Wednesday, 12 January 2011

Drive me mad

Last month i finally took the plunge.I didn't decide to go on a strict dieting regimen or run for president but i did finally gave in to my mothers constant pestering on learning to drive a car.It is remarkable how Indian parents know exactly how to coax their way out of a blatant refusal by just getting sappy and melodramatic. In this particular chapter of her book of maternal triumphs, her winning argument was that there was no one to drive our family to a nearby hospital in case of an health emergency."Is your dad suppose to drive and go through such a back breaking exertion while you jive to "teenage dream" in the back seat ??" pretty much settled the case.                                                                                                                                                                         But i simply hate cars with every fiber of my being.Yes I know they are status symbols,total chick magnets and can make traveling much more comfortable but by there very innate nature, cars are so confined and restraining.The space inside is even less than that in a coffin because in a coffin one can at least stretch their legs completely.And if making you cramp yourself in a slanted dog house wasn't enough, they expect you to drive that thing around at 90-100 km/hr with a fastened petrol tank and an ignition system.So the only way I was willing to endure such horror was if  I was being taken to moon or at least outer space but my sweet little mother hadn't come into the picture by then.
                                                                                                                       So the next week i found myself standing next to an off-white lilliputian Maruti Alto(another one of Almighty's cruel jokes).As my instructor stood there making solemn claims of  turning me into a Michael Schumacher in the next 15 days,I stared at the grim war veteran which i was about to drive in the coming weeks.It muttered a mild protest as its owner shoved the keys in while i looked at the road ahead with disbelief.