driving myself nuts

i have never been much of a driver. yes i can get from one point to another, and in all my 6 years of driving in bombay, i've had only one minor accident. but the truth is, i don't really enjoy it. when i was 16 and my friends were trying to convince their parents into getting them an illegal license, i felt totally out of the loop. i didn't get why it was such a big deal. even now, i prefer being a passenger. it allows me the luxury of staring out of the window and day-dreaming, reading, singing aloud with the radio, or appreciating the surroundings....all of which i find significantly more exciting than concentrating on signals, overtaking cars, pot-holes or road-rage. this last year, i have had the thrill of cruising in super-fast, super-sexy cars, on roads without speed limits. fine, it's fun. in fact, good fun. but in a mundane life, how often am i going to have that joy? mostly, it is just manoeuver, turn, oops not that way, drive, overtake, find parking, waste 10 min looking for parking, curse the guy who got to your spot before you, waste more time, then park without scratching. repeat.

after a year of being here, i have accepted that i need to get myself a license. if i am to be independent and comfortable with the baby, given s's travelling, i better be able to drive. so i have begun the process. the 'Process', i must add, is long-drawn and dull.

step one: you take a driving theory exam.
now, my point is, WHY? why do i need to know what tread-depth the tyres should have. or that centrifugal force will push my car outwards while turning if it is back-heavy. or the relationship between clutch, brakes, tyres and suspension. really, this is physics to me. i hated physics through school and college. it's the only subject i plugged in once. maths, i like. but physics! richard feynman proved to me that it can be a beautiful subject, but mr. feynman, i encountered you too late in life!

so anyway, i take the test. grudgingly. 50 questions, multiple choice, on the computer. of which i must get 41 right to pass. else, i have to take the test again. having discussed this with some other young moms here who drive their kids to school, i learned that failing the test once is rather common. for me, it was not an option. sure, i'd be embarassed if i flunked. but that i can bear...i have no qualms in accepting that i am a machine dunce.(if a bulb goes off, i just move to the next room!). i simply couldn't imagine spending more time reading the same deathly-boring stuff and going through the stress a second time.

and voila, i pass. by the skin of my teeth. get 42 right. there is a god and he or she loves me :)

step two: you take driving classes.
so i commence driving classes.
first mistake - i expect something like tejani driving school in bombay, where i had learned driving moons ago.
second mistake - i forget that the gear box in cars here is on my right, not on my left. so unthinkingly, my left hand keeps seeking out a gear box, while my right-hand turns on the wipers instead of the indicators.
third mistake - i let s get a license before me. that means now, when we go driving together, we have another reason to fight. cos he will be right, and i will be wrong, and i will hate it :)

step three: expectedly, the practical exam.
which almost everyone fails once. i will have to take this one in about 6 months.

the joys of being an expat!!