Dismay of Driving

I am a licensed killer! A friend of mine met with an accident and he was in the hospital. So, we all went to see him and one of my friend asked – hey what happened, so, he was like – “well, a lady driver came and hit me”. So, in response someone said – “don’t you know you got to be careful while a female is driving?” He says what? I was not even driving, I was not even on the road; I was not even on the pedestrian path; I was just lying down in a park. Dear Toastmasters and Guests Good afternoon. And here goes the proverbial prejudice, women can’t drive and men can’t cook. And the lore is also about how I have become a legendary licensed killer. When I was 9 years old, apparently my father tried to teach me “riding a bicycle”, but it seems I ran around screaming my father is trying to kill me instead of teaching. As an adult, when I tried to acquire the skill of cycling, my father had his segment of giggle on that day. It was comic on to witness my learning since it resembled as though I was waging a war with kids there. And, when I notified my father that I am buying a car and learning driving, my mind said, Suchithra, one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we can drive and that’s not true. And my father aptly said - first it’s better to learn to cross the road. The resilient I never stopped. Never never never give up was my motto. So, finally I decided to learn driving and buy a car. I was in Chennai then. I joined a driving school. After prolonged deliberations, I joined the nearest possible one. But the problem was, we could converse in only one unique language broken TamEnglish. He didn’t know English and I Tamil. So, we decided to strike a balance between our phenomenal cultural and linguistic integration with our broken English and broken Tamil. From 30 days class, I only could decipher the ravishing 7 phrases go straight; go left; go right; clutch, break and the accelerator. Final testing day came to get my DL, deadly license – driving license. It appeared like an IAS exam. And for my grace and poise I obtained the great Licence to Kill. Next week, I bought a car and from the showroom I was driving it down to my home. Well, that was the first time I was ever driving a brand new vehicle without any help and my friend was in his car driving ahead of me. It was the final curve and my friend crossed the signal and went ahead, I got stuck, I started shivering the moment I didn’t see him and got so panicked and I saw a road roller coming from the opposite side. For that minute I forgot that there is something called as break in my car and just stopped the car and I was in an imaginary world thinking the road roller, like those filmy scenes will break down and smash my car so, I got down from the car and waved and screamed him to stop the road-roller. And, there was a big tussle as if some accident happened, everyone gathered. And then later slowly I put my head down and relaxed and moved and carried on to home. From that day onwards, it struck in my mind that the car is not for me. So, again to overcome that, I once took my father as co-passenger and gave him a drop to my uncle’s home. All went fine with few breaks and humps. And my uncle asked – how’s your driving now? My father who quietly tells I was holding my life in my hand since 30 minutes just now I breathed a bit. And there were my colleagues, who used to give me ideas as to how can I overcome my fear- someone said – “maybe we should ask entire Chennai people to insure their life and property so that you can drive on the road”; and another said – “look Karuna Nidhi has two wives and in the morning he goes to the first one – that’s near your office and evening to the second, that’s near your home- so, no traffic on the road….all you need to do is follow Mr. Karunanidhi”. So, I completely am the example for that proverbial proverb- women can’t drive. Now before you ladies get angry, let me tell you a fact - A study conducted by the University of Michigan has determined that women get into more accidents than men, even though men do about 60% of the driving, while women are in the 40% range. The danger spots for women tend to be highway ramps, crossroads and T-junctions. Maybe they can’t make a concrete decision on which way to go. One theory for the higher crash ratio — other than that women are putting on their makeup while driving — is that women are shorter in general. So, let’s learn from history and be better and skilled driver, let’s drive our driving performance to the next level. I am trying my best to be a better driver. Just only that, if ever you see me anywhere on the road with a vehicle – don’t turn right; don’t turn left, don’t leave; stay wherever you are- because you never know where am I heading.