Hari Schumacher

After keeping our Xing cool and clean in the confines of our basement, I and Ranji decided to stretch its legs and make her do some exercise. We also wanted to have a feel of driving our own set of wheels. Keeping in mind the horrendous Bangalore traffic and our fickle confidence levels, we decided to call our friend who assisted us in getting the car home from the showroom. Since he believed in baptism by fire, he decided to take us all the way to ITPL, or rather, wanted us to take him and his wife all the way to ITPL.

To tell that the journey was eventful would be an understatement. It all started right at the start. I decided to get behind the wheels first and wanted the experience right from the beginning. The beginning was to take our car out through the labyrinth known as our basement parking area. After shouted encouragements from Ranji and my friends, I managed to finally reach the foot of the exit. Now, the path goes up to the service road, and I was geared (pun unintended) up for the challenge. With our security guard, Thilak, directing me, I pressed on the accelerator lightly, or so I thought. The vehicle just shot up the path to the road, with Thilak scrambling for safety in double quick time. Surprisingly, I was more afraid of scratching the car than anything else.

Having seen my rather dubious driving skills, I could see apprehension, and in some cases downright fear, in their eyes as they stepped into the car. I quickly quelled all their doubts with a reasonably okay drive until Marathalli. There, I was afraid of having to stop at the intersection and starting again, but luckily for me, the car decided to behave. Just as I was feeling rather pleased about the whole thing, the traffic decided to play a cruel game with me. On the upward slope of the Marathalli railway overbridge, there was a traffic jam. I dutifully stopped the car, but while starting it again, I met with resistance. My left foot decided to stay put on the clutch whereas my right foot was totally confused about whether to press the brake or accelerator. With such a confusion raging between the two legs and an even more serious confusion raging behind our car, my right foot made the decision to go for the accelerator. That resulted in a fantastic-to-ears screeching sound as the car shot up the road. My friend was so impressed (and obviously scared) and wanted to know how I managed to make that noise.

I drove till Kundanahalli Gate rather uneventfully after that and gave the reins, or rather the steering wheel, to Ranji. I felt she was rather tense right from the outset, and she went ahead and proved me right. There was a turn to be taken at the end of a small slope. With my friend asking her to brake and then turn, she promptly went ahead and pressed on the accelerator, giving the steering wheel and almighty rip at the same time. I felt as Michael Schumacher taking the final turn towards chequered flag in Monza. The tension at having committed such an error coupled with the elation at having finally made the turn without much problems, Ranji forgot about turning the steering wheel back to its position and we very nearly rammed a truck. That was almost the final nail in the coffin, and her confidence was all set to be buried, when finally the Ranji spirit rose to the fore. She said that if she quit then, she would never gather the courage to drive and proceeded to drive for another 200 meters before she finally handed over the controls to our friend.

He took us inside ITPL, and after having loads of icecreams, we came back to our place, sans any incidents. For a regular driver, this was nothing major; for a first timer, this was an adventure. I am happy for me, Ranji, and the car to have come rather unscathed from it. We are planning for a similar adventure today; watch this space for more on that.