Long Drive anyone?

I kept reading one of my friend's blogs with great interest about the myriad journeys he undertook with his splendid new car. Very impressive. Very very super i say! How it must be to slide behind the wheel of your swanky car, your OWN car please to note and drive around (again please to note..DRIVE yourself) to wherever you want to go, blasting music of your choice..aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh...Seems like nirvana. Me, who when first heard the term "sliding behind the wheel" and asked "Which one? Front or back? and WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU WANT TO DO THAT?" took some time to appreciate that driving is a task of not only great skill but also only for the brave. Everytime i get driven around, i appreciate the driving skills of my driver the way Arjuna revered Lord Krishna's. In fact, getting onto the road is like being in the middle of a war. It all depends whether your "sarathy" can take you across safely or not.
It is my dream to one day be able to learn how to drive and do it as effortlessly as my other talented friends. Well, I did learn how to drive and I do have a license by the way. Very proudly i would flash it if only my photograph in it was flattering but anyways. This license that I have is for a 4 wheel light motor vehicle and for a geared motorcycle. IMPRESSIVE isnt it? I still remember the woeful days when I would be rudely awakened from my nap because the driving school chappie had come. Sleepily I would go and clock 45 minutes of driving time everyday. Excitement had dwindled away from the first day. First lesson. Eyes shining, I slipped into the driving seat. Happily I realize that there is a second set of controls with the coach. (don’t know what to call him). We hit the roads. First signal. I am asked to brake gently. And I hit the accelerator abruptly. (Those days I was so much into rebellion that it was in my very subconscious all the time I suppose). Car hurtles to the centre of the junction. Brakes screeching all around me. But thankfully, the second set of controls came to our rescue. Thoroughly chastised for this lapse, I resume my lesson. Keep to the centre the chap said. The white line on the road should be positioned bang in between your left and right wheels. The novice me couldn’t spot the line. So as not to repeat my goof up, I promptly stood up while the car was moving so that I could keep an eye on the line and position it as I was asked to. A la riding a cycle standing up. One swerve and another swear and finally we reached the end of the lesson. And so continued my lessons, each day getting more eventful because of my half asleep state. Finally it was the day to apply for license. (it was package deal with the driving school you see). I queue up amongst many other eager drivers in the snake like line for license. After a couple of hours, I finally reach the counter.
Clerk: Name, Age, Blood group, Address….hmm all details are there.
Me: Yes sir.
Clerk: Hmmm….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!......MOTORCYCLE? WITH GEARS?!!
Me: Standing tall with pride: Yes sir!!
Clerk: Oh! What do you mean by that?
Me: Scooter Sir. ( by now I am giving the clerk the “omygod why are you so dumb” look.
Clerk: Ah…Scooteraa?? Which scooter? Kineticaaa?
Me: VESPA Sir. (Ah all those driving sessions with poor dad in the back seat and me screaming instead of pressing the horn, while I drive right into a middle of a herd of goats….but that’s for another day)
Clerk: hmmmmm (now he is giving me that “yeah right, you wish” look)
But he signs the form anyways.
Clerk: Go down this hall, the second door to the left for your theory test.
Me: Yes sir.
A hop, skip and jump later I am in another queue for the theory test. There is a long board with all the road signs and their meanings. I quickly mug them up. Those days, I used to be very good at remembering stuff. And so it was no surprise that I could come out of the test with flying colors. I am told to return the next day for driving test.
My heart sinks. All memories of my cousins and friends proudly describing their tests come to me. “You will be asked to make an “8” in the middle of a ground.” I go weak in my knees. The day of the test dawns. I drag my mom along. I need a shoulder to cry if I make a fool of myself. My biggest worry was the “SCOOTER TEST” if it happens. Cos I dint remember anything of a scooter. Test time. I am given a car. There is another chap sitting next to the driver seat. He beckons me to sit behind the wheel. By now I know what it means so I do as asked. And I am instructed to hold the wheel and look straight ahead. I do so. The car zooooooooooooooms ahead. I manage to keep a straight face. The car stops. Reverse zooooooooooooms back to right where it started from. The examiner gives an approving nod. I get out. License signed. Scooter is forgotten. By everybody. So there I am, a proud but underserving owner of a license.
Now its time to justify it I guess…..To redeem myself.