Every woman who knows driving would vouch that its a liberating feeling to drive your own vehicle and being mobile without depending on anybody else gives a terrific high. I was super excited about learning driving, although a bit late in my life. When hubby dearest gave the green signal for me to go ahead and pay a huge sum to the driving school to learn driving (for which the permission was not granted when we got our first car twenty four years back), I did it within minutes before he could change his mind. To start with, my learner's license test went so smoothly and I was impressed with the perfect arrangements at the RTO for the same. I, in fact, scored perfectly in the written test and felt as though I had topped the board exams. The classes were a breeze and I drove beautifully (nobody from the near and dear circle has seen me drive, so why not use the superlative?). Despite constant threats from friends about the fear of traffic, age factor etc etc . after two more months of extra practice in our own car (contributing to high blood pressure to our driver), I was ready to face the driving test at the RTO again.
On the day of the test, I was not at all nervous and I was sure that the test inspector would be floored by my driving skills . My appointment for the test was at 1 pm and it turned out to be the hottest summer day so far in Mumbai this year. Though I expected the Indian punctuality of 2pm instead of the allotted 1pm timing, it was further pushed to 3 pm. With not a patch of shade in an open ground (yes, an open ground which is a luxury in a city like Mumbai), in sweltering heat, with no drinking water or sanitation facilities, the two hours wait for my turn for the test (among 70 other candidates)slowly turned into a daymare(antonym of nightmare). Finally when I actually took the test, I was made to drive an old santro (instead of a brand new Honda city car in which I had practiced) in which the gears were tattering and I could hardly sense which gear I was applying and to top this torture, the inspector constantly was giving instructions in Marathi language which was as alien as Greek and Latin to me and the driving strip so bumpy that it was literally like driving the car on rocky mountains which is shown to be glamorous in ads but actually is back breaking. Just two minutes into the test, I was asked to stop and get down. I was stunned, I was disappointed that I was not allowed to show my skills in taking turns and smoothly moving on to fourth gear and fifth gear and show my driving skills on a traffic less , smooth highway.
Every single candidate was allowed to test drive for less than two minutes on this bumpy patch and decided were good enough to get a license. When I asked my driving school instructor whether I would get a license since I was not tested for my responses to traffic signals or for my skills in maneuvering the vehicle through a stream of traffic. The driving school instructor casually said that he would make sure that I get my license within couple of weeks as I was good enough in starting the engine and moving ahead.Wow what standards are set for getting license in a big city like Mumbai. Are they issuing this license to drive or is it a license to kill? I am still wondering and realize that its a actually a smooth ride (unlike the actual one) to get a license here than in any other country. All you need to know is how to start the vehicle, that's it!
On the day of the test, I was not at all nervous and I was sure that the test inspector would be floored by my driving skills . My appointment for the test was at 1 pm and it turned out to be the hottest summer day so far in Mumbai this year. Though I expected the Indian punctuality of 2pm instead of the allotted 1pm timing, it was further pushed to 3 pm. With not a patch of shade in an open ground (yes, an open ground which is a luxury in a city like Mumbai), in sweltering heat, with no drinking water or sanitation facilities, the two hours wait for my turn for the test (among 70 other candidates)slowly turned into a daymare(antonym of nightmare). Finally when I actually took the test, I was made to drive an old santro (instead of a brand new Honda city car in which I had practiced) in which the gears were tattering and I could hardly sense which gear I was applying and to top this torture, the inspector constantly was giving instructions in Marathi language which was as alien as Greek and Latin to me and the driving strip so bumpy that it was literally like driving the car on rocky mountains which is shown to be glamorous in ads but actually is back breaking. Just two minutes into the test, I was asked to stop and get down. I was stunned, I was disappointed that I was not allowed to show my skills in taking turns and smoothly moving on to fourth gear and fifth gear and show my driving skills on a traffic less , smooth highway.
Every single candidate was allowed to test drive for less than two minutes on this bumpy patch and decided were good enough to get a license. When I asked my driving school instructor whether I would get a license since I was not tested for my responses to traffic signals or for my skills in maneuvering the vehicle through a stream of traffic. The driving school instructor casually said that he would make sure that I get my license within couple of weeks as I was good enough in starting the engine and moving ahead.Wow what standards are set for getting license in a big city like Mumbai. Are they issuing this license to drive or is it a license to kill? I am still wondering and realize that its a actually a smooth ride (unlike the actual one) to get a license here than in any other country. All you need to know is how to start the vehicle, that's it!
1 comment:
Nice one akkA!!
Nothing has changed!! I drove a Maruti Omni for just about 2 minutes on a bumby road, no turns no signaling, nothing!. The driving school guy was right behind me in the car. I was feeling hopeless. But I got the license :) as promised by the driving school guy. Driving a car on the roads after getting the license was altogether a different ball game. The same policeman who stood there near the RTO while I took the license test was stopping my car one day to ask who the hell gave me the license to drive!!!!
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