For weeks I have been noticing the erratic behavior of the ‘factory fitted’ CNG cylinder in my car. It is not really a soothing thought to be carrying a fat piece of metal in the boot of your car containing highly inflammable material, but when this piece of metal, dangerous as it is, starts acting funny, the presumed danger of carrying it turns into a real threat. I had to get to the bottom of it, but before I go any further, I would like to make a confession: I am terrible at mathematics; numbers bore the hell out of me. Once, I tried explaining the division principle to my seven-year old, and ended up making a fool of myself. The only fact that matters to me is the bottom line and as long as it is not red, it is kosher with me. That is precisely the reason why I purchased a car with a ‘factory fitted’ CNG. A reliable source told me that for every kilometer that I drive, CNG would save me a Rupee each; that was good enough reason for me to go for a CNG vehicle.

For the first few months, which happened to be the hottest months of the year, the one Rupee saving per kilometer eluded me. I sought counsel and was relieved to hear that the figure provided earlier was evenly spread over twelve months. I was told ‘good things come to those who wait’, ‘come December, check your odometer and then divide it with the amount spent on CNG and viola: One rupee saved for every kilometer you drove’. With such reassurances the cognitive dissonance that has been nagging me for a while instantly disappeared. From that point on, every time I got in and out of my car, I knew exactly how much money I have saved that day. I could hardly wait for year to end; my home minister would be so proud of me!

But then something happened; the numbers went berserk. I found it extremely difficult to keep a tab on my savings. The cost of CNG started fluctuating between Rs. 165 and Rs.200. I tried various pumping stations; changed my timings employing my rudimentary knowledge of physics. I even started paying attention to the numbers on the pump but that hardly helped; some stations pumped in cubic meters while others in kilograms. Establishing a relationship between the two was beyond my capabilities and I was too embarrassed to ask for help. My efforts to find a conversion table on the net were fruitless. Meanwhile the erosion of my CNG saving account continued with each fresh filling. I needed help and soon. And then it struck me like a bolt of lightning: capacity. If I could find out the capacity of the cylinder, I can then figure out how much gas it can take and then multiply the unit price of the gas, cubic meters or kilograms, and I would know exactly how much gas I am paying for and how many kilometers does it lasts for. It was a difficult proposition but definitely not impossible. A little help from a window based software and I would be home free!

But first things first, collection of data, such as capacity of the cylinder, price per kg/cubic meter and then of course the total number of kilometers have to be noted for each filling to arrive at per kilometer cost. It was a challenge but a man has got to do what a man has got to do. The last thing I wanted was to allow the ‘cognitive dissonance’ to crawl back into my sub-conscious; driving under the influence of regret can be lethal. The initial findings were highly discouraging; the Owner’s Manual was of little help, under the capacity head it read ‘Normal Water Capacity Liters’, whatever that meant. I asked my driver to check the cylinder capacity and he came back with ‘Sir jee, 55 kg’. The numbers matched. I tried conversion tables on the net under the ‘volume’ thread, only to hit a dead end. An expert was needed to help end this misery.

I knocked at one door after another and spent many a rupees on making long distance calls on my mobile and it was only after a day’s hard work that I found what I was looking for. A 55 liter cylinder was capable of holding 7 kilograms of gas give or take a few, forget the cubic meters I was told. The going rate of CNG was Rs.25.45 per kilogram at most pumping stations. With a full cylinder at a cost of Rs.175, I could expect to drive my car for about 150 kilometers give and take. Still not a bad deal, I would say. With this newly acquired information in my armory, I set out to see if the calculations work. I carefully emptied the remaining gas in my CNG cylinder by running the engine on idle, switching it to petrol as soon as the engine started choking due to lack of CNG. I could hardly wait to get to the nearest filling station.

Getting CNG from a gas station is really a painful experience, if anything it teaches you how to be patient. There is always a long line of vehicles waiting to be filled up and invariably every other driver either has an Rs.1000 bank note or needs a receipt for the gas. The attendants, more than sufficient in numbers, however, are never in a hurry to get things moving. Cashiers more often than not are the one’s causing most of the delays; their movements are lethargic and their attitude condescending. They know that there is nothing much a driver can do once he gets into the queue, except wait. After a long and dreadful wait, it was ‘mera number’. I waited patiently as the attendant filled the gas while ordering his lunch at the same time. I was anxious to see if the calculation made by an expert really works. And believe you me it worked! The magic number on the pump was Rs. 178 (I remembered the give and take). I was a happy bunny.

To validate the results of the first filling, I made it a point to go to a different station for the next filling. That particular filling station happened to be managed by ‘faujis’. The second filling was for Rs. 168, as there was some gas still left in the cylinder. I wanted to see if the calculations hold for non-fauji CNG stations, so for third filling, I made it a point to stop for re-fuelling at a ‘private’ station as soon the red lamp came alive on the CNG fuel indicator. The results were even better, Rs. 159. At the end of three fillings, I figured that on average it should not cost me more than Rs.165 per filling on any given day under any atmospheric conditions at a ‘fauji’ or ‘non-fauji’ pump. I was ecstatic.

However, like they say, all good things must come to an end, my newly acquired ‘khushi’ (happiness) lasted for a week. It was after a short trip to Islamabad and back that I realized how short-lived, ‘chothi chothi khusian’ can be? Motorway is my favorite route to Islamabad; yes it is boring, has its own perils, such as stray animals crossing the road, the speeding tickets and of course the stupendous prices that one has to pay for a cup of coffee or a bottle of water at the pit stops on the way, but it is still relatively safe compared to G.T. Road and as economical with the opening of CNG stations at Sukheke and Bhera interchanges.

Ever since I figured out the complexities of CNG operations, I started keeping a logbook for ready reference in case I had to recommend a CNG vehicle to an aspiring owner. The logbook at the end of my trip to Islamabad and back read as follows:

• First filling: Sukheke. Paid Rs. 179 for CNG. (well within average)
• Second filling: Bhera. Paid Rs. 229 for CNG. (Wait a minute there was something wrong. The gauge on the pump displayed 9 kilograms of gas being pumped into my cylinder. Atmospheric pressure maybe!)
• Third filling: Bhera. Paid Rs. 178 for gas. (Well within limits)
• Fourth filling: Sukheke. Paid Rs. 192 for gas, with the green light still on. (Meter reading 8 kg. Note: Surely there is something wrong with my cylinder after all if the engine acts differently when running at 120 km/h, surely the cylinder can alter its behavior according to the terrain. After all gasses behave differently under different atmospheric pressures, remembered that much from my physics class)

The following weekend I had to go back to Islamabad again. Once again I followed the similar routine of getting gas at the two interchanges. Sukheke was no different, and neither was Bhera, but what I witnessed at Bhera made me realize that it was not my cylinder that was misbehaving, it was the CNG operators that were not behaving at all. As I was just about to leave Bhera, I noticed a scuffle between the supervisor of the gas station and three or four young men just a few yards away from the pumping station. The young men, I was told were refusing to pay for the ‘extra’ gas that the filling station people have somehow managed to pump into their CNG cylinder. The young men were urging the supervisor to call the pump owner and explain it to them that how his machine can defy the laws of physics. I wanted to join the young men, but then youth was not on my side and neither was time. I had to be in the office by 9 a.m. I consoled myself that there was no point in fretting over a mere Rs.25, considering that I would still be saving a lot at the end of the year. A man of my age and economic compulsions cannot afford to be principled over such a petty matter, can he?