Bonnet, What Bonnet... Flat Tyre, Oh No! Where’s the Spare One

Asking her to calm down, Rick tells her to open the bonnet and try to jump start the battery.

“But…what does it look like?” wonders Linda.

Linda is not alone in this predicament that many women face at some point in their lives. It’s easy to visualise a woman with a kitchen knife and spatula, but a woman with a wrench and pliers in hand is a bit hard to imagine.

Being the proud owner of a savvy sports car could give you a ‘high’, but what if a snag punctures your pride bang in the middle of the road, literally?

Car maintenance is often associated with the male gene, according to women in UAE. “It is something that is hard-wired in men. Women need to take that extra bit of initiative to learn about car maintenance. Very few women show or develop an interest in car mechanisms,” says Sasha, who works in Dubai.

With an auto care service offered by automakers, the necessity of understanding what roars under the bonnet is lost on women.

Irina, who is from Russia, leaves that job to the experts. “I have never felt the need to check the functioning of my car. Once I hit 5000km, I leave my car at the service centre.”

Sasha seconds that, but insists that back in London women handle most car repairs on their own. “I have friends who don’t need to rush to the service centre each time their oil indicator or temperature switch comes on. In fact, I know how to change the oil and water in my vehicle, but have stopped doing it in Dubai.”

Haleema, an Arab woman in Dubai believes that women in the Middle East have been raised in a protective environment where they are dependent on a male figure.

“I leave the car maintenance to my husband. It is more of a habit where I am assured that my husband will take care of it. I’ve been to Europe and noticed that women there are independent because that is how they were trained from childhood,” she says.

Bindu, who lives in Sharjah, echoed similar thoughts: “If I were alone I would, perhaps, feel the need to learn this, but I know I can fall back on my husband.”

The rubber that rolls the car is another cause of worry. Stranded in a deserted area with a flat tyre is agonising when you don’t even know where the spare is placed.

“On the way to college, my friend hit a curb and ended up with a flat tyre. Due to our lack of knowledge we don’t even know how to unscrew the spare. Thankfully, a passerby helped us,” recalls Sindhuja.

“Driving institutes must include extensive lessons in tackling car situations,” stressed Sasha.

Muhammed Arif, lecturer at the Emirates Driving Institute in Dubai, said that, in general, women do find it hard to change their flat tyres.

“It requires a lot of effort to unscrew the wheel and then replace it. Sometimes, even men find it difficult,” he points out.

Arif suggests women keep themselves updated with recovery centre contact numbers for use in times of need.

Deira resident Sujatha S. Rajan says she lacks the stamina required for such manual work.

While a majority concede ignorance on the matter, they do understand its importance.

“Women should at least try learning the basics of auto care,” stressed Sujatha whose recent ‘car debacle’ was a lesson learnt the hard way. “My car stopped in the middle of the road and I had no clue about what went wrong. A little knowledge would have saved me the embarrassment.”

“At Emirates Driving Institute, we offer theory lessons on basic car maintenance and provide solutions for probable situations they could face.

For a driver, this knowledge is essential. Regular checks on the oil, water and air pressure can avoid mishaps. In fact, we recently introduced a child safety booklet that is beneficial, especially for mothers,” explains Arif.

However, a few theory lessons do not serve the purpose.

“There are a lot of things that the institute does not teach. We were given just brief road instructions but never solutions to problems, which my husband has now taught me,” points out Haleema.

“Understanding car maintenance is crucial for every vehicle owner, more so for women.

“They shouldn’t find themselves stranded in isolated places,” says Raghunath Nair, Brand Manager at Arabian Automobiles. “We have introduced a car care handbook that explains in detail, with graphic visuals, the mechanisms of cars.”

Raghunath says that with the increased availability of information, more women have begun to show interest in knowing more about the maintenance of cars and about ways to tackle minor problems.

A number of web sites dealing with car care, specifically for women, is testimony of how an awareness is being gerenated among women motorists.

Ren Volpe, a woman who knew nothing about cars, turned her handicap into a useful motivator and authored a handbook titled ‘The Lady Mechanic’s Total Car Care for the Clueless — A Manual for Car Owners’.

The no-nonsense, easy-to-use handbook is meant for those who possess no tools and don’t want to mess up with grease, but need to know the basics of how to deal with car problems.

So, if the perfectly prim Desperate Housewife “Bree” claims to have done it, the wrench can be the new spatula for women, after all.

afshan@khaleejtimes.com