The baby steps...
I see to it that I try and enjoy every moment of my life to the fullest. But sometimes (actually always), when I think too much, I realize that I am just an ordinary person on this earth, who has spent a moment doing something extremely ordinary. I am here in the US, waiting for a project in my new job as a consultant. I have no driving license. I am in the process of getting one. Two weeks back I gave my driving knowledge test, after I got the company of my friend Saurabh to do the same.
He, like me, had just changed jobs and was awaiting his start date in two weeks. So we spent that free week together, reading up a bit, watching movies, playing carrom, sharing work experiences, cooking etc..He is of the opinion that if one wants to finish a long pending job, and does not find the motivation to complete the job, then one must join forces with a like minded individual, with a similar mission to accomplish. He told me this in one of our philosophical discussions. I said that if thats the case, lets start the driver's licence application process. It would be a wish come true for me to get a drivers license. He agreed. One of our friends had given me the online link which contained a question bank related to the driving test. Over the next few hours we meticulously scanned each of the 172 questions and answers. By the end of it, I was half dead...with boredom. I needed some excitement, some way to know where I was going with this, where I stood in the race for obtaining my drivers license. I needed to give a sample test. I told Saurabh, and he half agreed with me. He was of the opinion that we ought to read through the drivers manual first before starting the tests. It was a friday. In my excitement that day, I had suggested that we give the test on Saturday morning as soon as the DMV office opened at 8. I was in the same state of mind when I pushed for giving at least one practice test first and then, based on our scores, we decide what to do next. We called our respective friends on the phone and got the online links for the driving sample tests.These guys whom we called had obtained their licenses and were driving their own cars already. They were of the opinion that the test is a cakewalk. Listening to them increased my confidence. And with that we gave our first test. The result...we screwed up..I got 35/50 and Saurabh got 34/50. The cutoff for passing the test is 40. I told Saurabh that with such little preparation if we could score this much, then all we need to do was to keep solving sample tests. And thats what we did. At one point we thought of postponing our actual test date. But we did not let that thought grow on us. After around 10 tests, (3a.m.) we were cruising with scores of 45-48. The simple thing about these tests are that 75% of the questions are repeated in every test. Its the final few which are familiar but they are twisted everytime, and they make one think. Although it was just another of the numerous objective tests for us, it was an important one, at least for me, since it was my first step towards driving a car. Till now, I have never driven a car, and I feel sick thinking about it. In this country, every kid begins driving cars from 16 years of age. When I was 16, my dad could not afford a car, and I never had a dream of driving one. My life had blended so well with the Mumbai Public transport system, that owning or driving a car meant, for me and my dad, adding traffic to the already screwed up system. So I had never bothered to learn to drive. I realize that it was a silly mistake on my part, since I, without an Indian driving license, will now have to give the additional road test, which is supposed to be tougher than the knowledge test.
Anyways, Saturday morning, Saurabh and I went over to the DMV office, and by 12pm we were out victorious, Saurabh with the prestigious driving license, and me with the date for my road test three months from then. We celebrated by having a hearty breakfast at Burger King. It was as though a heavy load had been lifted off our head.
Thats exactly my point. So much concentrated fun-filled efforts in the last 24 hours had resulted in us passing the driving knowledge test. When I go to think of it, actually, its nothing great. Every Tom, Dick and Harry does it everyday of the week. I was just happy that I passed a test, however simple it was, after a long time. But there is still so much to be done.
I still need to learn to drive a car!
He, like me, had just changed jobs and was awaiting his start date in two weeks. So we spent that free week together, reading up a bit, watching movies, playing carrom, sharing work experiences, cooking etc..He is of the opinion that if one wants to finish a long pending job, and does not find the motivation to complete the job, then one must join forces with a like minded individual, with a similar mission to accomplish. He told me this in one of our philosophical discussions. I said that if thats the case, lets start the driver's licence application process. It would be a wish come true for me to get a drivers license. He agreed. One of our friends had given me the online link which contained a question bank related to the driving test. Over the next few hours we meticulously scanned each of the 172 questions and answers. By the end of it, I was half dead...with boredom. I needed some excitement, some way to know where I was going with this, where I stood in the race for obtaining my drivers license. I needed to give a sample test. I told Saurabh, and he half agreed with me. He was of the opinion that we ought to read through the drivers manual first before starting the tests. It was a friday. In my excitement that day, I had suggested that we give the test on Saturday morning as soon as the DMV office opened at 8. I was in the same state of mind when I pushed for giving at least one practice test first and then, based on our scores, we decide what to do next. We called our respective friends on the phone and got the online links for the driving sample tests.These guys whom we called had obtained their licenses and were driving their own cars already. They were of the opinion that the test is a cakewalk. Listening to them increased my confidence. And with that we gave our first test. The result...we screwed up..I got 35/50 and Saurabh got 34/50. The cutoff for passing the test is 40. I told Saurabh that with such little preparation if we could score this much, then all we need to do was to keep solving sample tests. And thats what we did. At one point we thought of postponing our actual test date. But we did not let that thought grow on us. After around 10 tests, (3a.m.) we were cruising with scores of 45-48. The simple thing about these tests are that 75% of the questions are repeated in every test. Its the final few which are familiar but they are twisted everytime, and they make one think. Although it was just another of the numerous objective tests for us, it was an important one, at least for me, since it was my first step towards driving a car. Till now, I have never driven a car, and I feel sick thinking about it. In this country, every kid begins driving cars from 16 years of age. When I was 16, my dad could not afford a car, and I never had a dream of driving one. My life had blended so well with the Mumbai Public transport system, that owning or driving a car meant, for me and my dad, adding traffic to the already screwed up system. So I had never bothered to learn to drive. I realize that it was a silly mistake on my part, since I, without an Indian driving license, will now have to give the additional road test, which is supposed to be tougher than the knowledge test.
Anyways, Saturday morning, Saurabh and I went over to the DMV office, and by 12pm we were out victorious, Saurabh with the prestigious driving license, and me with the date for my road test three months from then. We celebrated by having a hearty breakfast at Burger King. It was as though a heavy load had been lifted off our head.
Thats exactly my point. So much concentrated fun-filled efforts in the last 24 hours had resulted in us passing the driving knowledge test. When I go to think of it, actually, its nothing great. Every Tom, Dick and Harry does it everyday of the week. I was just happy that I passed a test, however simple it was, after a long time. But there is still so much to be done.
I still need to learn to drive a car!
posted by Praful at 6:28 AM
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