No matter how reliable you think modern cars are, the things which keep them going will follow Murphy’s Law, eventually leading to a break down some day. If you are fortunate, finding help and getting that thing to roll again could be easy. However, it could be a bad day and things may decide to give up at a time when you’re far away from help, stranded without any signal on your cell phone, in the middle of nowhere. We aren’t even talking about a day like yesterday when people were stranded inside their dead vehicles, with no assistance in sight, even in a Megapolis like Mumbai.
It happened to us when we decided to venture out inside a seriously isolated area not far away from Mumbai. Three of us were inside a very capable SUV, feeling confident about its brilliance after taking it to places which are otherwise inaccessible in most everyday cars. On a day when we had gotten used to the cycle of going out, getting drenched, and then coming back inside to turn the heater on and cure our shivers, we encountered a shin deep stream which by our previous experiences, was a cakewalk for the machine we were piloting. After ensuring that it indeed was just that by walking through, probing the surface underneath, the SUV entered the stream at a crawling pace, made it to the centre, and died. The three of us immediately tried to push the vehicle out, but an incline towards the other side and a rocky surface underneath proved to be too much for human muscle.
We had ventured nearly 50 metres off a road which probably witnesses 10 vehicles in a day and there was no other human in sight, no cellular network. With lush greenery, tall mountains, and a car stuck in a stream, we were getting our jitters. Unable to find our footwear in fading light, one of us walked bare feet for nearly 2 km to the nearest house, which was the only structure that stood there in a radius of 5 kilometres. To cut it short, two not so healthy caretakers came back with us to push the car out, but those helping hands weren’t enough. Haplessly walking over things we did not even know what they were, we came across a car which informed that a Crane, which was in the area to pull a bus out was following them and should be able to pull us out
Totally relating to the term ‘Divine Intervention’, I wasn’t ready to believe that a crane had arrived in the middle of nowhere, at a time when we needed it the most. I even touched it to ensure that I wasn’t hallucinating to see just want we wanted in the middle of nowhere. The Crane pulled the SUV out from what had now turned into almost a river and we didn’t even care when he told us the (crazy) amount he was charging us for winching us out and towing the car to the nearest town.
But the Jungle wanted us to stay. So when the crane was trying to pull us out, it lost traction and got stuck on an uphill section. Managing to break a tree which it used to pull itself out, it used another to finally climb up. But now it was so far, that the rope couldn’t reach our SUV, and if it tried to move back any further, it would’ve been stuck with us. On the other hand, the SUV would only make a ‘click’ sound when we tried to crank it up via the silly push button starter. Everything else worked, but the damn thing simply refused to come to life. Sure, we wouldn’t have tried to push start the car knowing it was in the water for some time, but the thought of having the flexibility of having the good old key-twist starter felt like a more desirable option for once. You cannot push start a car with a push button system unless there is enough juice in the battery to bring the fuel pump and those many electronic systems on board up to speed. Forget even thinking about the procedure if it’s an automatic.
With no other help in sight, one of us went with the crane to find some help in a town which was a good couple hours away. While the two of us rolled up the windows and shivered inside the car with everything switched off in an effort to save the battery. We waited for a good four hours thinking that help might arrive. When it did not, in hushed voices, since we did not wish to attract the attention of any wildlife which existed there, we decided to call it a night. It was pitch dark, it rained heavily, and we were apprehensive even when we had to relieve ourselves of some fluids, for the fear of stepping over a reptile or being attacked by something else. All this while, we tried to be extremely cautious with the battery consumption as we knew that a drop in voltage would deprive us of whatever chance we were left with to set the car in motion if something gave.
One of us who had gone into town to get assistance came back with a friend who drove there in thick fog with some food and the cheerful sight of a car’s headlights. With the plan to sort things out in the morning, the four of us slept in the car. The next day, a flat bed arrived after we had to drive for an hour to communicate and help them locate us. Thankfully, it’s winch was long enough for the truck to pull the car from a place from where it could easily climb back up to the road without getting bogged.
But a new problem was upon us. The battery by now had lost a substantial amount of charge. So when the winch was steadily pulling it towards the ramp, the SUV engaged its electronic handbrake, just 5 feet shy of the ramp. The so called safety feature has been designed to automatically engage the parking brake if the battery hasn’t got enough power. A handbrake lever isn’t something you usually miss. But we know electronics were ganging up against us on that day. With the skies getting darker, we realised that while trying to push the car towards the flat bed, the windows had to be rolled down and now even they were stuck in an open position. Somehow, miraculously, the handbrake released momentarily (owing probably to a magical momentary spike in voltage) and we were quick to use those precious few moments to get the SUV climbed up aboard the truck before the handbrake engaged itself again!
While we were going through the cycle of trying to somehow release those rear wheels from the grip of that electronic brake, every push would automatically bring the infotainment system and the AC blower on, which only unnecessarily drained the already dead battery further. So for all those among us who want their next purchase to come loaded with all of these modern day electronics, switches and buttons, maybe there’s an Achilles Heel that you need to be aware of – and nothing replaces the good old iron grinding iron. Electronics are great as long as they work, but when they break on you, they don’t leave you with any chance or choice to have them mended, like the good old mechanical setups did.
If you’ve got any such experiences to share with us and others, please key them in the comments section below or feel free to use any of our social channels.