Our 911

The area around Venky's school is a mess. The drains are being laid and the road is under repair. Everyday we have to discover a new bylane to reach there. A few days ago, when Vibhu was driving to pick Venky up from the school, he tried to be adventurous and lo! his car was stuck in loose gravel that was laid down for the road repair. The more Vibhu accelerated the car, the more the wheels sank into the gravel. Soon, it was clear that there was no easy way to get the car out. Classic case of "stuck - in - nowhere - call - 911".


Only in India there's no "nowhere". Even before Vibhu could get out of the car, there were 20 odd people around him. Giving suggestions, pushing the car, digging the wheels out the gravel, some even brought tools to help push the car out. After 45 minutes of everybody's effort, the car was on its way. Most of the people vanished as soon as the car was out and even before Vibhu could thank them. Others just happily accepted whatever little money Vibhu offered them. Venky, Vibhu and the car reached home safe and sound.

We live in a country of 1 billion people. Our people are our 911.


P.S - Venky loved all the commotion and was super excited. He's desparately waiting for the car to get stuck again.

Leading Questions

We usually drop Venky to his pre school on our way to office. One of us picks him up at 12.00 pm and drops him back home. His nanny takes care of him till we come back from office. When I/Vibhu are dropping Venky back, he is keen on keeping that parent with him at home. We usually tell him that the other parent is in office and needs to be picked up. This convinces him and he lets us go without a fuss.

One day, only Vibhu dropped Venky to school and I went a little late to office by the other car. Vibhu was the one who picked him up too. This is how the conversation went

Venky - "Has mommy gone to the office?"
Vibhu - "Yes"
Venky - "How did she go to the office?" (Since I did not accompany them in the morning)
Vibhu - "I came back and picked her up." (Vibhu had sensed the purpose behind this question)

Venky switches to other topics and they arrive home. Venky notices that the other car is not there.
Venky - "Where is the other car?"
Vibhu (in his gullible self) - "Mommy has taken it to the office."
Venky - "So she can come back herself!!! You can stay with me!!! :) "

We get a lot of such questions now - which have "purpose" behind them. Its becoming more and more difficult to bluff him and we are becoming easy targets :(