Heart and Soul: My neighbour’s ‘love affair’

The neighbour's beloved Beetle. — Ramji Narayanan

In the small town where I live, I am blessed to awaken in the mornings to the sweet sound of birdsong but on one particular day I awoke to what sounded like a battle tank. It did not take me long to discover that the noise came from a Volkswagen Beetle in my neighbour Bala’s driveway.

I like classic cars (who doesn’t?) and curiosity drove me to take a closer look. At that time I had known my neighbour for about five years but had never before seen this car on his property. This Beetle, unfortunately, had definitely seen better days: both its exterior and the noise it had made earlier that morning suggested a history of gross neglect.