Jungtina Jamir
Sitting in dad’s old wagon is fun. Call it fluke but a lot of what keeps my mind race off to funny thoughts happens in his wagon. A fresh start will be Mandy Moore singing ‘Summer of 69’?? The tape’s head spins faster then it should. It makes Uncle Bryan Adams sound like sweet Mandy. I can’t play metal stuff in his car. Megadeth sounding like chipmunks? Worst, Dream Theater sounding like Britney Spears in a whole new avatar? No way man!!
Dad and I do talk about getting a new tape. Perhaps a CD cum MP3 player like most pretty, cute and sexy cars have now a days!! Sigh.., but then we always end up agreeing that it should be repaired; especially with mom taking pension just some months back.
Today was probably a moment I’ll remember for a long time. Dad usually drops me off to office when he is in station, and I am a big girl or so I thought.
Dad said to me in a deep but exiting voice “Got the tape fixed yesterday”. I heard a, “Finally!!,…hip hip Hurray!!” in my head. So I rushed back into the house to get one of my cassettes. Mom waved us bye bye and said “You two are like black and white”. (Dad being highly tanned from his nature of work, and me being somewhat the opposite of what I just said. I sit in front of the computer 10 hrs a day…at least.) Anyway, before reaching my destination I was crying, literally. Why? Because I laughed so much. Let me tell you.
When the tape began to roll I was putting my arm on the car’s window edge. I could feel the beat that was about to set my mood for the day. Dad must have thought ‘uh oh’. We were just about to rock when the crazy happened. ‘Nehw eht syad evah a drow fo rewsna’…At first I thought “Hey! That’s a song I never heard before”. Dad was quick to respond, “What? Are we listening to satanic music??” he roared. That’s when I realized the tape was playing backwards. The quirk of fate that the tape was just repaired, but, came to my mind. I thought the cassette went crazy so I put another cassette, dad’s Brandy Moore. The effect was the same. Ever felt Christmas in mid-summer??? It was jingle all the way. Dad gave a loud laugh and murmured something which I still don’t know. People who saw us on the road gave that scary stare. I know, who will not be curious to see two black and white people, listening to Christmas song in the middle of summer, moving heads to and fro (because of the laugh). I bet our old wagon was definitely the ‘wallpaper’ of that moment.
I did reach office in time. The rest is another story.
Poor old wagon ain’t got no garage to shy away from the sun. The scorching sun hits our wagon like a laser beam. But old wagon battles like a true Jedi. Sometimes old wagon looks like a shining ‘Mercedes’ in the hot sun. Talk about big time mirage. I probably shouldn’t talk about the rain and the wind. A boat? An airplane? Duh!!
Ever wonder how an egg feels like when broken into the hot frying pan?? It’s something like that sitting in dad’s wagon. Mom or I, literally, have to fold a couple of market ‘bosta’ that’s kept in wagon’s ‘dicky’ (for days like this) before making ourselves uncomfortable in the front seat. And we used to wonder why dad (still) makes an ‘OO’ww’ face for the next few minutes after taking the drivers seat. It burns real bad :)
What’s in a car anyway? For all of us who have taken the exiting first drive, we remember the memories that stays etched in our minds. I remember ramming back into a gypsy at Kohima local ground some years back. How can I forget the other time the back windshield went ‘Shaatterrr’ after I went too fast on a breaker? Had these huge Strange(r) speakers of the ‘dicky’ that was just fitted for a very smooth ride. Too bad; but for the next few weeks we had free ‘Air conditioners’. A friend of mine actually had a better lesson learnt. She and her impish nephew went for a drive cum haircut. Good thing it was Sunday. The ride was smooth. It rocked!, until the grand finale where she slammed on a PARKED truck. The twosome did not get hurt, but the car did, ‘pretty’ bad, and so did her fathers bank account.
While waiting for mom to shop I would usually spend the next 10 minutes trying to put the seat down. Old wagon’s seat lever got amputated years ago. Breaking my nails and getting grease is a messy experience always. As I finally lie down I get to see the wonderful ceiling of old wagon. It reminds me of the 1st time I went to a planetarium. You feel like you are in space. The commentator would explain the whole journey. But in my case the only voice that gives me company is Uncle Brandy Moore and the varieties of crawly creatures on the about-to-fall-ceiling. It’s a sight!!
Dad and I got about a dozen of ‘Dendrite’ to fix old wagon’s ceiling. We grinned to see the good job done. But now, old wagon smells like a pill popper. ‘What have she been snuffing in the car?’ People will say. Eeekk!!
‘Reporters Diary’ has a limited word count and that’s why I have to wrap up old wagon and me. Let us be! I know that we’ll be together for a long time. So until then I’ll have smiles and tears to remember about. Bye bye..
Vroom vroom and away….!!
