The Best Drive Ever

Aahh!!!

The sheer thought of two of my favorite things - DnD - Delhi & Driving fills me with incomparable delight. Discovering Delhi on my own had always interested me...and ever since I learned to drive 7 years back, my wish had got 4 wheels.

I have to admit that I have always been scared of getting on a two wheeler - and that too not without a reason - after all, how long can you expect gyroscopic motion to compensate for the lack of balance...I, for one, always compared riding a bike to walking a tight rope! I would rather prefer to walk miles, or even expose myself to the excruciating experience of a Blue Line than get on anything less than 4 wheels...And since the day this thought had surfaced in my mind, I had decided, it had to be car...

Learning to drive a car is one of the most anticipated and eagerly awaited time - at least for the guys...and that too for multifarious reasons. I, too, like most of us had learned to drive from the local driving school. The Thapa's visit for fifteen laborious, stressful but exciting rotations of the earth was a time I planned my day around. The first lesson of ABC (accelerator, brake and clutch for the ones not aware of it), the fidgety contraption fitted in the old Maruti 800 and my first day out on my father's car are some of the most indelible moments from my driving experience so far. Though, I had to hand it out to my mum who patiently sat out, and that too very quietly, egging me on as I tried to smoothen my hand on a real car (and not computer games for once). Yes, there were accidents. Very funny ones at that too...after all, trying to park a car in 3rd gear @ 40 kmph is rather funny...banging it into your neighbours ride is even funnier...and then trying to convince him that his vehicle wasn't parked the right way, is, as Mastercard calls it, Priceless...

But life, like the inevitable flipside of the coin is not always funny. Take it from me...there is nothing more scary than losing control of a car speeding at 120 kmph on a state highway, skidding away and colliding with a bus head on! The moment when you realize that its not in your hands anymore, you see your entire life flash by. But then life has its own ways. You come out unscathed, as alive as you ever would be, thanks to your seat belts. Trust me, these things work great. And it is events like these that change your concept of driving forever...or for the next few days at least.

Now, being a commuter in Delhi, especially if you happen to drive, is always an interesting time.
Though, New Delhi is rated as "the best city to drive in" in the entire country, I have always wondered how other metros would be if Delhi is the No. 1 benchmark. I have tread endless miles on Delhi roads...from the widest lanes to the narrowest corners, from the butter smooth paved roads of DND and NH-8 flyways to the tarmac in the potholes of Kapashera and Gurgaon, Delhi roads have a plethora of experience to offer. Not excluding the fact that 99% of people on the road do not know to drive the right way despite 100% of us knowing the basic traffic rules is another ingredient to this enriching journey.

Whenever I am Delhi, I have to drive! And I set off on trips traversing from Eastern most parts to the Southern most corners most frequently. While mostly I am speeding my way through the heavy traffic trying to reach my destinations as early as possible (without the intervention of teleportation), this time I wasn't my usual self. For my latest journey, I had to meet a couple of friends down in Gurgaon.

Anyone well acquainted with Delhi traffic knows that you leave 2 hours in advance to travel such a distance. I did the same. But something was awfully different this time. I don't know. Instead of putting ear blaring and mind numbing music, I opted for some soft melancholies. And snap, I wasn't pestered by the fact that I will have to drive down through the usual crazy mess. For once, upon noticing the traffic lights turn from green to yellow, I didn't press hard on the accelelator. I wasn't worried about having to wait 90 seconds at each of the lights. Nor did I want to jump any of those...very unlike me...but the sheer thought of abiding by the traffic rules had started making me feel good from inside. When required, I was changing gears with ease, precisely at the speeds prescribed by the manufacturer. I wasn't changing lanes haphazardly, indicating every time I needed to. I wasn't speeding, ensuring that I was well within the permitted speed limits at all times. The thought of people whizzing past me in their rides didn't seem to bother me anymore while on other occasions I would have been game for a race. Upon getting stuck up behind someone, I wasn't honking the horn, patiently waiting for the driver ahead to get a move on. The sights of the traffic signal showing red, yellow and green simultaneously didn't even make me whiff. I wasn't cursing the administration for the whole mess on the roads. I would usually get down in a verbal volley with anyone if they didn't budge out of the way or if they tried to give me lessons on how to drive. This time, all I had were the words "Thank You" and "Sorry" for them. Life on the road seemed a whole lot peaceful. No more stress, no more tension, no more hurry and a lot more enjoyable.

While on my way back late night, I was wondering what had made this difference.
The message in the side view mirror got me thinking - "Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear", like it was shedding light in the immense dark around me.

I realized that all this while, it was only up to one factor to decide how I saw things, how I reacted to everything around me,whether I liked it or abhorred it - ME. Anything else was just an excuse. And now as I sit penning down what I had been missing all this while, I'll take another twenty seconds for a few lessons -

1) Never hurry on the roads, there is someone waiting for you to get back home!
2) The difference between 60 kmph and 100 kmph is a few minutes, its just not worth that risk
And I saw the next one on the Noida DND (I smiled as I went past this one)
3) I love Traffic rules!!!

Hope you find your Best Drive Ever soon!!!