Hello lovely humans,
This newsletter has been sitting in my drafts since our road trip to Goa in June. Yesterday, I sat and put together a frame of our souvenirs from the trip (finally) and also pulled this essay from the drafts (FINALLY).
June 20, 13:37:
We're parked on the side of the road under a tree with some posters stuck to its trunk and a massive yellow rubber tyre tied to its branches. It's quite pretty. The tree is washed of all its dusty layers by the beginning of the monsoon. But also the deep grey road lined by red soil and neon green bushes. You can see the separation between the white sky and the grey clouds over the horizon. The reason we were parked was the opposite of scenic. Alas, this shop didn’t have what we needed either and once more we heard, “the shop ahead might have it”.
June 20, 06.10:
It’s been 35 mins since we left home and our clothes are damp, our shoes have a layer of mud on them. Kulfi is napping calmly, but Josh is pounding down some poor sleeping mechanics’ door at 6am. Of course we tried changing the tires ourselves - between me recalling dad’s lessons for the Innova and Josh’s experience changing his old car’s tires, we almost managed. But we just fell short, and the sleepy mechanic took ₹500 from us because we woke him up so early. But at least he helped us change the tire properly, and unfortunately we didn’t have any more spare tyres. So we inched our way to Goa till we could find a place to fix our tyre or have one we could buy second hand.
Josh and I had the longest conversation about how it’s lucky that I knew where the Stepney was kept, how to lower it, where the tools were stored and how to assemble them. But it’s not luck is it? My dad taught me, just like he taught me most things - not caring if I was a boy or a girl, only that I should be self sufficient.
I’ve been having a LOT of vehicle-related trouble recently and I also have too many friends who think learning to drive is the only thing you know about a car. But I’ve been stranded a few times with a heavy bike that ran out of fuel because the petrol gauge wasn’t working. The 13-year-old second-hand car’s AC wasn’t working; apparently, hot car engines can catch fire. And now a flat tyre. I don’t mind learning things the hard way, and I have a lot of people in my life who can guide me over the phone.
I firmly believe that men are usually taught these things young or figure them out with friends. Women don’t. And yes it’s a generalisation, and if you’re a woman who doesn’t want to learn that’s fine. But I’m going to compile a list of things I learnt about cars, bikes and scootys because there won’t always be a man to help out, and chances are that you don’t want help from strange men. And when the mechanic does come by, the better you can describe the problem the faster it gets solved.
Car:
Every car has a stepney tyre, a spare tyre, which can replace a punctured tyre and comes with a kit. You should know where it is in the car, how it is stored and ideally how to change the tyre yourself.
Get your stepney tyre fixed immediately. If your stepney is punctured and you get another puncture on the road, you’re fucked. You’ll have to buy a new tyre.
There are multiple symbols that flash on the screen, ideally you should know what’s gone wrong if they start blinking. Or notice it and asap ask someone what they mean.
A car can go a few kilometres on the reserve tank. The way to know that the reserve tank fuel is being used is if the last line of the petrol gauge starts blinking. If it’s blinking, find a petrol pump immediately.
A coolant liquid is required to keep your AC going but it’s main purpose is to keep the engine from overheating. This needs to be replaced often and can be done yourself.
A car engine takes 3 hours of being fully unused to cool down completely. This is useful if you can’t find a mechanic but need to check the engine yourself.
There are puncture kits and automated air pumps available in the market that you can keep handy. The air pump is especially easy to use.
Common:
Get tyre air checked and filled every month.
All vehicles require constant maintenance - oil, gears, chains, wiper fluid, coolants, brakes, accelerators, silencers. These things need to be checked often.
Bike and Scooty:
Always check if the petrol gauge is working. Same for break lines and accelerator lines.
During the monsoon, metal parts can rust. Garages have anti-rust paint they can apply.
Also during the monsoon, water can find its way into the petrol tank. There are covers to avoid this.
Get your mirrors tightened if they aren’t already - especially for old bikes.
The visor / transparent pane of your helmet is replaceable. If it gets too scratched, it will reflect light at night and put you in danger.
If you run out of petrol, starting pushing your bike to the nearest petrol pump. Some good samaritan on a bike is likely to see you and push you the rest of the way.
This advice may be specific to India and I’m sure is super limited, but it’s everything I’ve learnt and experienced recently. And I really really hope it helps! Please add to it, correct it, and build on it. Do you have any advice you would add to this list?
Art Afternoons!
Community is hard to come by! But I’m lucky and want to pass on some luck to my readers. After some conversations with other artists, I’m hosting weekly online Art Afternoons on Wednesdays! We get together on video calls, share our intentions for the session, and update our progress towards the end. It’s very low-key and very low-maintenance. All kinds of creation is welcome!
We’ve done two so far, and intend to do these more often. If you want to join,
Vedi’s Postcard Club!
The Postcard Club is something I started recently and it combines my love for art, sending postcards, and writing personalised messages. You receive affordable original art, develop a low-effort hobby for collecting postcards and hopefully encourage you to send out your own!
Every month, you will receive a postcard dedicated to you with artwork I make specially for the club's members. The monthly subscription is USD 3 = approximately INR 250.
Planning the next bike servicing appointment,
Vedi
I loved the entire post. In addition to being quite informative(I didn't know most of those things, and wanted to learn), it also made me feel a little emotional. I don't particularly know how to describe it, but maybe from the lack of having someone who would teach me these things. Reading it felt like I was having my sister explain it to me. (I know this isn't too cheesy, this is how it felt to me) :)
This was a journey i will never forget haha! Also my first time driving and traveling to Goa by road!!!! Apart from the fiasco, it was a beautiful drive!!!!