When luxury becomes necessity…

I’ve always wanted a car of my own. But each time I weighed the pros and cons of owning a car, I always ended up deciding against it. The public transport systems in most cities that I have lived in have been more than decent. Gurgaon is, probably, the only exception.

This is the only place I have lived in where the only means of public transport is the cycle rickshaw. A lot has changed here. I lived in this place in the late 90s. Life was tough in many ways back then. I had to travel to Delhi for any kind of shopping or entertainment. Now people from Delhi travel to Gurgaon to spend weekends at what has come to be known as the “Mall Mile”. But in more ways than one, this town or village (call it what you will) has remained unchanged. Some parts of Gurgaon feel like Singapore. No kidding! But some parts retain their rustic touch just so you don’t forget that you’re in Haryana. Its like a town that’s got one foot in modern India, but whose other foot just refuses to budge. I have digressed.

What are my options in a town like this? I can travel by cycle rickshaw. I can walk. I can sit with random public in a share auto. (I’m not snobbish… I have traveled by buses in rural areas and by the local trains in Mumbai). But I find it difficult to sit with 24 other people in an auto meant for 7. Moreover, I’d be forced to travel in the direction that the majority in the auto is traveling… not really in the direction that I want to go.

And having weighed all our options for a very long time in this town that we now call home, my husband and I decided that what we considered a luxury earlier is now a necessity. After having come to that decision, we took our time deciding what car to buy. Just about everyone who knew we were researching cars gave us their unsolicited advice. And when we finally zeroed in on a car, we saw another one… a little bigger, a bit more expensive… and we fell for it. But we needed a car. What we were looking at was going to more than just serve the purpose. We walked the fine line between luxury and necessity for a couple of days. Good sense prevailed and we bought the car that we needed, not the one that we wanted.

And we drove home in it last night. I’m on a high!