Chaotic License
This is an incident when I was in second year of my engineering. I had just completed 18 years of my existence. 18 is a magic figure here in India, as far as age is concerned (though not entirely. 16 is the magic figure in Bollywood. Most Bollywood movies have heroines aged 32 playing a role of a 16 year old girl. We come to know she is sixteen only through songs like Main solah baras ki ho gayee … otherwise she never mentions her age publicly throughout the movie). Anyway, 18 is a magic number for citizens because they acquire 2 important rights. Right to vote – which most of us do not exercise most of the time. And right to drive a vehicle – which most of us start exercising much before we are allowed. I heard lately that they are going to reduce the minimum age of getting married from 21 to 18. But now that I am 24, it doesn’t matter to me. And it wouldn’t have mattered even if the age would have been reduced to 18 when I was 18. The inability to patao a girl is hereditary (or kept secret) in my family.
Just after I celebrated my 18th birthday, my mother and my father forced me to learn to drive a car. Though I drove bike with great ease, I had a fear in my mind that I would bang to a tree while driving the car. My father tried to teach me many times. But I had a driving phobia. Finally I told my father that I am afraid of driving car because I fear that I will bang the car to some tree and our car would be heavily damaged. He tried to persuade me, but in vain. Finally, he took me to his childhood friend. He was a child psychiatrist! Satish uncle promised to help me out. He advised my father to enroll my name to some driving school, since I fear that I would damage our expensive car.
The day arrived. Satish uncle accompanied me to the driving school. The driving instructor was Vinayak, a part time driving teacher and a full time chauffeur. Satish uncle explained him about my phobia. And told Vinayak that he will accompany me while I learn. He seemed somewhat confused about all this drama.
Vinayak : Who is going to learn?
Me : me.
Vinayak : (To Satish) Then what are you going to do?
Satish : (Smiles) I am going to help him mentally overcome his phobia of driving.
Satish uncle is a child psychiatrist by profession. But he seldom gets out of his role in personal life. He talks in the same manner with his wife and friends as he talks to his child patients. Something like Marathi spoken in Bengali accent. But while speaking in English, he is like a priest of a church. Everyone who is at least a year younger than him is his “son” or “child”.
In contrast, Vinayak appeared a short tempered guy, who is always frustrated with some thing or the other.
Vinayak : Then what am I supposed to do?
Satish : Son, You are going to teach him to drive.
Vinayak : Then how are you going to help him?
Satish : (Smiles again, this time mischievously) I am going to sit on the rear seat and help him overcome his fear.
Vinayak : then why don’t you teach him to drive?
Satish : Because, my dear son, I cannot drive.
Vinayak : If you cannot drive, how can you help him in driving ?
Though not much literate, Vinayak had his logic accurate.
Satish : I am not going to teach him how to drive, but I am going to boost his morale. Understood? Or should I explain again?
Vinayak : Why do you want to be there when I teach him to drive? You can boost his morale now. And then we will go on the drive.
Satish : No, the process of encouragement is a continuous process. So I am going to be with Tushar all the time.
Vinayak : What? No no … that is not done. I won’t allow you to sit in the car while I teach him.
Me : Listen, I have told this to your boss, and we have paid a little extra money too. So, don’t argue. Let’s get ahead.
I was enjoying all this. I wished I could ask Satish uncle not to accompany me. But he had been such a good friend of my father for years. And otherwise too, how can anyone convince a psychiatrist?
We sat in the car. Myself and Vinayak at the front seat, while Satish uncle in the rear.
Vinayak : put your left foot on clutch. And right foot on brake or accelerator.
Satish : No Tushar. Always put one foot on the brakes. Put your left foot always on brake. Use your right foot to use clutch and accelerator.
Me : But uncle, brake pedal is between clutch and accelerator.
Satish : Is it the same in all cars?
Vinayak : Yes.
Satish : All car companies are dumb. They can’t get their combination right.
I did as Vinayak told me.
Vinayak : Ok. First, press the clutch, then put the vehicle in the first gear. Then simultaneously press the accelerator and leave the clutch.
Satish : Tushar, lets not get too fast, first you leave the clutch slowly and then press the accelerator slowly.
Vinayak : What? Once you leave the clutch, the vehicle will jump stop. (To me) Press the accelerator and leave the clutch at the same time.
Satish : (whispers into Vinayak’s ears) Vinayak, understand his mental condition. He is afraid of driving. Go slow. (To me) Tushar beta, first press the accelerator slowly and then leave the clutch slowly.
Vinayak : No! You shut up Uncle. Tushar (wow, he remembered my name!) do what I say. I am the teacher.
I somehow managed to get the vehicle ahead.
Vinayak : Ok. Now put in the second gear.
Satish : Vinayak, let him drive in the first gear today. Let him gain confidence.
Vinayak : The car does not go beyond the speed of 10 in first gear. Tushar, press the clutch and put the vehicle in second gear.
Satish : Son, let Tushar drive in first gear today. He will drive in only second gear tomorrow and only third the day after.
Vinayak : sir, you please stop talking. It’s me who knows how to drive, not you.
I went ahead to drive into second gear. I started feeling comfortable.
Vinayak : Turn left at the next square. Turn the steering wheel so that the vehicle turns left.
Satish : Vinayak, tell him properly. Should he rotate the steering wheel such that his left hand comes down and right hand goes up, or vice-versa.? Also, tell his while rotating, whether he should apply force to right hand or left hand or both.
Vinayak was already irritated. I grasped the situation and said to uncle that I know how to turn the car to left.
Satish : Tushar, but turn the vehicle slowly. Don’t quickly rotate the steering. Rotate a bit. Take a judgment of where you are heading. Again turn a bit. That is how you turn the vehicle.
Vinayak : (looking back) This is not how everybody turns the vehicle.
Satish : But that is the ideal way to do it, my son.
BANG !!! The car banged on to a tree!
I had steered the car towards left. But, as Satish uncle had said, slowly. And that’s why it banged to a tree. We all got out of car. No one was injured. But the car looked almost dead. I had severely damaged driving school’s car. Not mine, fortunately.
Within a minute, crowd gathered. There were two policemen too. I noticed that I had banged my car just beside a police station! The police heard out all that had happened. He admitted that there was no need to file a case if the person in guilt of this accident agrees to pay the damages.
The real problem was, who was at fault. Obviously, one would say, I was at fault. But I was just following the orders of my psychiatrist. Only a psychiatrist knows what is good for me. He knows how do I think and what should I think. The psychiatrist had my mind at his service and he could not use it correctly.
Now, Vinayak could also be at fault, because he is the driving instructor. Everybody knew that I could not drive. That’s why I had joined the driving school. So, the whole responsibility lies with the instructor. It is instructor’s duty to take care that a novice does not bang into a person or a tree.
Satish uncle could also be at fault. He gave me wrong instruction to turn slowly. Had he not been there in first place, I would have turned the car swiftly. I was just supposed to follow his instructions. Also, he engaged Vinayak in conversation. Had he not done that, Vinayak would have steered the car out of danger area.
The police were confused. In the meantime, my father appeared at the scene. He was not interested in listening what happened. He looked at Vinayak and understood that he was a poor guy and could not afford to pay the damages to the owner of driving school. Satish uncle was a good friend of his and felt too awkward to ask for money from Satish uncle. My father quickly agreed to settle the expenses.
Cost of learning how to drive a car : Rs. 20,000.
Time wasted : 2 hours.
Value of the incident to be remembered for a lifetime : Priceless.
There are some things in life money cant buy.
One of them is learning to drive a car.
Tushar
Just after I celebrated my 18th birthday, my mother and my father forced me to learn to drive a car. Though I drove bike with great ease, I had a fear in my mind that I would bang to a tree while driving the car. My father tried to teach me many times. But I had a driving phobia. Finally I told my father that I am afraid of driving car because I fear that I will bang the car to some tree and our car would be heavily damaged. He tried to persuade me, but in vain. Finally, he took me to his childhood friend. He was a child psychiatrist! Satish uncle promised to help me out. He advised my father to enroll my name to some driving school, since I fear that I would damage our expensive car.
The day arrived. Satish uncle accompanied me to the driving school. The driving instructor was Vinayak, a part time driving teacher and a full time chauffeur. Satish uncle explained him about my phobia. And told Vinayak that he will accompany me while I learn. He seemed somewhat confused about all this drama.
Vinayak : Who is going to learn?
Me : me.
Vinayak : (To Satish) Then what are you going to do?
Satish : (Smiles) I am going to help him mentally overcome his phobia of driving.
Satish uncle is a child psychiatrist by profession. But he seldom gets out of his role in personal life. He talks in the same manner with his wife and friends as he talks to his child patients. Something like Marathi spoken in Bengali accent. But while speaking in English, he is like a priest of a church. Everyone who is at least a year younger than him is his “son” or “child”.
In contrast, Vinayak appeared a short tempered guy, who is always frustrated with some thing or the other.
Vinayak : Then what am I supposed to do?
Satish : Son, You are going to teach him to drive.
Vinayak : Then how are you going to help him?
Satish : (Smiles again, this time mischievously) I am going to sit on the rear seat and help him overcome his fear.
Vinayak : then why don’t you teach him to drive?
Satish : Because, my dear son, I cannot drive.
Vinayak : If you cannot drive, how can you help him in driving ?
Though not much literate, Vinayak had his logic accurate.
Satish : I am not going to teach him how to drive, but I am going to boost his morale. Understood? Or should I explain again?
Vinayak : Why do you want to be there when I teach him to drive? You can boost his morale now. And then we will go on the drive.
Satish : No, the process of encouragement is a continuous process. So I am going to be with Tushar all the time.
Vinayak : What? No no … that is not done. I won’t allow you to sit in the car while I teach him.
Me : Listen, I have told this to your boss, and we have paid a little extra money too. So, don’t argue. Let’s get ahead.
I was enjoying all this. I wished I could ask Satish uncle not to accompany me. But he had been such a good friend of my father for years. And otherwise too, how can anyone convince a psychiatrist?
We sat in the car. Myself and Vinayak at the front seat, while Satish uncle in the rear.
Vinayak : put your left foot on clutch. And right foot on brake or accelerator.
Satish : No Tushar. Always put one foot on the brakes. Put your left foot always on brake. Use your right foot to use clutch and accelerator.
Me : But uncle, brake pedal is between clutch and accelerator.
Satish : Is it the same in all cars?
Vinayak : Yes.
Satish : All car companies are dumb. They can’t get their combination right.
I did as Vinayak told me.
Vinayak : Ok. First, press the clutch, then put the vehicle in the first gear. Then simultaneously press the accelerator and leave the clutch.
Satish : Tushar, lets not get too fast, first you leave the clutch slowly and then press the accelerator slowly.
Vinayak : What? Once you leave the clutch, the vehicle will jump stop. (To me) Press the accelerator and leave the clutch at the same time.
Satish : (whispers into Vinayak’s ears) Vinayak, understand his mental condition. He is afraid of driving. Go slow. (To me) Tushar beta, first press the accelerator slowly and then leave the clutch slowly.
Vinayak : No! You shut up Uncle. Tushar (wow, he remembered my name!) do what I say. I am the teacher.
I somehow managed to get the vehicle ahead.
Vinayak : Ok. Now put in the second gear.
Satish : Vinayak, let him drive in the first gear today. Let him gain confidence.
Vinayak : The car does not go beyond the speed of 10 in first gear. Tushar, press the clutch and put the vehicle in second gear.
Satish : Son, let Tushar drive in first gear today. He will drive in only second gear tomorrow and only third the day after.
Vinayak : sir, you please stop talking. It’s me who knows how to drive, not you.
I went ahead to drive into second gear. I started feeling comfortable.
Vinayak : Turn left at the next square. Turn the steering wheel so that the vehicle turns left.
Satish : Vinayak, tell him properly. Should he rotate the steering wheel such that his left hand comes down and right hand goes up, or vice-versa.? Also, tell his while rotating, whether he should apply force to right hand or left hand or both.
Vinayak was already irritated. I grasped the situation and said to uncle that I know how to turn the car to left.
Satish : Tushar, but turn the vehicle slowly. Don’t quickly rotate the steering. Rotate a bit. Take a judgment of where you are heading. Again turn a bit. That is how you turn the vehicle.
Vinayak : (looking back) This is not how everybody turns the vehicle.
Satish : But that is the ideal way to do it, my son.
BANG !!! The car banged on to a tree!
I had steered the car towards left. But, as Satish uncle had said, slowly. And that’s why it banged to a tree. We all got out of car. No one was injured. But the car looked almost dead. I had severely damaged driving school’s car. Not mine, fortunately.
Within a minute, crowd gathered. There were two policemen too. I noticed that I had banged my car just beside a police station! The police heard out all that had happened. He admitted that there was no need to file a case if the person in guilt of this accident agrees to pay the damages.
The real problem was, who was at fault. Obviously, one would say, I was at fault. But I was just following the orders of my psychiatrist. Only a psychiatrist knows what is good for me. He knows how do I think and what should I think. The psychiatrist had my mind at his service and he could not use it correctly.
Now, Vinayak could also be at fault, because he is the driving instructor. Everybody knew that I could not drive. That’s why I had joined the driving school. So, the whole responsibility lies with the instructor. It is instructor’s duty to take care that a novice does not bang into a person or a tree.
Satish uncle could also be at fault. He gave me wrong instruction to turn slowly. Had he not been there in first place, I would have turned the car swiftly. I was just supposed to follow his instructions. Also, he engaged Vinayak in conversation. Had he not done that, Vinayak would have steered the car out of danger area.
The police were confused. In the meantime, my father appeared at the scene. He was not interested in listening what happened. He looked at Vinayak and understood that he was a poor guy and could not afford to pay the damages to the owner of driving school. Satish uncle was a good friend of his and felt too awkward to ask for money from Satish uncle. My father quickly agreed to settle the expenses.
Cost of learning how to drive a car : Rs. 20,000.
Time wasted : 2 hours.
Value of the incident to be remembered for a lifetime : Priceless.
There are some things in life money cant buy.
One of them is learning to drive a car.
Tushar
posted by Tushar Kulkarni | 1:28 AM
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