1. Have an Interesting Snippet to Share : Click Here
    Dismiss Notice

My tryst with the steering wheel - Part1

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by vidyajithesh, Jan 13, 2013.

  1. vidyajithesh

    vidyajithesh Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    650
    Likes Received:
    122
    Trophy Points:
    108
    Gender:
    Female
    As a teenager(before 18) I used to love driving the car when our driver used to come home to teach my dad to drive and he used to say “Saab, baby ko bhi sikha doon, achha chala leti hai”(mind you we were in Patna those days)..But my mom used to outrightly refuse. “Na, abhi who bahut choti hai..End of part one

    Then, till I turned 21 I never thought about driving, but somehow at that time once again the desire to drive resurfaced. My dad was a sport and he said “why not, you learn two-wheeler and four-wheeler driving parallelly”. So off I went with a skilled driving teacher on my first formal driving session. She said “lets first complete the two-wheeler sessions, then we will go to four-wheeler driving”. Anything was fine with me :). I got my learner’s license after preparing hard for one whole night(I wouldn’t have studied like that even for my 10th std board exams :rotfl). Then days before my DL test, I was driving on the road(with my instructor watching) when a lorry came from the wrong side,I panicked, lost control and the Scooty directly went and hit a huge Transformer on the road side with sparks flying,though not very huge, not from the transformer, but the scooty in all directions. I bruised myself (not just physically but mentally also). I dropped off from the Driving Classes!!!(I was sooo scared)…End of part two

    Then when I got my first salary at 23,I told my dad, “I am going to take up Driving lessons, probably since its my hard earned money, I will be more careful this time”(I was working in Pune, and dad was in Kerala, so he had very little say in the matter anyways).Hence my second attempt at driving began. On the first day of the driving class, I got my learners license(no exam wow!!!)..the classes were at 6AM in the morning. All of us know how difficult it is for a girl at 23 to wake up soooooooo early and that too to attend a driving session, wherein the instructor used to reprimand her for the slightest of mistakes in Marathi :hide:..So within 6-7 days, I called it a day and decided to learn driving in Kerala(my hometown :thumbsup)..End of part three

    Somehow, time just flew after that. I got married the very next year. Had kids and before I realized, I was 30. I was at my husband’s home(in kerala) for the delivery of my second daughter and suddenly the bulb flashed again. I told my MIL “Amma don’t you think it would be better, if I learnt how to drive now, so that I can come home from office during lunch time to watch over the kid”. She was very supportive. She said, “Why not?, go ahead, I will take care of the baby while you are at it”. Hubby dearest had a laugh of his lifetime hearing our decision, he said, go ahead, two lost attempts, bound to have one more(in malayalam, we have a saying, everything happens in sets of 3 :p). Now I was even more determined to prove him wrong. I registered at the nearby driving school and they asked me to appear for Learners test the very next day. I told them “I wont get enough time to prepare” and I still remember the smirks on their faces :bonk. I attended the test and this time it was online with Multiple Choice questions and guess what, I PASSED. From the very next day, started the third Driving session of my life. The driving classes were awesome with the ALTO stuffed with 5 ladies(apart from the teacher). We would chatter non-stop and occasionally stop at juice parlours, have lunch together and what not during our driving sessions, and I had the mighty privilege of being the only IT professional around, all others being housewives so the gossip sessions were all the more interesting and innocent :)..After around 17 classes, my test was scheduled(that’s all the time we got, a month was over after LL).
    To get the DL we had a Ground test and Road test.(Mind you!, the test is not as complicated as in Bangalore).

    In the field test, one was supposed to make a perfect ”H” with the car through the barristers built at the ground(lots of forward and reversing required here :drowning..phew!!!). If your vehicle touched any of the poles, you failed instantly. So I drew an “H” on paper and kept practicing all night as to how my car had to be manoeuvred(no points for guessing hubby was in fits of laughter each time he saw the paper).

    In the Road test, you had to drive on the highway with the RTO by your side and change all the 4 gears. Thats it. My problem was many a times when I shifted gears from 2nd to 3rd, I ended up putting 1st. All the gossip sessions at the class had taken its toll on me I guess. Nonetheless, I was all set.

    After about 1 hour of sweating and mildly bribing all known gods, I got the result…PASS.(the DL would be sent to my residential address)..

    One cant imagine the heights of excitement I attained at that time..and a perennial grin stayed fixed to my face all day :lol:

    Little did I know that my ordeal did not end there, infact it had just started…

    :cheers
    To be continued….
     
    6 people like this.
    Loading...

  2. Anandchitra

    Anandchitra IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    6,617
    Likes Received:
    2,620
    Trophy Points:
    345
    Gender:
    Female
    Absolutely love this blog of yours and all the cute parts in which you have narrated. :thumbsup
    My only sadness is that you have said its going to be continued and now I have to wait! (just kidding):)
    Dont mind waiting at all... super narration and can emphatize with you.. the getting up early part that is!

    I can understand how it took so much time.. it happens.. infact I gave up the first time because I had to get up at 6.am to learn! that was doomed from the start!:)
    Next I too couldnt get the hang of shifiting gears... my happiness knew no bounds when I saw the automated cars in U.S.
    However I want to learn motorbike and know i will be the best driver when i drive.. haha:hiya
    I enjoyed reading your hubby having the laugh of a life time and the good time you ladies had learning.. really too good.. now kindly please continue soon..:)
     
    2 people like this.
  3. vidyajithesh

    vidyajithesh Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    650
    Likes Received:
    122
    Trophy Points:
    108
    Gender:
    Female
    Thanks Anandchitra for your nice words...I was wating with bated breath on how fellow ILs would receive this write up.. Part 2(the final one) to come soon :)...hey, one more thing, how does one write a blog here..does the thread count as a blog? sorry am an amateur here :)
     
    1 person likes this.
  4. Anandchitra

    Anandchitra IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    6,617
    Likes Received:
    2,620
    Trophy Points:
    345
    Gender:
    Female
    VidyaJithesh
    You write so well :thumbsup I really mean it I enjoyed your writing a lottttt
    You have written under the Snippets forum so this is a thread (sorry i mentioned it as blog)
    There is a seperate blog section. I think if you ask Mindian she might be able to help you get started with blogs. There might even be a blog faq let me search and get you the link.

    Please do continue to write dear. Eagerly waiting for the part2 :)
     
  5. Anandchitra

    Anandchitra IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    6,617
    Likes Received:
    2,620
    Trophy Points:
    345
    Gender:
    Female
    Please check this link for blog

    http://www.indusladies.com/forums/il-bloggers-den/

     
  6. vidyajithesh

    vidyajithesh Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    650
    Likes Received:
    122
    Trophy Points:
    108
    Gender:
    Female
    hey thanx again anandchitra..you made my day with all those sweet words..wait till I show hubby this..he still gives me a mischeivous smile whenever I talk of my driving skills :)
     
    2 people like this.
  7. iyerviji

    iyerviji Finest Post Winner

    Messages:
    34,587
    Likes Received:
    28,749
    Trophy Points:
    640
    Gender:
    Female
    Vidhya dear welcome to snippets, your first snippet itself is very good. You have narrated very well your experience in driving. Whatever I wanted to convey Anandchitra has conveyed well. I just read and was going to give the first fb , then my daughter came on line and I was chatting with her and forgot about your post. Waiting to read your continuation
     
    1 person likes this.
  8. vidyajithesh

    vidyajithesh Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    650
    Likes Received:
    122
    Trophy Points:
    108
    Gender:
    Female
    Thanks Viji, that grin on my face seems to have come back :)..am so glad you people liked it :)
     
    1 person likes this.
  9. cuppcake

    cuppcake Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    528
    Likes Received:
    841
    Trophy Points:
    188
    Gender:
    Female
    Vidhyajitesh..lol..fun to read of your driving adventures...My brother says I look like I hold on to the steering wheel for dear life when am driving..

    Waiting for part 2...
     
  10. iyerviji

    iyerviji Finest Post Winner

    Messages:
    34,587
    Likes Received:
    28,749
    Trophy Points:
    640
    Gender:
    Female
    Vidhya dear good to know we could bring a smile on your face early morning with your first snippet. A pat on our back for that
     
    1 person likes this.

Share This Page