Driver at your service
Congratulations!! Now you have got a new driver. A person you can trust giving the stearing of your brand new Merc. Here is how your driver got trained.
Have a sound theoretical knowledge of driving. Thanks to all the drivers alongside whom I have travelled a lot of kms on various journeys. Knew when to change gears, when to slow down, .... Had been thinking of learning to drive from the time when I was 18 yrs old. The age, because my father was very particular abt letting me drive only when I am of the right age to get the license. So when I was 18, my dad got me a driving license. Which means license to learn driving.
Thought of joining a driving school from my B Tech 2nd year but probably now was the right time. Got the number of a driving school from one of their car-top. SATIJA Driving School 26192178. That is for somebody who wants to learn driving in Delhi. Also had Gaurav Raja to accompany me in this new venture. A secret. I never wanted to learn driving alone. I dont know why!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very thrilled as I would be driving a car through the busy roads of south delhi. But all the thrill ended when I went for a try on the first day. It is all so easy. Later came to know that it was all EASY because the coach was handling it from his end. After the first class, had a pretty steady stearing and a good road sense from my side (whenever car goes to the left and about to brush on the sides of nearby vehicle, tutor will turn the strearing). Still gear and clutch combination not very good. Everytime I try to change from neutral to 1st gear, the car goes off. Reason - not enough acceleration.
My driving style is in total contrast with Raja's. I drive so slow that accelator is never sufficient and he puts his feet on the accelarator so heavily that he is always above 40kmph. Day after day, with practice through the traffic with lot of red-yellow-green bulbs flashing on the streets, stop and go at each signal, and a few U turns taught me how to control the clutch and the accelerator from neutral to 1st.
Next comes the problem of taking turns and reverse gear. After the 4th day I felt that the practice is ok on the main roads with traffic, but there are so many flyovers in south delhi that you dont have to take sharp turns. So took a venture in to the galees of R K Puram. Didnt know where I was driving through but took left and right turns randomly. Result - Reached a dead end on a road. WOW. Now I could change to reverse gear and back the car to a long distance back to the previous turn. That is really difficult to balance the stearing and get the car into the right direction. I was imagining how easy it is ride a cycle. Just get down, pick up the cycle and reverse it.
Now something about my driving partner RAJA. With the word GO, he shifts to 1st 2nd 3rd gear in 60 seconds. Never brakes before he is within a few metres of the man crossing the road. And almost always overruns the traffic lights. A regular quote of the coach to him - "itne jaldi mein kyon ho. tez chalane se kuch nahi seekhoge".
After day 6, we had had enough of driving during day. So asked for a try at night. And the training ended with a Rs 101/- as a token of gurudakshina. Though this was asked on the first day even before start of the training.
Another interesting incident happened during the classes. Had a discussion on the coach about the payment procedures. Result - Made a deal with the coach to train Ankur Gupta for 900 bucks though we pay 1200 bucks to the owner of the driving school....... Will have a party from Ankur soon.
Ankur Gupta another rash driver. Never takes his foot off the accelerator. Uses the left feet to brake the car. And the stearing never straight. But that was only after 2 classes. Hope he improves faster. Today he gave us the news that he had successfully created an accident scene. What happened? Braked suddenly and the two-wheeler behind him collided onto the back of the car. Few headlights crashed. Nothing else.
Thats how your driver was polished in 7 days spanning a whole month.
Have a sound theoretical knowledge of driving. Thanks to all the drivers alongside whom I have travelled a lot of kms on various journeys. Knew when to change gears, when to slow down, .... Had been thinking of learning to drive from the time when I was 18 yrs old. The age, because my father was very particular abt letting me drive only when I am of the right age to get the license. So when I was 18, my dad got me a driving license. Which means license to learn driving.
Thought of joining a driving school from my B Tech 2nd year but probably now was the right time. Got the number of a driving school from one of their car-top. SATIJA Driving School 26192178. That is for somebody who wants to learn driving in Delhi. Also had Gaurav Raja to accompany me in this new venture. A secret. I never wanted to learn driving alone. I dont know why!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very thrilled as I would be driving a car through the busy roads of south delhi. But all the thrill ended when I went for a try on the first day. It is all so easy. Later came to know that it was all EASY because the coach was handling it from his end. After the first class, had a pretty steady stearing and a good road sense from my side (whenever car goes to the left and about to brush on the sides of nearby vehicle, tutor will turn the strearing). Still gear and clutch combination not very good. Everytime I try to change from neutral to 1st gear, the car goes off. Reason - not enough acceleration.
My driving style is in total contrast with Raja's. I drive so slow that accelator is never sufficient and he puts his feet on the accelarator so heavily that he is always above 40kmph. Day after day, with practice through the traffic with lot of red-yellow-green bulbs flashing on the streets, stop and go at each signal, and a few U turns taught me how to control the clutch and the accelerator from neutral to 1st.
Next comes the problem of taking turns and reverse gear. After the 4th day I felt that the practice is ok on the main roads with traffic, but there are so many flyovers in south delhi that you dont have to take sharp turns. So took a venture in to the galees of R K Puram. Didnt know where I was driving through but took left and right turns randomly. Result - Reached a dead end on a road. WOW. Now I could change to reverse gear and back the car to a long distance back to the previous turn. That is really difficult to balance the stearing and get the car into the right direction. I was imagining how easy it is ride a cycle. Just get down, pick up the cycle and reverse it.
Now something about my driving partner RAJA. With the word GO, he shifts to 1st 2nd 3rd gear in 60 seconds. Never brakes before he is within a few metres of the man crossing the road. And almost always overruns the traffic lights. A regular quote of the coach to him - "itne jaldi mein kyon ho. tez chalane se kuch nahi seekhoge".
After day 6, we had had enough of driving during day. So asked for a try at night. And the training ended with a Rs 101/- as a token of gurudakshina. Though this was asked on the first day even before start of the training.
Another interesting incident happened during the classes. Had a discussion on the coach about the payment procedures. Result - Made a deal with the coach to train Ankur Gupta for 900 bucks though we pay 1200 bucks to the owner of the driving school....... Will have a party from Ankur soon.
Ankur Gupta another rash driver. Never takes his foot off the accelerator. Uses the left feet to brake the car. And the stearing never straight. But that was only after 2 classes. Hope he improves faster. Today he gave us the news that he had successfully created an accident scene. What happened? Braked suddenly and the two-wheeler behind him collided onto the back of the car. Few headlights crashed. Nothing else.
Thats how your driver was polished in 7 days spanning a whole month.
Comments
And I can certainly invite him to give me my first ride on my own car, whenever I have one. Will you oblige, VG ?