An on the road saga - Part 5!!

We sat anxiously outside the two different RTO offices to get our International driving permit sanctioned. Suddenly my cell phone rang... it was PP ..."success... I got mine done ! what about yours?" 'No",I replied...."Mr.RTO has still not arrived the scene.Looks like we will have to cancel tonight's train ticket." "OMG! I have an important meeting in office tomorrow... I can't spare any more leave.You come later with kids...."said PP. After two day long satyagraha outside the RTO and after filling the empty pockets of various administrative staff I got my much awaited IDP....

With the valuable IDP safely in my purse , we packed our bags once again to leave our land ... for a 3 year long stay in US. My first impression of US roads was admiration and awe.... then came anxiety ....who would not be anxious to see the cars zooming on the free ways ...each time a vehicle passed me I could feel a burner kindling in my tummy. "How can I drive on these roads...."

After much thought I was enlightened ... yes I understood that till now I was never driving....being still alive after driving on our Indian roads was not less than a miracle! After a few weeks in US, necessity forced me to sit behind the steering and drive our FORD Taurus... Yes ., I enjoyed those moments when I drove the car in the early morning to give dance lessons to a group of Indian kids. We started feeling the necessity of having a second vehicle and leased a Chrysler town and country...From then on that became my on the road companion.... I was transformed into a full time chauffeur ... driving the kids to and from school, shopping , trips to library , to my dance classes....

My IDP was expiring in a few weeks .. when a new rule came up by the SOS that only green card holders were issued a drivers permit. I was in a dilemma .... Still with the confidence that very thing will fall into place , I continued with my road trips ....

One day as I was on my way to dropping my kindergartner to school ... one police vehicle suddenly came opposite our vehicle... before I knew, the police car took a U turn and with the lights and the siren blaring started following me.

I remembered what PP told me what to do when a police car follows you, with the lights and siren on,... just take your vehicle to the side and park it safely and wait for the officer to come .. I did exactly that .. trying not to panic ...my toddler started screaming on top of his voice.... "amma .... amma ... police .... ammma ...." I could see the fear in the eyes of my kindergartner, even when he tried to calm down his brother.... Those few minutes of waiting seemed to be like hours...and finally the officer came beside my the driver's window and asked ... " license please" .
.......to be continued.....

An on the road saga ! 4

After a fun filled and adventurous year in Japan, we landed in Taiwan. The on the road adventures here were limited to profuse use of expression and hand gestures to the locals and the taxi drivers in an attempt to make them understand our destination . Even the famous "TESCO" shopping mall had to be translated to "to-hi -ko" with right voice modulation and intonation : which used to be rehearsed again and again ....After staying in Taiwan for a year, we landed in one of the most picturesque and serene places I have stayed... South Africa.

Our stay in South Africa was fun and full of life. We stayed in a huge bungalow overlooking a nature reserve . A well maintained garden with bird baths, lush green trees and fragrant flowers would invite the huge birds, Hadidas, to land in our compound. The outside atmosphere was perfect for a walk ... and we would put on our walking shoes and venture into the lap of nature.... I would always wonder how and why people preferred to either stay in doors or just zoom in their vehicles......for we would be the only ones enjoying our evening walks.....And were often stared at by those in their cars.

It was only later that I came to know that , it was not safe to walk on the roads .... or even drive with out carrying knifes or revolvers....the crime rates in South Africa, even in a "safe" Pretoria neighborhood like ours, was high. From then on we started practicing "awareness"..... Even when we had the privilege of driving a Mazda offered to us from Pp's office.....It was in South Africa that I really drove.... Each moves , each turn, each stop .... each change of gear was practised with utmost awareness.

I was the chauffeur of the family ... as Pp was yet to master the driving skills on the road. I took up yet another job ... of teaching my husband driving. He was a good student flourishing under the tutelage of an able and experienced Guru...The confidence level in him was rising with every class ... that he finally drove on the roads with out my promptings.....He explored the different roads in Pretoria with the help of maps ..... and one day while taking a confident turn with his eyes surveying the map ... he dashed on to a near by lamp post crashing our white Mazda .....

........to be continued

An On the road Saga!

Chapter 1

I felt so thrilled , so confidant, so grown up when I held tightly to the steering wheel and the Premier Padmini zoomed ahead. I was sitting on the lap of my favorite uncle, thinking that holding on to the steering wheel was all I needed to learn about driving. I used to wait eagerly for these driving lessons as a child...Brimming with energy and innocence …firmly believing that I have mastered the art of driving. The only hindrance that forbade me from practicing my skills was the lack of a car.

It took the child in me some time in accepting that I had more to learn in order to drive and that I needed to wait till I was eighteen to be issued a driving license. When I was finally eighteen I signed up along with a few friends at a driving school next to our colony. On my first day of driving lesson, Bashir Sir honked in front of our house on a tempo trax. He had collected all his students on his way and thus began my journey of enlightenment on Indian roads. Each day was an experience on the road ….. Our master had his clutch accelerator and break under perfect control on his side of the vehicle that we hardly learnt to drive. The only thing each of us learnt with out fail was the regular route he asked us to take during our driving sessions. Our Bashir Sir had three wives. One legitimate wife and the other two his well known secrets. Each day he would visit his wives and the road that connected his various houses was to be our driving route. His fourth stopover was a toddy shop. And once he was satisfied with the final stop we would head to our respective homes and our Basheer Sir knew not to open his mouth.


Our Basheer Sir was a man of many connections… Though a puny little man he knew what to do when and how…He knew how to satisfy the staff in the regional transportation office and get things done… Thus without learning much to drive and without facing any dire situation I was issued a driver's license.

to be continued................