The missing piece

When I moved to Bengaluru last year, I decided that I wouldn’t buy a car. When Uber and Ola taxis are available within a few minutes, having to pay for car maintenance seemed unnecessary to me. We got by without a car for the past year, and we were mostly fine. There were times when the need for an own car was felt more than other times, but I stood by my decision to not buy a car.

Last month Bengaluru went under a full lockdown for a week. There was an urgent need to see a doctor, but no taxis were available. Many auto drivers refused to take us too, fearing that they’ll be stopped by cops. After a bit of a hassle and a lot of stressful minutes, a kind person agreed to lend us his scooter. It wasn’t an ideal choice for that day, but it was far better than not making the appointment. It was then that I decided to buy a car.

I started enquiring as soon as the lockdown was lifted and got my car delivered yesterday. Since morning, I have been kinda looking for reasons to go out 😁. In the evening I decided that we’ll all go out to get some ice cream. I called Corner House, my favourite ice cream joint, and asked them if they allowed people to dine in. The answer was negative, but that wasn’t unexpected. We decided to drive down anyway and bring the ice cream home. Buying through Swiggy would have saved us time and money for sure. But the real goal was spending some quality time in the new car, so we went out.

After spending one and a half hour outside home, it was good to be back home. I felt refreshed. I think being stuck at home had made me unhappy and the little bit of “outside time” had made me happier. Spending time outside is likely the missing piece in my life in these “stay at home” days. With a car accessible 24×7, I think I’ll find ways to spend enough time outside and remain happy.

•••

This is also making me think about jail time as a punishment. Being locked up in a jail for even 6 months can be very painful. Spending years of your life in a jail is super sad. When I was younger, I used to think that punishing with 1 year or 2 years jail time was nothing. Anything less than 10 years seemed like an “easy punishment” to me. But now I see how even a few months can be really tough.