My tryst with the steering wheel - Part2 (conclugin part)

So here I am with my new driving license sporting my best picture to date with all the post partum glow.:thumbsup I assume, a few days of practice with hubby and I will be all set to drive to office and back(atleast).:bonk
We both start on a very enthusiastic note, hubby dear completely trusting my driving prowess.
First few days(read 4 -5days) – very inconsequential, as I drive only within our apartment complex(changing gears is still a problem though).
Then comes the weekend, when hubby declares that since we have time at hand, why dont we hit the actual road. I drive with him by my side and I am all alert and kinds, when suddenly hubby gets an official phone call. All of a sudden I realize my confidence going on an all time low. I am not able to concentrate. I see a motorcyclist trying to traverse the road, which I am entering from a side road, and Lo! I go numb. (I just don’t know what happened to me then).Hubby gestures me to slow down by applying brakes but I just don’t look at him(howzzatt!). Then when am inches from the fellow, my better half realizes that I am not so seasoned a driver after all and with all his might he pulls the hand gear to stop the car and save the poor guy of the impending doom.
And then, right in the middle of the road(thankfully there was no one around), he screams at me saying “only fools can drive like that, driving is an art, and as a driver you are not only responsible for yourself but people on the road too, you cannot play with their lives”.(and all the while he is shivering from the shock). I shouted back saying,”Why did you have to pick the phone while I am driving, you know I have just started driving”. To which he replied,”How long will you say just started ? Its been almost 20 years since you have started learning to drive, and is this what you have learnt”. That was the last straw for me. So much for telling your husband all your secretsbonk). He brings them up at all the wrong times. I was all tears and I said “this is the last time, I am ever driving with you, I don’t need your help” and started sobbing. He was a little taken aback and by now he had cooled down a bit. He tried reasoning me but I was extremely hurt and he knew he shouldn’t have said that. My daughter still believed her dad was right and I was not. She says “Amma please you cannot drive, leave that to papa”…End of Part One.
Again I start hunting for a driver who can give me good hands on experience in driving.(and certainly hubby’s not consulted).With the help of a few colleagues at office, I find a guy who charges Rs.300 for 2 hours for teaching how to drive. He accompanies me and teaches me how to handle bumps, how to slow down at turnings, how to not let the car remain stationary while braking and then maneuver properly. And by the time I am done, I end up spending around Rs.1500.(nonetheless, atleast now I am better equipped than my hubby last saw me). So, I decided to keep this guy with me for a month, so that he could accompany me to office(while I drive the car) and back. The drivers at my apartment were charging around 8K for being full time drivers and this fellow when asked says “Madam, I have no problem in coming, you drive to and fro from office, I will sit by your side, just pay me 10K”(10K, wow, make hay while the sun shines..hmmm:spin)…End of part two.
I bury my desires to drive temporarily as I unable to find a driver, who will accompany me to office and back(while I polish my driving skills). Finally one day, my hubby says, “hey, I enquired and found that one of the security guards here knows how to drive and he is ready to spare a few hours in a day to be a temporary driver,would you be interested?”. I forgot all my words of not taking any help from him and jumped at the offer.
So, off I started with the new fellow who accompanied me to my office(I would drive to office) and he would bring the car back home. Again he would come in the evening to pick me(and I would drive back)..(An before I forget, my office and home are just 8.5 kms apart). In all this commotion, I never had to park the car at my office(as the driver used to never used to have to park the car, he would invariably take it back, right?). the whole tenure was uneventful. And exactly after 1 month, I learn that this fellow is going to lose his job as a fellow guard reported him of being negligent of his duties. Now more than learning how to drive, our(calamities always bing hubbs and me together :cheers) concern was to procure another job for him. Thankfully within a week of hunting, my hubby’s colleague requested for a driver and off we sent him(for a better salary) with some extra money for teaching me how to drive,,efficiently…End of part three.
From then on, I was on my own. Initially, I made a lot of mistakes, drove in half clutch mostly, reversing was confusing ,I could see sarcastic smiles on peoples’ faces when I struggled with the gear, but I kept trying, very slowly initially, then picked up pace gradually.
And Hubby finally admitted “Now after parties(read parties where social drinking is involved) at friends’ place, you can safely get me back home”. This was perhaps the biggest compliment my driving skills have ever got me.:wow
And today, I am confident enough to take my children and hubby anywhere around Bangalore. :cheers
I wrote this just to make a request to my fellow ILs , to please help your daughters learn how to drive at a very early age, after that the confidence levels do fall(if not for all, atleast for some) or atleast the mind is so preoccupied with thoughts that driving doesn’t come as easily as when taught at an early age. And even if you are bound to learn at a later stage in your life, just don’t let people around you let you down. Keep the spirit in yourself alive, if I can do, anyone can :thumbsup.
And mind you, a driving school is only concerned with getting you a Driving Licence, how you live upto that is totally upto you .



Disclaimer : Do I sound preachy? – Sorry then, purely unintentional :notthatway:

 

Most definitely viji..
I wanted the second part to be as humurous as the first, but when i sat to write down, i couldnt get over the tensions, pain and ignominy of all of not being able to drive independently, from my mind. Hence,this writeup seems a little preachy and self glorification types.

 

Thanks a lot for the kind words Mindian

 

I can understand racr, but one good thing in US is the cars are gearless, so half your problem is sorted. Just drive around your locality for the time being, get over the accident issue(such things are common )..and then drive around the city..try it out..we have it in us..we need someone to keep our morales boosted, thats it..and men dont realise that..

 

hehhehe..vsharma it happens..ur ego might get hurt at times, but keep learning from him till you are an expert.. we will get enough time to give back..LOL