ேநாரா ஸ்வீனி

One thing that I will really miss about India is that people are extremely resourceful. Things are always being fixed, recycled, or reused. Unlike in the US, it is always cheaper to fix something than it is to buy something new. There are people who can fix just about anything: pressure cookers, cameras, umbrellas, locks, etc. There are shoe repairmen and bike mechanics on almost every street corner. Along the side of the Meenakshi temple, there are guys who sit by a wheel driven contraption and sharpen knives all day. God knows how many times I have gone down to my tailor’s shop to fix stray rips and holes in my clothes. There is a scrap yard market in Madurai that is a maze of auto parts, bike parts, old tools, and pipes of all sizes.

However, it’s not just specialty repairmen that know how to fix things. One day last March, my friend Kassia and I were in Kolkata, on our way to the airport. There are no auto rickshaws in the center of the city, so we hopped in an old Ambassador taxi. The driver was a thin, wizened old guy who kept to himself. We were driving down a main road and the traffic was so bad that all the drivers had turned off their engines. Suddenly, things were moving again. Our driver started up the car, but nothing happened. Kassia and I looked at each other with a hint of dismay. The driver got out of the car while lots of other cars were whizzing by and opened the hood. He fiddled around for a bit and then got back in the car and tried to start it. It wouldn’t start. He got up and looked inside the hood again but the car still wouldn’t start. Then, the he got out of the car and proceeded to walk over to the median. Kassia and I were wondering if we should catch another taxi. Meanwhile, the driver picked up a brick from the middle of the road, walked over to the hood, and dropped the brick inside. Then, he got back into the car and started the ignition without a problem. Kassia and I looked at each other with a combination of amazement and relief.

Things might break down a lot in India, but at least people know how to fix them. Imagine if people in the US could just lay a brick inside their hood instead of calling AAA.