LEARNING DRIVING

Each one of us in our life has a dream to achieve the impossible; and I too had a dream…

What was my dream? My dream was to be my own master… not to be dependent on anyone for anything… and I have always had the feeling that I could be so if I wished to be so… so I started preparing a checklist of the factors in my life wherein I was dependent on others… and the most glaring inadequacy that struck me like a lightning was that I was entirely dependent on my caring and considerate husband or the insufferable and intolerable auto driver for my transportation…

I decided to change that with immediate effect and decided to learn to drive a car. I was so caught up with the idea that I often used to fantasize sitting proudly behind the wheel, driving down the ECR, with the stereo blaring.

Did I succeed Learning Driving …?
One fine morning, I set out to the local driving school, and enrolled myself in a 21-day driving course. My instructor turned out to be a short, plump middle-aged woman. She was quite talkative, and we both seemed to get along fine. But little did she know what was in store for her. I was fully ready, and ‘geared-up’. We went down to the driving school’s car and she asked me to get in, and sit behind the wheel. As I got in, I felt a rush of adrenaline – at last, I was one step closer to my dream! My instructor gave me the key, and told me to put it in.

And that was when it all started. The moment I turned the key, the car made a snickering noise, but refused to start. I tried again, but with no avail. And again. And again. And again. – I was about to comment on the condition of the car, when with an exasperated look on her face, my instructor leaned over, and turned the key. The car started instantly.

My instructor went on to show me the accelerator, the brake, and the clutch, and how the gears worked. I was thoroughly fascinated, though, I must agree that I was quite nervous. I couldn’t quite understand how to go about keeping an eye on the road, changing the gears, with one foot on the clutch, one on the brake, and one on the accelerator, all at the same time, especially when I had only two feet! She then asked me to slowly ease off on the clutch, and press down lightly on the accelerator. I don’t know what I did wrong, but the car gave an enormous lurch, and rushed forward with a terrifying roar. Before I’d realized it, I was screaming at the top of my voice, and pulling back on the steering wheel, and rattling the sticks (the wiper and headlamp controls) wildly. I didn’t turn to look at my instructor – I was too scared for my own life. In a few seconds, my instructor had pulled down on the handbrake, and the car came to a screeching halt. End of day one. I’d successfully given myself and my instructor a heart attack, given all my neighbors a reason to come running out of their houses, and something for them to talk about for the next few days.

At the end of day 1, a less brave heart would have decided that being dependent on others was a safer alternative… but not me!!! If I learn my lessons that fast, I would have had a list of degrees behind my name by now…

Day after day, the fiasco continued, but slow and steady progress was definitely achieved… the only other mishap that occurred was that the instructor – the lovely plump lady – suffered a mild heart attack and the doctors advised her to take up a less adventurous occupation…

Day 21 arrived… and after six instructors learning how to teach driving to the most disciplined and devoted student who never gave up after repeated failures, it was decided that I qualified to take up the driving test at the RTO office… maybe the Driving Institute had a score to settle with the RTO office and might have decided that I would be the most aptly suited “Human bomb” to take their revenge… I do not know!!!

The day of my test arrived and it was a bright day… I was doing my best to chase the butterflies from my stomach, but they were simply not interested in going away elsewhere…

I reached the RTO office well in advance and completed the paperwork without any hitch…
Then, to my rude shock, I was asked to drive an old ambassador car that had hand gears instead of the usual floor gears… when I asked god to help me with some means to cope with the gears, brake, accelerator and clutch, little did I realize that he would give me the option of a car with a hand gear!!!

The inspector sat with me in the car and asked me to start the car… I gave him a dazzling smile and did so… lo and behold, the car started immediately… first hurdle crossed… and slowly released the clutch. The car moved forward like smooth as silver on the road… second hurdle crossed… the inspector asked me to take a U-Turn and I remembered to do so, again without a hitch. The trouble started when he asked me to stop the car on one side. I did, and then he asked me to move again. By this time, my confidence levels had soared sky-high and I promptly forgot the correct gear… and instead of moving forward, the vehicle started moving backwards!!!!

A buffalo, an Onyx garbage can, and some two wheelers did the unforgivable by being on my way. Adding fuel to the fire, the shock of going backwards was so high that I pressed the accelerator instead of the brake to stop the vehicle…. And, the inspector was clutching tight to the door of the vehicle for his life… and I don’t know what I did till date, but the vehicle stopped…..

And I was magnanimous enough to tell the inspector that I will take a retest after some time… but maybe those exact words made him decide that he could not go thru the experience once again, and I GOT MY DRIVING LICENCE.

That day, I knew that I had the license to kill, and being the considerate person that I am, I decided that I will not be so egotistic as to be my own master, and felt that the factor of being dependent was in public interest…live and let live… has become my policy… I have not been in the driver seat of any automobile since then…

Do I hear a collected sigh of relief???? Thank you.