TRYST WITH A CONVERTIBLE CAR

 

by Gitanjali, Bridgewood

So, Dad was this total dude in his youth (spanning age 10 to 25 years). He was the stereotypical Mills & Boon hero – tall dark and handsome -   and he knew it! He had a way of winning over people, particularly the female gender, starting with his mom, sisters and sisters in law. He won them over with his charm and they in turn were generous with his pocket money. With cash in hand, our man was always dressed in the latest fashion, with a matching demeanor.    

So, this is where my short story about him begins:

His elder brother, a doctor in the Rangoon Railway Hospital, had a convertible car. Once parked in the hospital on duty, my uncle was busy for the rest of the day. Dad would stealthily open the hood of the convertible, jump in and drive out in style, smoking a pipe nonchalantly - even Gregory Peck would have looked like a poor cousin!

He now had all the tools to impress, ahem, the girl friends! So off to the cinema with them and after the ‘outing’, he would drive back to the hospital, park the car, slide back the hood in place and not say a word to anyone at home. My uncle always wondered at the poor mileage of the car, never once suspecting that his kid brother was the culprit! Until, one afternoon my grandfather, passing by, saw Dad getting out of the convertible in front of the cinema hall with three girls in tow! Thus, ended his stylish sojourn, rather abruptly!

 The story is as told to us by my uncles during our summer vacations at my grandfather’s home and unlike ‘Chinese Whispers’, this particular story, so ingrained in their memory, always remained constant!