Driving my passion

Bangalore.

It is around 7:30 PM in the evening, and after driving for almost 1.5 hours from my office,  I am on a slightly steep T-junction road in BTM. Since this junction neither has a traffic control signal nor a cop, it is prone to traffic jams due to haphazard movement of vehicles. Like on most other days, even today, I am stuck in a jam here while I am waiting to take a right turn and head in the direction of the my kiddo's day care. And just when I am thinking on how to avoid feeling annoyed at the delay, my mobile rings - I get a call from a friend. I am happy to get diverted from the traffic chaos, and begin talking to her.  At the same time, I am effortlessly controlling my car from sliding backwards on the slope. That's when it suddenly dawns upon me that last year, around the same time, I was such a fearful driver. Leave alone driving in the night, and simultaneously speaking on mobile, I would be scared to take the car out even in the broad daylight. Immediately, I find myself smiling; pleasantly amused at my transition from a nervous to a confident driver, driving comfortably on Bangalore roads, which is infamous for its traffic. And before anyone starts envying me for my mastery at this art of driving, let me tell you that it wasn't easy to get here.

Cars always fascinated me, even as a kid I always wanted to learn driving and couldn't wait to turn 18. However, it was only after I started working that I made an attempt at car driving. Year 2008 - I was behind the wheel for the very first time; that was on the first day of my learning course. On that morning, I and my husband were waiting for the car and the instructor to arrive. The instructor arrived at the scheduled time in a Santro. Soon after exchanging the initial courtesies, he asked me to sit in the driver's seat while he sat in the adjacent seat which thankfully had additional controls. Excitedly I seated myself in the driver's seat, while my husband sat down in the back seat. The instructor then familiarized me with various controls like the steering, the clutch, the gears, the accelerator, the brake and the handbrake. He told me that before turning on the engine, it is extremely important to adjust the seat position, mirrors and to fasten the seat belt; I followed his instructions obediently. I turned on the engine, he kept all other controls to himself , I was allowed only to maneuver the steering. It felt as though I was really driving, while in reality I wasn't doing much ;-) He said that we were driving to a nearby deserted place.

Once we reached that deserted place, he instructed me on 'how to start the car'. It sounded all simple as he said "firstly, ensure that the car is in neutral, start the engine, press the clutch pedal and put the car into first gear, and then, while releasing the clutch pedal as smoothly as possible,  accelerate the car slightly. That's all".  I started the engine, pressed the clutch, shifted the gear but lifted my foot off the clutch at once and boom! the car moved with a jerk and came to a stall. The instructor corrected me, "you left the clutch abruptly, which should be done smoothly and also you did not accelerate the car enough". So the next time I tried, I left the clutch pedal relatively smoother but accelerated the car too much. As a result, the car pelted forward like a bullet, moving very fast. To prevent any disaster from happening, I pressed the brake equally hard, after which the engine came to a sudden stop. The whole circus left me exhausted. This 'how to start the car' exercise went on for few times till I somehow managed to start the car smoothly and shifted to the second gear.

Every single time I struggled to start the car smoothly for the next  few days of the course. We would get started only after 'n' failed attempts. In the meantime, he taught me the usage of indicators, taking turns - left, right and U turn, slowing down the car and shifting to lower gears on humps and bumps etc. Eventually I mastered  the 'how to start the car' lesson too. Just when I had started feeling comfortable to drive in the presence of the instructor, there came another challenging part of car learning - the reverse gear! Reversing the car is one of the most difficult stages in driving. While reversing, one has to gauge distance and obstacles looking through rearview mirrors and cabin mirror. Like many other people, I would turn my head towards rear windshield, hurting my neck and completely forgetting to look forward. Soon, the course came to an end.

While I was still learning many aspects of car driving, due to some compelling reasons, which even I do not remember now ;-), my entire car learning process also came to an indefinite halt along with the course. Though I always wanted to drive, I did not pursue on my passion any further.

Life was moving on and years passed by - juggling between work, family and particularly our daughter, didn't leave me enough time to get back to driving. Whenever someone asked me if I could drive, I wouldn't know what to answer - 'yes' or 'no'; I just wished there was something called 'a half-yes' - however, the fact was that, though I had learnt to drive, I couldn't really drive. But now, car driving didn't remain just a passion, it had become a necessity. I am sure every parent would agree that commuting with a toddler, even in a car, can be exhausting. And whenever my hubby was not around, the commute in autos was turning out much more trouble-some. Many a times, the sheer difficulty in getting from place to place would make me stay put. I had to work it out and I just knew that it was high time I started driving.

Year 2013 - I started off afresh again. I wasn't sure on how much I remembered from my previous learning course. I sat down in the car nervously and turned on the engine. Tying to recollect from my 'how to start the car' lesson, I synchronized the process of clutch release and acceleration; the car shot forward and I laughed in delight. I was driving! It was a great relief that I hadn't forgotten my lessons. However, there was a lot of practice required on-roads. I began practicing in the company of my hubby since I was too scared to drive alone.

During one of such practice sessions, I remember driving on the same BTM T-junction with our little one and hubby. As always, there was a jam and I had to wait for the traffic to clear before I take could take a turn. But to my horror, the car started rolling back slowly, and to top it off, there was another car right behind us, just a few inches away, and behind it many were more vehicles lined up. The road was tightly packed leaving no space for the other s behind me to move anywhere. I felt at a total loss  amidst the persistently honking impatient drivers. Though I knew 'the half-clutch theory',  I couldn't execute the theory well and the car stopped. And even after 2-3 more attempts at starting the car and going forward, the engine continued to stall and the car kept rolling backwards. To handle the situation, hubby dear insisted me to get off from the driver seat and managed the show. By now, my confidence had hit rock bottom. Panicked by the whole episode, our little-one started crying. From then on, every time she found me in the driver's seat, she would start crying aloud, lowering my confidence a bit more. This saga repeated on many more practice trips. The car would get stalled every now and then, in the middle of the road. At times, I would get going after a few attempts while many a times, we would switch seats and just handle the situation. Going by this rate, it made me wonder as to when would I actually be able to drive!

That's when I decided to take the car alone, and start driving all by myself. The first time I took the car out alone, I went to pick my daughter from her school at JP Nagar, which is just 3-4 kms from my home. I had rehearsed every technique that I knew, decided to stay cool and not to panic even if I get stalled anywhere. I started driving with utmost concentration, and to my surprise, all went so well and I reached her school. When she came out and realized that I was going to driver her home, she started crying and was reluctant to sit, but after some amount of persuasion she agreed and sat down quietly. We both came back home without any trouble. Hurray! my first trip was a huge success, I was on cloud nine. From then on, there was no stopping. Though I would be a bit nervous, I began taking the car out daily and soon ventured farther distances successfully. I now commute to work by car and can handle any traffic scenario comfortably.  

It feels all so simple; in-fact, makes me wonder why it took me so long. Anyways, it's better late than never! Now that I have got a hang of it, driving feels so much fun. I just love the fact that I can drive and go out anytime, anywhere, without having to wait for anyone. It makes me feel so independent and empowered! 

At every opportunity, my little one now asks me to take her out ;-)
 

Anybody out there, who is still struggling to drive or if you have given up on driving altogether, just have faith in yourself, it is possible! Pursue it a little harder each day and I can bet that you will be pleasantly surprised at your progress.

 

Happy Driving :-) :-) :-)