Let Us Drive!

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When I was much younger and dreamed of the woman I would be someday, I always saw myself driving my own car. To think of it now, I really don't know how I pictured that dream back then; I grew up in an era when not many women even cared to be behind the wheel. Anyway, that's what I pictured; and that is how I commute today.

Today, we are in an era where almost all girls take driving classes. It has become almost as staple as it used to be to take typewriting classes in the past – you graduate or post graduate, learn driving either after working hours or while trying for a job. It is not alien to see women driving nowadays – not even on highways. Yet again, the ‘learned-driving-have-a-license’ to ‘yes-I-drive’ ratio is quite low.

Some say they do not want to because it can be a cause for husbands to shy away from their part of household help. Some say they just can't, even though time and again driving instructors have assured them that they are driving just fine. I even have a friend whose last-so-far driving instructor started dozing in the passenger seat hoping at least that would be assurance enough for her. There are others who admit it to be a combination of both.

This post comes to all of you gals and pals who have several demons in their heads keeping you away from getting behind those wheels. It's not that any of us who do, never battled demons, you know?

It took 4 years for my driver's license to graduate from an address proof to what it was actually meant to be! When we decided to buy a car, I took a crash course only to find the instructor thoroughly disappointing and annoyingly nosy. I switched to taking weekend classes with a cousin, who was an awesomely fearless instructor. However, weekend classes proved to be too less for me. So, my brother offered to come down to give me full-time classes for a fortnight. I drove, with him beside me, to office and back. In my final appraisal, he said that I had learnt to connect the dots. Basically, if I got out of my gate, I would reach the destination – the whens couldn't really be answered then.

The Monday after the weekend my brother left, I was left with a debating head. One side of my brain prompted how lazy I was to take the bus or an auto anymore. It reminded me how much at ease it would be if I braved to drive down. Then there was this other voice screaming out in paranoid, playing a slideshow of demons – gear-shift, half clutch, parking, etc. - which got my heart to pump extra blood into my veins.

The first step I took was called up my husband and declared that I am taking the car – alone. 

My head was still debating though; it was a trial to cheat it or convince it, I guess. Throughout the whole process of getting ready to work, I kept telling myself that I would forget the car key before I locked my front door and would be lazy to get back in to get it. Fortunately or unfortunately, that never happened. And so, with a pounding heart and a head full of demons I chose to drive alone. The traffic on the street I lived on back then consisted of everything from bicycles to bullock carts. Owing to the limitations of the expert level I was at that time, there was no way I could turn back once I hit the road. So, in a way, I was compelled to drive all the way till office – poor me.

So, here goes a list of crazy things I did on the road:

• Answering my brother's question, "is that fine? Can you see now?" as he helped adjust my rear-view mirror with a counter-question "What exactly am I supposed to see?" - yea, I was that dumb!
• Honking at a poor old man on a bicycle, on an empty and wide 2-lane road, when all I had to do was change lanes and move on
•  Shifting gears from 3-1 (3 being the highest I would ever switch to in those days) because I sensed some huge vehicle coming by; I gave way to a truck and shifting gears from 2-1 in the next couple of seconds; this time to give way to an aircraft, which flew over me
• Flying over road bumps, which if spotted, would have earned me a role in the Fast & Furious or at least one of the Dhoom series
• Lifting my right leg to give way to the car overtaking mine
• Praying hard for every place in town to be blessed with valet parking
• Calculating if it was worthwhile hiring a driver just to park my car
• Driving in the rain on 1^st gear alone to avoid skidding

The list can go on and on… But, I realized that driving, just like any other skill, just follows the practice makes perfect policy. The sooner you realize that and the lesser you think of adversities, which may or may not befall you, the better. Just do it!

I'll stop with one advice a dear friend once gave me, which made sense and went a long way for me. When you are in your car – think Transformers! Don’t alienate your car and think of it as its gears, its rear view mirror, its steering, etc. You need to feel your car and for that you need to get into a joint partnership with the same. So imagine all the ‘its’, mentioned above, to be your limbs. In turn, you get to be the brain and the eyes of your vehicle. The only way you can slow down or pace up your automobile avatar is by shifting gears – that’s all. Then, do whatever you do when you walk or run. Try it, to believe it.

Happy Driving!

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