Describe one of your favorite moments.
I learned to drive a car when I was 23 years old. I was newly married and the husband did not want to spend time picking me and dropping me off over the weekends when I had to sometimes work. He felt that the smartest thing would be for me to learn to drive and he signed me up for driving classes.
I joined a driving class located a few buildings away from my house. The institute was also a center for training mechanics and had an open car on display to teach them. After a little encouragement from my husband, my instructor decided to walk me through the process of learning engine parts and oil levels and everything else that he felt would be relevant for me as a driver, including how to change a tire. It was a month-long course scheduled every morning during peak hour traffic. I was excited to get independent and looked forward to zipping through the countryside. But I spent almost every day of the first week, sitting in the office learning details of the car engine and preparing for my theory test. I was fried! I never thought learning to drive would be so boring.
The learner’s license was a boring exercise. I went to the Regional Transport Office and sat down to give a paper and pen test. Everything in the Regional Transport Office or RTO requires applicants to stand in queues. Most of the counters are empty as the police officers are out on the streets monitoring and directing traffic, so these queues are excessively long. The test was scheduled for an hour and even though I finished the test in half an hour, I had to spend the rest of the time waiting for the tests to be collected. Once the test was completed, I had to go to the next cubicle and stand for a photograph. This was queue number 2 where a photographer was standing behind a camera directing applicants to move into the perfect light under a canopy of fluorescent lights. Every photo was bleached and every applicant looked like a ghost. A few of the girls standing in front of me were prepared for this eventuality and they quickly whipped out their makeup kits and refreshed their makeup while standing in the queue. I had no idea and between my early wake-up, a few hours at work, and the hour long test in a stuffy room with no AC or fan, I had chewed off most of the makeup I used, aka the lipstick. The excessive heat and humidity had my hair standing on end like a halo around my face. The early wake-up to complete so many things to get to the station in time for the test had highlighted my dark circles. I looked like a raccoon with a halo or like the leader of the ‘exhausted wives club’. With the photograph in hand, I went to the next queue to collect the paper that stated that I had completed the formalities to procure my learner’s license, which was an A4-sized document. Finally, after an entire day, I was done with procuring my Learner’s License. Step one to becoming independent, is complete!
The following week, I finally got to sit in the driver’s seat of a Maruti 800. He pointed out the gears on the stick shift and then showed me the Accelerator, Break, and Clutch pedals in the car. Every practical session lasts an hour and I had spent the first half of my hour-long driving lesson listening to the names of pedals and how to move the gear shift. I was convinced this was an absolute waste of time. And then he made me start the engine and change the gear. That first jolt, when you leave the clutch too early and forget to press the accelerator – stalling the car, really gets the blood pumping. The second time or maybe the third time you get used to the delicate footwork between the pedals and slowly the car inches forward. Ideally, at this point in your learning, you are on a wide road with ample space, I was on one of the oldest roads ever created in the history of my hometown, Dinnur Main Road. Barely 50 feet wide, there is just enough space on the road for two buses to pass each other. This particular road always has traffic and everyone on this road is always in a hurry. This road can give experienced drivers nightmares and is not for the faint of heart. But, that was my first road, on my first day of sitting behind the steering wheel. What a rush! Luckily, I got to drive continuously on this road on that first attempt, without having to slow down or change gears. I finished the class with deep frown lines etched across my forehead.
The next few weeks flew by in a blur of driving through Dinnur main road at various times of the day. I did the early morning slots, the late evening slots with the headlights on, and the peak hour slots with the fancy clutch-break footwork enough number of times to become comfortable with it. The school also had an ambassador in its fleet of cars that they only used to train individuals who wanted to drive taxis. The Ambassador by HM is a car in a class of its own. Its size and girth make it seem like the elephant of cars. I requested and drove the ambassador one day during a peak hour session on Dinnur Main Road, and the roads emptied- as the sea opened for Moses. I loved it. What a feeling! And a few sessions later, it was time for me to give the driving test.
The area for the driving test is near the Regional Transport office and is a wide 4 lane road. When I gave the test, the road had no median and just a yellow line drawn down the middle. It was situated near a bus station and usually had a lot of traffic. Back in the day, there were few AC cars on the road, so hand signals were a big part of driving. You had to roll the window down, fasten your seatbelts, adjust the mirrors, and then drive around the block as directed by the inspector conducting the test. Since I had the option to drive my vehicle for the test, I used the one provided by the driving institute as the queue for the cars provided by the Regional Transport Office was long. This was not a car I had driven, or practiced in, so I had to adjust the seats and check the pedals to make sure I was comfortable. I made all the checks in the car before I started to drive and when the inspector told me to turn right, I put my hand out of the window and waved it, but the angle of the window and my height made it seem like I was flapping my hand, which also served my purpose- signaling that I was intending to make a turn. I felt like a bird and I hoped my flapping hand wouldn’t get chopped off by an over-enthusiastic autorickshaw driver overtaking my car. I said a million prayers, all the shlokas Mum had taught us as kids flowing out of my mouth while I silently prayed to every God that I knew a prayer for. There were a lot of students waiting to take the driving test, so my test was just a drive up the street, then making a U-turn and driving right back to the starting point. I had to wave my hand to signal that I was making the U-turn and I completed my test in record time without any incidents. At this point, my hands were clammy and I was nervous, but I made a good turn and came back to where I started from. I stopped the car and waited until the inspector told me the test was done and removed his seat belt to switch off the engine. What a day! It was 10 am and I had finished my driving test. The inspector said nothing, just got out of the car, and passed the document to my instructor who told me that I had passed the test. Phew! I was done! Finally! All that crazy flapping and I had passed. I felt like an over-exhausted but high-achieving chicken.
The polluted air from the exhausts suddenly felt crisper and fresher on my face. That sense of burden lifting off my shoulders now that I had my license is possibly one of my most favorite memories. The highlight of course was me flapping my hands outside the window pretending to be a bird. To be honest, at that moment, I was a bird and I finally knew how to flap my wings and fly.
My life isn’t perfect but it does have perfect moments.
Just a little more 