The Karmic Tale- 2008

Posted originally as a note on Facebook- 20th Oct 2008


Tuesday the 19^th of October 2008, started off like it was going to be like any other Tuesday. I went to teach the kids at SNLC (Special Needs Learning Centre). 

Classes went smoothly!

After class around 11am, I went to Carrefour at MidValley to purchase items for Brian Lariche’s last collection for 2008. 

My friend Brian gets his friends to buy food and/or household items and he distributes it to various homes and institutions in the Klang Valley about 4 times a year. 

A very noble cause which I contributed to whenever I could! 

That too went quite smoothly. At about 12.35 pm, with 300 sardine tins and 80 oil containers (not true figures but it does make a good read), I went down to the Gardens car park which is where I usually park because the one at Mid Valley is very chaotic. 

I always thought the Garden’s car park to have the BEST layout compared to other shopping malls because I have never had problems locating my car. 

In fact, I was just telling this to my friends Manon and Sharmini when we went to catch the movie 'Journey to the center of the earth' at MidValley the week before.

This time though, I couldn’t remember where I had parked, but it did not cause me any major concern.…. I was CERTAIN it was the purple pillared area and there was an 'a' after the number.

I thought it would just take a couple of minutes to locate it, so OFF I went, shopping cart in tow down every purple pillar area. Half an hour passes and my clothes are sticking to my skin from being in an underground car park with no ventilation, with my adrenalin on overdrive and my anxiety levels starting to rise. 

I sighed with great relief when I bumped into a security guard. My savior! 

When he started communicating with me in his command of ‘Urdu Engrissh’ and sign language, I knew that this was not going to be the case. 

He was ‘articulate’ with his hands, yes, but it was pointing in all directions and I envisioned myself going on a 'Journey to the center of the Earth' 

Since I had recently graduated in sign language and ‘Urdu Engrissh’. I understood him perfectly!

He was not going to be of any help and I had to personally go down to get help from the security desk located one level down on P2.

So OFF I went with my trolley down these really steep walkalators which had no grip for trolleys.

There I was running down with my heavily laden trolley, almost crashing into the desk of the security guard in charge.

The security guard at the desk was a very nice chap and after I told him my predicament, he asked me for my car number and the model.

I told him it was a Silver Kembara, license plate WFM4702. 

He relayed this message to an elderly security guard standing close by who seemed quite pissed off because it was nearly his break time. Now he would have to do double duty. However, they both took pity on this ‘elderly’ lady standing before them. 

I guess they assumed that because of my ‘white-tish’ hair (premature mind you!). 

Very soon the elderly gentleman, who was definitely older than me, took off on his motorbike looking for the car on P1. 

He reports back 45 minutes later saying he found a lot of Kembaras but not mine.

By this time I was starving and decided to open one of the HUP SENG cream crackers packets I had bought (they really are the BEST because they taste so buttery and light) and offered some to En. Zain as well. 

Thought it was only polite to make small talk; asked his name and about his job since he was trying to help me find my car. 

At this juncture, he felt compelled to tell me his whole working life story (see what 3 biscuits will get you) about how the guards here are underpaid, overworked, and understaffed. That there were a lot of folks who found themselves in the same predicament as me, numbers were worse on weekends. 

As if not to make a liar out of Zain, a young Chinese boy walks up to the counter and says he can’t remember where he parked his car!!

Zain gave him a ticking off,  telling him that he was ‘young’ enough to remember where he parked his car. He then relayed the car number of the young man via a walkie-talkie with poor reception to the same elderly gentleman out there in P1 looking for my car. 

 After getting energized with five HUP SENG cream crackers, I left my ‘overflowing with goods’ trolley at the desk and went searching for the car myself…once again walking down every purple pillar area, this time pressing on the alarm button, hoping to set off the car alarm.

I kept looking for the car in 15 min intervals, always reporting back to Zain to get the latest update from Pak Cik (elderly uncle). 

About one and a half hours later Zain decides to bring in more troops since there wasn’t much progress with the one elderly guy on a motorbike out there in P1, now looking for TWO cars! Three young security guards and one middle-aged one were roped in and they take off in their respective vehicles looking for my Silver Kembara.

Two hours go by, and by this time the butter I bought is melting and coating the plastic bag it is in. I go off once again walking the purple pillars of the car park when I noticed that there was also an orange pillared area next to it. 

I SWORE (and remember this if nothing else- I have a very good memory), this was NOT where I parked the car, but thought “what the heck….will go that way and see if the car decided to re-park itself”. 

Being a die-hard fan of the TV programme “My Mother the Car” (for those of you reading this who are born in the 70’s and later, you have missed an all-time classic sitcom) and all the Disney “Herbie” movies, I actually know that cars have a mind of their own.

Lo and behold! THERE was my Kembara in the orange area of the car park –pillar #30a (see! I remembered the ‘a’ bit)! 

This is not the end of the karmic tale!

I got into the Kembara feeling stupid but happy.

I was now ready to go get my things from the security desk at P2. 

However, I kept going around and around and around in circles because NOW, I couldn’t find my way back since I had to drive to P2. 

When I was walking, I found it easily enough, but driving was another story altogether.

I was getting very frustrated when I suddenly saw the elderly gentleman (remember him riding around in his bike scrutinizing all the car numbers looking for WFM4702?) 

I called out to him “Tuan! Tuan! Tuan!” 

He stopped his bike and had the most incredulous look on his face when he saw me.
He kept mumbling something over and over again. 

I got out of the car and close enough to hear him say “Mem! you bagi saya salah nombor kereta” - for those whose Malay is not as fluent as mine, that means – “Madam, you are a Shit Head! I have been going around and around in this car park for the last 3 hours, looking for a non-existent car!”

I said “Apa? Salah nombor?”  

Once again for those whose Malay is not as fluent as mine, that means- “What the hell are you talking about?”

I turn around to see what he's going on about and look at my car; WNY1762.

It suddenly hit me that I had given the guards my 11-year-old van’s number…WFM4702!!!!!
Now, in reflection, I believe that it was my trusted 11-year-old van’s way of telling me that I was neglecting it. 

I swear I am going to pick it up from Cinzia’s in-law’s place next week and start using it again.

I finally got directions to P2 from the elderly gentleman and 5 minutes later, I find the security desk. 

I get my 250 tins of condensed milk, 750 packets of Milo, 800 tins of sardines, 500 packets of powdered milk, and my one opened pack of HUP SENG biscuits all loaded into the car, making sure the 'liquified' butter did not get on the seats.

I sheepishly told the guards that this Silver Kembara WNY1762 belonged to my sister claiming that I had forgotten I was driving her car, and in my panicky state, I had given the number plate of my van.

They, I believe, thought I was senile!

I paid for the parking ticket, cursing the whole time that I had to now pay RM2 instead of RM1 since I had been there for four hours. The rate at Gardens is RM1 for the first three hours!

When I got to the exit point, I couldn't find the ticket! 

I’m rummaging through my bag; meanwhile a zillion million cars are honking behind me (come on!- it does make a good read) so I reverse the car and park at the side and start taking everything out of the purse, kitchen sink being the hardest to get out, but yet, I couldn’t find it.

10 minutes later and with lots of swear words muttered, with RM50 in hand to pay for the ‘lost’ ticket, I start the car.

Guess what! THERE it is sitting on the dashboard staring me in the face and saying “You put me here silly so that you would find me EASILY when you had to leave!”

Being Indian and believing that I was under a curse of sorts, I immediately went to the nearest Ganesha temple in Bangsar and broke some coconuts! (okay since you are dying to know- a thousand million of them!)
After this, everything went smoothly- I dropped the items for the charity homes at Brian’s place, (you’re lucky no more counting of things), got home, and crashed out for 3 hours!

The moral of the story is – actually, there is no moral…..just,
NEVER neglect your first and trusted car even though you now own two cars!
NEVER dye your hair black cos white hair comes in handy!

Next time around I am going to take a picture of where I am parked with my NOKIA 6102 or is it a 6210 phone (?)!

Oh! by the way, I am sure all of you reading this till now would have figured this out; if I hadn’t gone out looking for my car and had waited for the guards to find it, I would have had to be at Mid Valley car park till 10pm waiting for all other cars to leave. 

Mine would have been the ‘LAST CAR STANDING!!’ –makes a good movie title, don’t you think?

I wonder if they ever found that young Chinese boy's car!

NB: to my friends on Facebook cos nobody else will understand it:  I believe there are 568 or is it 865, no… it's 782 of you out there, right?

“THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for being my friend and for all the karmas, sea creatures, plants for my green patch, playing, cuddling, petting Shadow and giving bones to Fei Chai, all the growing plants, hatching eggs, ‘buying’ me as a pet, ‘selling’ me as a pet, thinking that I am a HOTTIE, throwing Britney/beer/Obama at me, hugging me, sending me sunshine, butterflies, animals and suggesting countless other applications for me to add. Although in the past I have ignored some of your requests, please know that from now on I WILL accept ALL your ‘gifts’ cos I know it is YOUR way of letting me know that YOU ARE THINKING OF ME! 

God Bless Malaysia and the World!