The Great College Car Heist: When I ‘Borrowed’ Dad's Wheels

We all have been in vehicle-related situations in college, whether a show-off, accident, trip or something else. As a founder of SOY College’s Car Community Mumbai (due to copyright issues, I can’t disclose the real name), I feel obliged to share a fantastic incident from the day I took my dad’s car to college.

In the second semester of my B. Tech, one week after I turned 18, the first thing I did was get my driving licence. I was ready to take a car to my college and show everyone, especially Ritu; I also had a vehicle. OOOH, BOY, I really hated her for all the dramas she would do by showing off her SCOOTY PEP+, drawing all the attention of the boys. The boys would fight among themselves to park her SCOOTY carrying her bags leaving LOVE LETTERS in her scooty, and listening to her challenging endeavours through the traffic. She was such a diva.

After I got my licence, I begged my father to give me a car because of the Heat, Rain, and Cold, and I was tired of waiting for the bus to come. I had enough; I knew how to drive a car, and he promised to give me a car after I got a licence. Of course, I can’t say why I actually wanted a car. Still, he won’t give the car, saying it is dangerous and every reason a Indian father would say. However I was his own daughter and more stubborn than him. 

My dad was about to say yes, but Meri Pyari MAA, had to jump in, saying why don’t you take my scooty pep+ (oh god, seriously, scooty pep+ like that, Ritu)? I cried and went into protest mode. I refused food, but Bhaiya was secretly giving me food so that I wouldn’t starve to death. After a few days, my mom said yes, but on the condition that I take the car to college for 2 days a week. I was happy and accepted her condition within a second. This is the Rise and Shine movement for me, and I decided that in those 2 days, I’ll show everyone that other people can also come to college in a vehicle. 

I called all my friends and said the bus travel time was over; now we will all go to college in my car. Everyone said NO, you’re a new driver; what if you get us into an accident? I REALISED I WAS NURTURING SNAKES, so after a few arguments, they all agreed. On 7th June, I cleaned the car inside out all by myself to ensure it was perfect. 

We all went to the college late to make our entry perfect. It was beautiful; as I was driving slowly in the parking lot, all eyes were on me, especially Ritu, and suddenly the car stalled. It was very embarrassing, all my friends were laughing and I got angry and decided to park the vehicle in style. My bhaiya told me when I go to college, I should park in reverse; it will make an excellent impression. So, I followed my brother’s advice. As I was parking the car. I accidentally hit the metal bench and got a dent in the rear left side. WHY ME????? Popat ho gaya sabke samne. I’ll never forget how loud and hard Ritu was laughing; we all got out of the car to see the damage. My dad’s “VENTO” was turned into an “ENTO”. Seeing this, I cried, and not because of the humiliation, but because I felt that I had broken my parents’ trust.

We all bunked at the college and went to the garage that day. The mechanic said that the repair would be done by evening but would cost around 7K, which was very expensive for me. After adding all of our pocket money, we had only 3K, so we returned to the crime scene. There, we found the evidence of my smartness: “V” for my “ENTO”.

Surprisingly, Ritu gave me a good idea to paste the “V” with Fevikwik, so we did that. As a professional driver, I parked the car and waited for my brother to take it. I would have blamed him for the damage, but Bhaiya didn’t take the car for two weeks. I was restless. My parents kept asking me why I wasn’t taking the car to the college. I said my college doesn’t have enough parking spaces, that’s why.

After 3 weeks, my brother took the car, and I blamed him for the damage. The evil in me forgot that I was still the youngest and knew nothing about the world; my father and mother saw the damage the day I came home and waited for me to come forth. So when I tried to blame my brother, my mom was furious, while my dad laughed. Instead of scolding me, they reminded me never to shift blame. I felt relieved and planned to take the car next week, promising to drive extra carefully. Still, from that day onwards, my parents never allowed me to take the car to college as a punishment until I graduated. I had to take my mom’s scooty pep+, the same as Ritu. However, I still showed off my driving skills in college and eventually won against Ritu and became the founder of SOY College’s Car Community. 

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