ON THE GAS

The Tata Altroz iCNG wants to right some CNG-car wrongs. Does it succeed?

- Pablo Chaterji

We’ve all been there, haven’t we? You’re packed and ready for your (insert purpose of trip here), you’ve booked a taxi using (insert app of choice) and you’re staring obsessively at your phone screen, tracking the moving car icon on the map and fidgeting away the minutes until your driver arrives (if you’re in Bengaluru this scenario doesn’t apply to you, because you’ll never find a cab ha ha). Once they’ve called and messaged about a dozen times, you go downstairs with all your luggage and make straight for the car’s boot, which you open… to find a CNG tank leaving room for little more than a handkerchief.

The driver points to the rooftop luggage carrier, ignoring the fact that a steady rain is falling. You think of a few choice words, don’t say them and then stuff your luggage into the car’s cabin, where you spend the next hour sitting at an awkward angle. Extra points if you have a travelling companion, because then you both have to pretend you’re having a smooth ride to the airport in a sardine can, when in actual fact you’d rather just cancel (insert trip purpose again).