In this edition of the Blog, I am going to tell you about how I am learning to drive.
I grew up believing that I would die either by getting bit by a snake (just typing the word snake gives me heebie-jeebies) or by meeting with an accident while driving. Driving is a legit fear for thousands of people in the country and I often find solace in knowing there are celebrities and other regular folks who don’t drive. It was only a few months back that I learned how to drive a geared motorbike.
Realizing that I cannot run away from my responsibility of ferrying my wife upon her command, I grudgingly decided to learn car driving. I had a driving license for a four-wheeler that I got a few years back, which, in a country like ours is no big deal, but driving a car without getting a dent or running over someone is a just another talent because as that saying of a famous tyre company goes, “the streets are filled with idiots”. After much discussion, we decided to go for a Wagon R automatic, which meant I didn’t have to worry about changing gears while driving and could focus on hurling expletives at pedestrians and drivers instead.
The initial few days were me getting used to the car’s apparatus: the steering wheel, the brake, and the accelerator. How much foot on the pedal is too much, how much do I need to steer to prevent hitting a cow (because killing a cow can get you lynched), how much brake is to be applied when a pedestrian suddenly jumps in between, that kind of stuff. The first few days of car driving were like steering the Titanic, except that Titanic had the whole sea to itself and still sank.
While reversing is a skill that I haven’t mastered yet and can make do only with assistance, I have grown in road confidence. I drive cautiously, with my worst fear being that I don’t do a Salman Khan’s driver with a pedestrian or other vehicle. From being particular about having my father seated in the passenger seat, I have gone on to driving solo but only on familiar roads.
During my first time driving without any guidance, I was patting myself on the back for having navigated the roads calmly and cautiously. I often needed assistance to park the car inside the gates, but as I had had an incident-free ride from home and back, I felt parking would be a piece of cake as I felt I was used to it by now. But all it took was a tiny error in judgment and the next thing I heard was the side of the car grinding against the gates. Panicking and not knowing what to do, I made things worse by accelerating forward, and before I knew it the car had a nice big scratch.
In trying to drive a car without anybody giving me instructions, I learned to be a little confident and felt like a grown-up, much like the first time I drove a bicycle without anyone holding on to the backseat. Sure I ended up giving a neat little scratch to my car, but in the end, all that matters is that I keep driving.
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