful that they were all happy.  The service of the sisters were really worth admiration for all humanitarians.  The mass was a solemn one with special request for donations with prayer for the flood affected which was really taken up by one and all.

After the mass we visited our near relative there and after lunch and rest we returned in the same sort of lovely buses by the evening






   

Life in Bhangel, a Noida corner!

There are two parts to Bhangel which has become a point these days.  This happened with rapid progress of the surroundings of the Bhangel village and the road going through it.  When the road which was a single up and down road was parted with a strong partition and that ended the connection with the two sides as crossing over from one side to the other became a little difficult as the people of the place are not used to such traffic rules. Their simple life did not need it either as they seldom drove long.  Most of the people had farming and farm work and the market on either side of the road was enough for their daily requirements.

Now the road from Dadri to the Capital and Some of the busy hubs of Noida passed through Bhangel and the daily traffic increased with the ever progressing ride of the country and this made the necessity of widening the road as well as partitioning it.  Otherwise, the general public in the area were freely crissing crossing from one part to the other and this became a point of traffic snarls several times.  At times a cyclist crossed the road and a large vehicle had to brake to allow him to go unhurt and reach his destination.  Some times a tractor with trolley crossed the road from one side to the other with impunity and all the traffic on both sides stopped to give him way as the density has increased manifold in the recent times.

In between there would be pedestrians who are really many as the industrial towns and cities which are about and around has huge number of everyday workers who once free from their daily work, spill to the market area before reaching their homes.  They have to pick up their daily requirements on way home. The two sides of the roads will be interspersed with a lot of rehri traders.  A rehri is a four wheeled platform on which temporary vegetable shops and the like are carried on. Same goes for a lot of eatable shops which are single person oriented enterprises.  They all take away a part of the road.    Apart from these are the those who come 'wrong'.  A wrong is a person driving either a two wheeler or a four wheeler in the opposite direction of a lane.  This creates trouble at times but generally every body tolerate it.  This is because they have only a little distance to move to catch either their by-lane or take a U-turn to catch their right lane.

Adding the dust and din to this makes the whole a real experience to one who have not experienced it. The general days of good climate in these areas pass without any much problem.  Public will find it difficult in extreme climates of heat, dust storm and some times in the rainy season of July August, if it rains too much. But since the people are content with the place and surroundings things pass on with out much ado.!