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Thursday, June 08, 2006

Test Detest

The number of tests in life is endless. One of the most important amongst them for me was my driving test. I had learnt driving formally while I was really young but that was Indian driving where anything and everything was possible on the road. I was taught to hold the clutch all the time and use the brake more often than I used the accelerator for who knew when a cyclist would be under my tyre. The cars that I was used to driving were the little Maruthi baby cars. Even though I had been chauffeured in bigger cars, I never once thought how they should be manoeuvred. My speed had never exceeded a meagre 50 kilometres per hour. With all this restriction I managed to get my Indian driving license without much ado, probably because I was not asked to drive a car during the test. Imagine the drivers in a country which gives licenses to people without testing their driving abilities; no wonder chaos is the other name for Indian roads.

But, little did I realise when I got my Australian visa that my driving skills would take me nowhere in a place other than India. Once I landed in Australia and had admired our new car, the excitement took over me and I wanted to put my skills to use. I can very clearly remember the day I first started our car and drove a little distance and the expression on my husband’s face. He didn’t have to ask me but his face spoke it all – “Who the hell taught you driving?” But, I refused to give up and kept driving with all my will. I knew it was futile to go on like that and hence after 15 minutes I conceded defeat and requested to be taught driving all over again.

After this came the written test for the Learner’s license which was a breeze. I kept terrorizing the Adelaide roads for about 6 months after which I decided I should take a real test of my newly acquired skills. From their experience all my friends advised me to take the help of a driving instructor before taking the test. I took the advice and booked an instructor. On the first day of my driving lessons, the instructor asked me to drive a distance so that he could assess me. At the end of the assessment, the instructor had the same look on his face as my husband. I felt a sense of déjà vu on seeing his expression. He said he would need about 3 classes to teach me lawful driving.

On the day of my driving test, my instructor decided to have a mock test to see if I was capable of passing the test in the first go. I am not sure if it was nervousness or overconfidence that made me drive at a speed of 70 in a 50 zone, enter into the round-about without seeing left or right and stand on the wrong side of the road blocking on-coming traffic. Sure enough my instructor wasn’t happy and had decided my fate. When the final test time arrived, I was shaking knowing what was going to happen. Fortunately for me the test officer was a cheerful person and tried to relax me for almost 10 minutes into the test and the rest of it went by him telling me what to do and assessing me at the same time. Once he asked me to park, I realised that I was actually in a test for the past 30 minutes and the nervousness came back to me. The officer went through his notes to decide what he should do with me while I was biting my nails and waiting for his verdict. My instructor and he were speaking in a foreign language which led me to think that I was doomed. But, my relief knew no bounds once he declared that I had just passed the test. For once in my life I could drive with more confidence than ever. Hopefully no more funny looks from people once I take over the wheels!

1 Comments:

  • You should have seen the expression on your husband's face when u passed the test.. It was like What The !!!!! :)
    I am least one bit scared when u drive even on that day you drove all of us from debashis's party back home :)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/09/2006 3:07 PM  

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