ICE Capades

I have no idea what the title means, escapades with my car just doesn't sound right..
I have come a long way from to keeping the car outside daily and waiting for my dad to come back from work to park it into the garage :D
I remember when I started saving up to buy a car. I wanted to get a nice mid segment car.Wanted to give a down payment of 1lac and take the rest as a loan. I did a little bit of research on the net.Went to a couple of showrooms with a wise friend (who claims to have driven a car since he was 8) and finalised on the Wagon R.
I can still recall all the times I would go to CoffeDay and force myself to get the cheapest item on the menu (no, Extra whipped cream cant be bought unless you have something with whipped cream already on it !!) I knew that every 10Rs made a difference.Took me 6 months(and it was worth it!) and a loan to have the money ready.
All of us went down to the car showroom to choose the color and all the extra fittings.
"Do you want to get a coating on the base of the car?"
"Power Windows will cost an extra 6000Rs"
"This is the best shade for a tinted window"
"Would you prefer the silver-silver, the golden-silver or the pearl-silver?"
Oh and I had just started going to Driving school. An hour from work daily in a yellow coloured Alto(which was what I first wanted, no !! not the yellow color, just the Alto). I can confidently say I dented the instructor's patience.He just couldn't understand why it was so hard to follow instructions!
My DL test was some fun. There was a long line of tense souls posing next to their cars. By the time I got to my turn, the fear, nervousness, knotted tension had all vaporised for I knew I was definitely going to fail it. The instructor sat at the back of the car (God knows why) and I got to handle the wheels for the first time. The policeman comes up to me and says, "Reverse in a straight line and come back"
That's it?? Me thinks, that's it??? I mean my instructor tore his hair out trying to teach me when to honk, (a light tap, not to long otherwise people wont care, a light tap sounds more confident) , how to reverse into a side road from the left and from the right, what hand signals to show ...
This cant be that bad at all then, I start the vehicle full confidence and reverse the car (of course forgetting to look behind, thankfully the stretch had been emptied for tests but of course no one doubts that you would miss a basic detail like checking at the rear end of the vehicle before reversing) I look up at the policeman, he's busy talking to another dude.
I reach the end point, I think I wouldn't have stopped if the instructor hadn't said "Now stop and go back forward" and literally had me jump out of my skin. You see I had forgotten he was there.
I brake. Press the clutch pedal down. Change the gear to 1st. Release the brake while releasing the clutch and the car jerked to a halt.
There I had it. I failed. The instructor said, "Move it, start it again" all the while looking at the cop who was busy still. I started and went and stopped properly this time.
And I Passed!
I know I know. I shouldn't have.
Well, I did and I got my brand new shiny car home, and for the life of me, I cant remember which shade of silver it is.
Went on a few long drives with my dad sitting in the passenger seat and guiding. I was so not good at it, esp when I had sole control. I wouldn't consider driving alone ever.I would just get too nervous. Day 2 that car was home, we were in a hurry to get somewhere. Dad got into the car asking me to move along since I was blocking traffic and at that moment some bright spark parked a 2 wheeler bang in front of my car, so much for the BIGGGG L board sign. A couple of people who had nuclear deals to sign started honking like the world was ending. I tried manoeuvring the car out and successfully made it without hitting the 2 wheeler. It got me so excited that I believe I forgot to straighten the wheels onto the road. I cut across from the left end of the road right onto the right end which had a gutter with a cycle in it leaning against a wall.
I remember dad saying "Brake Brake" . The last thing was him pulling the handbrake. My shiny brand new car went into the gutter and made multiple crunching noises and came to a dead halt.
I got out with my legs trembling/shivering (not sure what that's called). I couldn't believe it . I was horrified. I couldn't walk. People started to gather and all the nuclear deal guys just moved ahead with a shake of the head just happy to make it on time inspite of a bad driver wasting their time.
I was in tears by the time I got back home. Everyone was glad it was close home and no real damage was done. So was I, until an aunt said "Thank God, no one was sitting in the gutter" Can you even imagine what I felt then.
I swore off the car. It took the same friend again to teach me all over again and help me gain some confidence. The best and toughest part was trying to get the car moving when on an upward slope. And he did stop before he could teach me to parallel park ;)
Probably coz I left for the US. I did drive a car there. Auto gear and all that. I believe that gave me more confidence.
And once I got back, it took some goading from my brother to get me to drive again. One fine day, I was so pissed off, I just took the car out the park and right to office.
I just cannot get the car to move after it comes to a standstill.Even so, I was on my way to a real tricky crowded area. Looking back all I can think is , I must have been really pissed off.
I avoided stops as far as I could. Until I got into bumper to bumper traffic, where 1st gear is all you need and all I couldn't use. The car stopped. I was on the verge of telling myself that I was too hasty in doing this when I was not ready, when a auto guy stuck behind my car came forward, looked into my window and said
"Odsak baralla, sumne barthare road mele" (They dont even know how to drive and they come out on to the road)
And suddenly, I was relieved, that's the worst that can happen.
Took me quite some time to actually drive a car with some semblance of confidence but I do now.
The day I did the 3hour continuous stretch to a picnic spot through a highway and in city traffic, I had arrived.