Dreams come true..

For some reason I have a grave fear of driving the four wheeler. I have been trying to learn to drive for a long time now. So when I enrolled in the driving school refresher course none of my family members were impressed. “You drive so slowly even the cyclists will overtake you”, my wife pitched in ‘enthusiatically’. So it was like.. now or never...!

“Have you ever driven a rickshaw (3 wheeler / auto) ?”, asked my driving teacher half mockingly. “Of course not, but I have sat in it many times”, I retorted. “Then you should know how they negotiate the traffic”, was his reponse , “if you are so cautious, you can never drive in Pune”. Well there i was , coming back from Singapore where the traffic is as methodical as every aspect of its life and my driving instructor was telling me that method was madness on Pune roads. “You have to learn to squeeze you car in, and use the horn often and scare the other guys a bit. You have to assert yourself on the road”. Phew!

So the next logical step was to buy a car myself so that while I do not forget how to drive again, we can also go out for a trip once in a while. I told my thought to my wife. “Get as old a car as possible, and don’t spend too much money on something you may hardly use”, was her polite advice. I evaluated various options - small, not so small, then there are petrol ones and diesel ones. Diesel ones don’t have a good pickup. That should not matter, considering that I will use the brakes more than the accelarator.

Finally I gave settled for an old Alto. I am yet to take it to office. Its too crowded in the evening at the time of returning, and I don't want to take a chance with anybody's life. Besides in Pune the two wheeler rules the road and no one dare mess up with them.

When I mention the long drives to my wife, she gives a strange look..but never mind.. dreams do come true..even if they may take a little longer ..