Content
I am a woman with a mission.
Mission: First long drive in a car
Partner: Honda Amaze AT
Mission detail: I work at CarWale and everywhere I have had people asking me whether I knew how to drive a car, I also noticed a massive change in their expressions as they went from curiously pleasant to shock after hearing my response – No. It was then that I decided that removing this black mark in my diary had to be number one on my bucket list. Another aspect that egged me on was my team. The rest of the guys love to rave about the terrains and speeds they clocked in their cars. So number two on my list was learning driving to become part of the team.
My training wheels were the Maruti Suzuki Swift. Every morning for the first two weeks of September, I had the instructor of the driving school I had enrolled in come below my apartment to take me for my first lessons. While the first four days sailed by smoothly, it was the fifth day that was an eye-opener. At a turn under a flyover, I saw two men crossing the road, I honked, yet it seemed they were coming straight into me. Panic set in and I left the steering wheel, and started to look down for the brake, in the few seconds that were left for the inevitable to happen, I went and tapped the accelerator. Those men were goners for sure ! However, the day was saved thanks to my instructor who probably had to deal with such skittish reactions on a daily basis. The car’s bonnet stopped inches before the two men who looked quite surprised to see a lady behind the wheel. I wonder why, though. This only made my fear stronger. I have always feared hurting my co-passenger or someone on the road. Sensing my plight, my instructor never said a word and slowly during the course he helped me overcome it, by allowing me to plan ahead. I would often become zoned out while behind the wheel, but this snapped me out of my delirium and I realised hand and eye coordination is essential to driving.
Emboldened I decided to try a long drive in a car as opposed to the short half an hour ones I was doing. The first car that I drove after sitting through 15 days of driver's training was the Honda Amaze AT. It so happens that at present the Honda Amaze is part of CarWale’s fleet of long-term cars. It has already served as a learning companion to a fellow teammate, Ranjan, and now it is mine. My maiden voyage on board the Honda Amaze happened in the middle of September and it was to Matheran, an environment friendly hill station and it wasn’t solo. Since I had not earned my learner's stripes completely I was accompanied by a colleague. For me, this experience was like taking baby steps, learning to walk all over again. It felt like graduating from the walker to walking on your own.
Halfway through to Matheran, I sat behind the steering wheel, my big moment had finally arrived. My co-passenger waited patiently as I made an unsuccessful attempt at being a confident driver. I have had this fear of getting the car to start. This, mind you, is just one among the list of the fears I have battled in my experience of learning to drive. Seat belt on, check, engine on, check, handbrake lifted....ah…my first obstacle. I pulled, pushed; shoved, trying to deploy the handbrake, but it was of no use I also did the same thing when I got into the Hyundai Verna (our other long-termer), the first time. The Maruti Suzuki Swift that I was taking my lessons in seemed a welcome exchange now. Then, my friend with just a push of his finger disengaged the brake, leaving me feeling ever so foolish.
Now, back to getting the car to start, I put my foot on the brake and then slowly released it to allow the car to roll forward. Sensing the traffic behind me coming at full speed,(one of my other fears) I decided to stay on the left of the road despite my friend's repeated pleas to move a little to the centre of the road and also to let the speedometer breathe a little. This is also the time when I learnt that it is always, always, good to know the controls of the car before you leap into one, especially if it is a new car. But I learnt it the hard way. I was supposed to set the side mirrors properly, one of the checks you do as soon as you get into a car but then as the car gained speed I began to hunt feverishly for the button that operates the side mirrors. Having learnt in a Swift, my first instinct was to look for the toggle beside the driver's window. Missing! What do I do? Next, my eyes turned to the bunch of buttons on the driver's side door handle. Meanwhile, the car began going on its own jolly ride, often moving towards the left side of the road, threatening to go off road and in turn earning me the reprimand of my friend. I spotted around some six to eight buttons on the side and I decided to take them two at a time. All the windows opened, closed, some remaining open mid-way like a fish out of water. Then my friend came to my rescue and pointed to a tiny button leading the pack, on pressing it the magical side mirrors unfolded and left me looking even more sheepish.
I cannot even begin to remember the trauma I went through trying to get the wipers, horn and dipper to work. While the Swift was where I learned everything meticulously, the Honda Amaze felt like a whole different ball game. Nervousness overtook me and I began fumbling with the controls. Every time I had to honk, I had to look at the steering wheel, while turning I often ended up locking my hands on the wheel, leading to an intricate dance of the hands to get the wheel straight.
After the battle with car technology, I now focussed completely on the road. Secretly, I was rejoicing. There was no clutch-gear dance to do here. All I needed was my right leg to do the heel-toe dance from the brake and accelerator. My driving was not smooth as you can call it, it felt very much like a new-born animal taking its first steps. The brake was my constant companion and the accelerator felt like a brick refusing to budge even under the slightest pressure. The speedometer needle in the 20 odd kilometres I drove to Matheran, never left the 40kmph mark.
Post the drive, I realised it takes a lot of mental and physical coordination to keep a car on the road. Most of you might brush this off with a hmmph, but for me it is nothing short of a miracle. The Honda Amaze has been a wonderful partner on my mission, giving me no trouble and often steering me out of a spot. For a learner like me, I could not ask for a better drive. In the evening, while returning from Matheran, I took to the wheel again and this time I was much braver, I had conquered two of my fears and I drove the Honda Amaze for 50kms.
I am sure those of you reading this will definitely recommend me to take a whole bunch of classes or rather not take the wheel at all. But now as I write this I have in my kitty, two long drives on the Honda Amaze, a better understanding of Mumbai traffic, better road judgement and knowledge of where the car controls are. I end this article with a promise to detail my experience of my first solo trip on my car and I do hope it shall be soon.
Project status: Mission Accomplished
