I’m participating in the #LiveLodgycal contest with Renault in association with BlogAdda to get a chance to be a part of the #LiveLodgycal Drive in Goa.

I’m participating in the #LiveLodgycal contest with Renault in association with BlogAdda to get a chance to be a part of the #LiveLodgycal Drive in Goa.

Imagination rules… Imagination scores… and imagination wins every time, without exception. You see, creation is a result of imagination… and so whenever I see a new gadget, device or even a car all I try to see is how well imagination has been used. Is it unusual? Are there elements of the unexpected?

Let me give you an example. When I first saw the Renault Lodgy, I mumbled, ‘A world of possibilities! A world of unexpected and unplanned for possibilities is what I see!’ The exterior seemed special. It seemed eager to tell its own story of being an outcome of unconventional thoughts. As I sat there on a bench looking at this technological prodigy, Specky, my wife, said, ‘What do you mean by possibilities?’

‘Well, for one, I can fold the second and third row bench seats and have unbeatable space there,’ I said. Specky didn’t know that I had read details of the features of this car. I went on to ask her instead, ‘You tell me five things that you would want to carry in this car if we were to go on a long drive.’

Imagination

Specky thought for a while and said, ‘I’d want to go with you and your imagination!’

Women score. Always. I can tell you that I had absolutely no reply to that response. Though let me admit that I too would have wanted to pack in a lot of imagination with me. After all it is good imagination inside a well imagined car that can be a powerful enough combo that could very well be unbeatable. Right? I mean, if my imagination goads me on to go off the road, the car should be imaginative enough to have a reasonably good ground clearance to remain in favour. Or if I imagine I want to take my parents and her parents too, the car should not be dumb enough to protest and say, ‘Enough! I have no more space!’ Come on, an unimaginative car is the last thing I’d want… and so this one with seven full-size seats over three rows is just purrfect and justifies my carrying my imagination in her.

What else?

Loads of music?

Nah! I prefer imagining my own lyrics and my own tunes and the two of us love talking and looking everywhere. Stopping and photographing. Stopping to interact and talk with the locals. Music is the last thing I’d want. But wait… I love books, and reading a book while driving can be a recipe for disaster so I think the next thing I’ll carry with me are loads of audio-books. Long drives and listening to the audio version of a P G Wodehouse novel will surely make even the fingertip control of the MediaNAV multimedia system and its 7-inch touchscreen smile and chuckle with delight! When I mentioned this, Specky agreed. She then had a rather strange query, ‘Imagination, I guess, uses up a lot of energy. Like any creative effort would. To think that imagination will consume no energy is like going a long distance in a car and expecting no fuel consumption.’

I said, ‘Hey! It isn’t fuel consumption that matters. What means more is if fuel efficiency is there or not. And so with imagination, I plan to carry with me my iPad for me draw my doodles and my laptop to write my blog post ideas or complete articles as well.’ I looked at Specky and said, ‘That was a good one.’ Obviously, my bag of gadgets goes with me wherever I go… and this is what allows me to harness my creative urges and remain efficient all the time – just like a good car like the Renault Lodgy with with ErgoDrive and an engine with class-leading power, effortless driving and superior fuel efficiency.

Imagination vs responsibility

Haruki Murakami wrote: ‘In dreams begin responsibility. Turn this on its head and you could say that where there’s no power to imagine, no responsibility can arise.’ Now that I have already said that imagination is going to a part of my baggage, I need to also be responsible enough to protect my body from the harmful rays of the sun. After all, even the Lodgy embraces ‘responsibility’ by giving its buyers features like climate control… but the way I translate all this into what I will carry with is is my bag of protection that will have a good supply of sun-screen lotion with a high SPF, my UV protective sun-shades, and my cap that also coaxes people to save the tiger!

Besides my clothes and other essentials, I will also need to carry with me my smile because let me just say that with a disarming smile comes a solution to any problem. Test a smile during a bout of road-rage and you’ll know what I’m saying. A smile, let me add here, is like the wonderfully smooth rear parking aid of the Renault Lodgy… always there to control and manoeuvre a safe parking sans dents and scratches!

Obviously then, the five things that I will carry with me will help me have the might of a wrestler and the agility of a gymnast… and I think I have chosen well to give the list my own unmistakable touch! I’m so like the Renault Lodgy, ain’t I?

Well, it’s always about imagination, right?

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I’m participating in the #LiveLodgycal contest with Renault in association with BlogAdda to get a chance to be a part of the #LiveLodgycal Drive in Goa.

I’m participating in the #LiveLodgycal contest with Renault in association with BlogAdda to get a chance to be a part of the #LiveLodgycal Drive in Goa.

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I’m participating in the #LiveLodgycal contest with Renault in association with BlogAdda to get a chance to be a part of the #LiveLodgycal Drive in Goa.

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Arvind Passey
12 June 2015