Driving Myself Crazy

       

It's been close to two years since my move back to Mumbai from the US and that's how long it's also been since I got behind the wheel. I never really missed driving here because this is one city where you are rarely stuck for public transportation, that is if you are ready to push through the crowd. Needless to say, there is not much to be desired from the driving conditions here. Regardless, I decided to get back to my driving days and joined a driving school last week.
And so the adventure has begun. First the visit to the R.T.O which was functioning with an amazing sense of organized chaos. Looking at the sheer volume of the applicants I knew I will have a serious competition to deal with on the road. However, that was the day I realized how lucky I am to be a woman. There actually was a dedicated line for 'ladies' and believe it or not, I was done putting in my application in 10 minutes. Then there was the journey towards the photo session which involved elbowing, pushing and shoving through the general line to go to the 'ladies' line and after all the adventure we were told to look into a wobbly webcam and smile! I hope I would never have to show my driver's license to anyone.
That out of the way, I begin my training. Day one, a little nervous but I tell myself, relax how bad could it be? Just learn to handle the clutch and it will be fine. Yes, I have only driven automatic transmission cars, in super driving conditions that actually make you sleep behind the wheel, yet, I can do this. So, I start the car after learning the gear system and making sure my left leg, which during my auto-shift driving days was only used for tapping to the rhythm of the music playing in the car, was flooring the clutch. What happened next can be described as one of those Nintendo games which kids play trying to avoid any and every obstacle while moving forward in a desperate attempt to reach home!
Day two and day three got easier and am happy to say that after a lot of screaming from the instructor to "let go of the clutch" I am finally getting it! Of course in the true spirit of a Mumbai driver, I am also learning the knack of criticizing the "painful pedestrians" who "are always in the way", almost forgetting that occasionally I am a pedestrian myself. It's amazing how perspectives change the moment we are on the other side!
I still have 16 sessions to go and once on the roads, I will try my best not to drive you crazy and that's a promise.