บท 23: Passion of an Autophile

"Adi!" the plump boy whom Aditya referred to as 'white buffalo' exclaimed when he saw Aditya approach him smilingly.

There was a reason Aditya addressed Kranthi as 'white buffalo'. This fatty was the best friend of Aditya and was his classmate until Aditya changed schools after tenth grade.

During childhood, Kranthi used to be very fair even rivalling with a genuine white kid, so whenever he and Aditya fought, even a little bruise looked strikingly distinct on Kranthi while Aditya's wounds were not so visible in his olive complexion, this caused Aditya to be one always punished. To add on to that, this fellow had a panda physique, he was round and chubby. Even if Aditya caught Kranthi's hand for a few seconds, the place would become scarlet like a rash. So, finding that he would always be in disadvantage if he fought with this fatty physically, Aditya had given a nickname 'white buffalo' to him to simply irritate him. Afterwards, although both became the best of buddies, the name stuck. The apple physique of Kranthi and the 'stick' physique of Aditya was really a vivid sight when saw together.

As Aditya reminisced the past memories, he was suddenly engulfed in a fat tsunami as Kranthi hugged Aditya.

"White Buffalo, get off, I don't want to drown in fat and die." Aditya tried to beat off Kranthi but it felt like he was punching a pillow.

"Adi, long time no see, I missed you." Kranthi didn't let go and was shouting loudly without considering that they were on the street with many people around.

Aditya was sure if this scene happened in some western countries, he and Kranthi would have already been labelled as a gay couple. Luckily in India, 'Bromance' was the first thought that came to mind. So, they would be given the advantage of the benefit of the doubt.

It took a few minutes for Aditya to escape from Kranthi. He immediately took a few steps backwards before threatening him, "if you don't control yourself, I will let the whole world know that it was you who wrote the love letter to Shalini teacher in ninth grade."

This really worked as Kranthi immediately stopped, he smiled sheepishly while scratching his head as he said, "you already knew."

Aditya rolled his eyes as he said, "I remember that you lived near White Field, what are doing here?" though, he didn't mention it Aditya was very happy to see his best friend, it is just that Aditya was not as expressive as Kranthi.

Kranthi had grown up with Aditya so he knew his temperament. He laughed brightly as he said, "My father bought a garage here, so we moved to this part. It is really a big garage, we even provide car services to high-end cars. Right now there is even a Mercedes Benz C300 being serviced."

Actually, there is another reason that Aditya and Kranthi could stick together for so many years. They both shared the same passion for cars. Both were legit autophiles. Of course, they would bond.

Aditya who had lost his passion for racing due to his parents missing found a small fire blazing in his heart when he heard Kranthi's words. Now that he was technically free and he had also ascertained the safety of his parents, why not spend some days playing with cars while figuring out his next step.

With this thought, Aditya looked solemnly at Kranthi and said, "White Buffalo, I have nowhere to go, let me work in your garage for a few months."

"Sure."

This was White Buffalo that Aditya knew, he never thought too much about things. He did not even ask why Aditya had nowhere to go? what happened to his parents? why was he not attending school? This was the difference between Bhadra, Jatin and Kranthi. Though, Aditya was not finding fault with anyone.

White Buffalo knew that Aditya had worked as a car mechanic as a part-time job when he was in his tenth grade so he agreed readily. At that time because Kranthi lived in a faraway place Aditya worked in Kishore uncle's garage who was his father's friend.

The boy who was called 'little pig' by Kranthi couldn't hold himself any longer as he asked Kranthi, "Big brother, who is this fellow who dare call you as 'white buffalo', let me teach him a lesson for you."

Aditya looked with wide open eyes at this short fellow with medium stature who still couldn't deduce that he and Kranthi were friends and was thinking that he was bullying Kranthi. He looked at Kranthi with questioning eyes.

"little pig, remember he is also your big brother from now on, he is my best buddy. Only he is allowed to call me such. Understood?" Kranthi ordered as he leaned slightly towards Aditya as he whispered, "this fellow's actual name is Rahul who is a distant relative from my father's side who lived in a village until recently. His parents had basically determined that there was no future for Rahul so they sent him to help my father in the garage. I always feel smart and intelligent when I am with him, so I let him tag along wherever I go. It's fun."

Aditya was dumbfounded when he heard Kranthi's words especially 'I always feel smart and intelligent when I am with him' part. He smiled as he extended his hand to Rahul, "Hey, I am Aditya, I was Kranthi's classmate till tenth grade, glad to meet you."

"Big brother, hello, my name is Rahul and I am a relative of Big brother, you can also call me 'little pig'." Rahul smiled radiantly.

Aditya was in a daze when he heard 'you can also call me little pig', now he understood why Kranthi felt smart and intelligent when he was around Rahul.

"Okay, enough of small talk, Aditya let's go, you can join today itself if my father is still at the garage." Kranthi pulled Aditya as he walked towards his father's garage.

"Big brother, what about these beer bottles?"

"Toss them away, today I have no mood to play a drunken love failure anymore."

Aditya: "..."

What astonished Aditya more was that Rahul gave away those beer bottles to a beggar like a charity. These two were really a unique pair of pearls in the sea.

After a fifteen minute walk, Aditya watched in a daze as he came back to his favourite place, the hospital for cars. His heart calmed down as he felt at home when he saw an assortment of damaged cars in the parking lot.

Aditya forgot everything as he looked at open bays with vehicles on lifts and ramps, employees were too busy in their work to manage Aditya as he saw them with a glitter in his eyes. They all looked dirty with grease and oil stained clothes wearing dirty boots as they talked loudly so as to be heard over the loud noises.

The deafening sounds of electric drilling as sparks flew in all directions, the over the top sounds of faulty engines roaring, revving, clanking, metal on metal contact sounds, Aditya felt it was the most beautiful music in the world as his blood started boiling. The smell of gasoline and engine oil was the sweetest scent for him at this moment. A small smile appeared on Aditya's face as he looked all around.

He looked at the workshop benches by the wall where all kinds of tools were placed like wrenches, screwdrivers, socket sets, drills.

He looked at the nearest car as he saw a mechanic working, he saw him get into the car as he started the car but the engine won't start, Aditya looked at the engine as he shouted so that mechanic could hear him, "Brother, the oil is leaking."

The mechanic who was dark and sweaty wearing dirty clothes had bright eyes. He stopped the engine and asked Aditya while looking at the engine, "Where?"

"look at the oil pump."

"Right, thanks." he smiled as he took a wrench and dived into the engine as he tightened some bolts.

Aditya did not know that the moment he came into the garage, a middle-aged man was paying attention to him. He was Ramlal, father of Kranthi, unlike Kranthi who had a buxom personality, Ramlal was normal.

He had noticed that his son had brought someone, while he thought that his son would introduce him, he had not expected that the person who his son brought was roaming around the garage like how a kid roams around the gallery of candies and chocolates in a supermarket.

After observing that person for a few minutes, Ramlal could determine that this child was a petrolhead too like his son.

The mechanic who had rectified the oil pump had started the car and it started smoothly. The mechanic smiled at Aditya as he stopped the car. Aditya who was listening to the engine sound slightly frowned as he went near the driver's seat as he asked the mechanic to start again.

Aditya nodded as if his concern was correct as he saw the car seemed to have a slightly higher than normal RPM but it was not too abnormal. He turned and asked the mechanic, "Are you not going to check the RPM problem?"

"Nah, the owner did not care about it when I notified him, so I don't have to worry about it."

Aditya nodded, the problem was really minute for now, when he had worked in the garage, he had seen many people who took the maintenance of their cars too lightly. Aditya had always despised those people as these people did not know that the condition of a car was directly related to the safety of their lives. It was really irresponsible for them to ignore these problems.

"Check the throttle body, sometimes the floor mat gets stuck to the throttle body which might lead to this problem," Aditya told the mechanic. The mechanic looked at this teenager who seemed to be quite knowledgeable about Car repair with interest.

"Can you tell me the other reasons by which a car's rpm during idling can increase?" a mature deep voice asked from Aditya's behind.

Aditya turned to see a middle-aged person who had asked him this question. He had a gentle smile on his face as he looked at Aditya with expectation in his eyes.

Aditya did not immediately answer this question but looked at Kranthi who was signalling with his eyes. Aditya understood that this man was his friend's father and the owner of this garage.

He recovered his composure as he started listing out the reasons-

"there are many factors which could cause such an effect like

-In vehicles that have carburettors, a bad accelerator pump or power circuit may be to blame.

-The Ignition timing might be in need of adjusting.

-If the computerized engine control system is faulty, high idling can be one symptom..."

Aditya listed out more than fifteen defects which could cause the same symptom without taking a break. Even if Aditya did not possess extraordinary memory skills, he was sure that he would still list out at least ten points but with his super memory Aditya easily gave out the best answer without much effort.

Ramlal was very impressed with this kid who could list of reasons which even he was not familiar with and also with such ease. He smiled and said jokingly, "Why don't you do a part-time job at my garage, I will give you 40% of the service fee earned from each car you repair, you could earn some pocket money to buy your girlfriend some gifts."

"Sure sir, I could join right now. If you could take me in and provide lodging, I don't mind working full time." Aditya smiled brightly and took up Ramlal's offer before he could withdraw it.

Ramlal raised his thick eyebrows when he saw that Aditya really took up on the offer and that he wanted to work full time. He looked at Kranthi who nodded vigorously. He turned and said, "Did your parents agree to this."

"That won't be a problem, sir" Aditya replied in a short sentence

Ramlal knew that he shouldn't ask too much, he believed in his foresight and his son as he nodded slowly, "You could stay in the penthouse above this garage from today." he smiled at Aditya as he extended his hand, "Welcome to my garage."

"Thank you, Sir."