“Have you ever used GPS in your car before?” asked the
ever smiling young man at the car rental kiosk.
While the lord and master hummed and hawed, I, very
confidently said, “we’ll learn”.
All of us in the family have used the GPS at one time or
the other on our phones. I was sure we would work it out. Confidently we strode
out and began our road trip.
The GPS on the phone is one thing and on the car is
another, we soon found out! The car does not have a keypad to type in the destination;
it has to be done one by one. It has a menu which is confusing and every time
you make a mistake you start all over again!
Our first destination was the zoo and the kind helper at
the kiosk came and taught us how to feed in the information and soon we were on
the move.
Well! We reached some place but the zoo was nowhere in
sight, helplessly we looked at the family IT guy, the TT*! She didn't disappoint us. Out zipped her phone and we were instructed how to reach the car
park of the zoo. Turned out that the fellow had fed in the area, not the exact
location of the zoo! - First lesson learned.
Soon TT got the hang of the car GPS and she was
officially nominated to handle it. She had the patience and knack of managing it.
Of course she threw a tantrum anytime we interfered during the process but on
the whole it was a convenient method. The young adult of the family tried her
hand but was too bored to do it over and over again. We both, though not
exactly technically challenged were happy to hand over the reins to the
youngest in the family.
“Please move over to the left after hundred meters”,
said Siri (We christened the GPS voice as Siri as that is only name we know
from our Apple products!) The accent was perfect for our Indian ears and she
was a big help especially on our drives on the Autobahn. It was so simple to
take the exit as she would warn us at least a kilometer in advance. If you took
a wrong exit she would help you reroute and find your way back!
She took us to our hotels with precision and her predicted
time was perfect. We were warned in advance about possible delays on the way
because of traffic congestion or repair work on the road. She really was our
guardian angel on the road.
But what happens when we were not in the car? This
happened quite often as we were walking the rest of the time; looking at
churches, castles or just browsing. As our stomachs grumbled at the lack of
nutrition where would we find our restaurant of choice? This is when our TT
came to the rescue with her Siri. Her ever present phone would be asked in a
pseudo American accent where the nearest Indian restaurant was and we would be
given a few choices in the vicinity! Not only that we would also be given
ratings of each of the restaurants. Our decisions were based on how hungry we
were (the closest one maybe 0.8 km) and if we could hold on, the 1 km one, if
it had better ratings. Though we mostly existed on sandwiches, pizzas and other
Italian food we had regular cravings for Indian and Chinese food. Our dinners
were when we would search for these restaurants! In Germany we have been to
Agra, Jaipur and the Himalaya!
It was windy and cold when we checked into our hotel in
Heidelberg. There were plenty of Mac Donald’s, Burger kings and Pizza joints
close to the hotel but after a long drive and an ineffectual lunch we wanted
Indian food. The aid of TT was enlisted and she swung into action! We followed
her wherever she went, keeping her in view as she strode confidently with her
phone in hand. We lagged a bit as we were not quick enough to cross the road at
the right time!
The restaurant was supposed to be 0.8 km and we had been
walking for at least 15 minutes when TT realized that her GPS was behaving
funnily and she warned us. I was tired and hungry and immediately voted that we
turn back and eat the ubiquitous Pizza or Zuppa whatever was available. But TT
was not to be shaken and she found some other means and led us to Agra where we
had a great Indian Dinner.
During the trip we discovered that our Car Siri was good
but our human Siri was even better as she would take into account our human
eccentricities! But the Car Siri never threw a fit; but what’s life without a
bit of discord?
Thank humans for the GPS and thank God for our TT!
PS: An advice for Indians on the run – it’s best to
avoid the Chinese restaurants in Europe- they do not cater to our palate!
*TT- terrible
teenager
