A Damaged Car and a Fractured Pocket

How would you feel if you were made to shell out over Rs.10,000 for something you had nothing to do with? For the lack of a better word, pathetic. This is how Tina & I have been feeling since April 29, when our dearest Hyundai i10 was wrecked by falling debris because of a gas cylinder blast in the residential compound we stay in.

It was about 5 AM when Tina literally pushed me off the bed to go and see who was ringing the doorbell at such an unearthly hour. As I walked towards the door, I was planning on how to respond to who so ever it was at the door. If it were the milkman, I’d bash his teeth in for him, and if it were the newspaper guy, I’d make him write “Don’t ring this doorbell before 7” at least 50 times. But alas none of this happened because when I opened the door, I saw the “pizza freak” our neighbor with one hand on the doorbell, and the other down his shorts. I managed to come up with a pasted smile as I asked him what the matter was. He said that I needed to move the car as a blast had happened.
Our car was surrounded by debris, bricks and concrete blocks, and the roof looked just like one of Hyderabad’s pothole ridden roads. The rear glass, though still in place was shattered into a thousand pieces, as was the front windscreen, the driver side glass and the door were severely damaged as well. .
Apparently, in a flat above the parking area where I’d parked, an LPG cylinder had exploded which shattered a wall causing the debris to fall on three cars parked below. Our i10 was relatively unscathed, compared to the car next to ours (also an i10) which had its roof crushed till the passenger seat amongst other damages.
I took an off from work that day and arranged for the car dealer to collect the car and start the repairs needed. The estimate came out to about Rs.62,000, though the insurance company would take care of a large percentage, I would have to shell out at least Rs.10,000, maybe more.
Initially neither I, nor Tina intended to demand compensation from the guy in whose house the blast happened, after all he too had suffered a lot, and it would be somewhat unfair to expect him to pay up. However, considering the fact that he didn’t even have the decency to come to our house and express regret at our loss (for no fault of ours), we have decided to file a civil suit against him. In the past week or so, I have tried getting in touch with that guy but he seems to be avoiding us. Such behavior leaves a very bad taste and should be dealt with accordingly.
The car should be back in a day or two, will update about the total damage to my pocket and also on the future course of action.

One thought on “A Damaged Car and a Fractured Pocket”

  1. Manu, I too felt very bad at how the things unfolded. Two days back, you and Tina drove us to 4 Season and it was a mind’s eye travelling in your i10.

    I was happy to see you drive your car back to office after all the ill that went with it.

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