Driving - The Aftermath

This is a continuation of my blog about driving attempts :) . I have seen movies with chasing and following scenes. Never in my life had I thought that I might be doing that. Yes, after determining to find the exact test route for my driving test, suddenly the idea hit us. Why don’t we follow some one whoz taking the actual test. I think it was the time all angels were sleeping :). So we went to the office the morning before my test schedule. We parked in the near by street corner waiting for some one to drove out of the office for test. I was both thrilled and scared and Raaz was cool about it [nirya chase panni irupaaro ? ;)].
Then a car came out and we started following it. It hit the main road and within a minute it pulled over - so a part of test. I was telling Raaz, "OMG, here they test this pull over in the main road?” We didn’t pull over immediately but we continued to ride and after few feet we pulled over and were waiting for the test car to pass us. [How many movies we had watched... : D :D]. Then after 2 minutes the car crossed us and we again followed it. But within 2 minutes, it pulled over again. I got scared thinking that test was gonna be tough because they are pulling over twice, may be the test wont be that easy etc. Again we repeated the same act. That test car started again, we started our engine and waiting for the car to pass us. But this time, the car didn’t pass us, instead, it came near us and the instructor told us "Don’t follow the route". Now you just imagine my condition. I was almost fainted. Raaz took it easy [ulla tension aayirupaaru...]. He said "Sorry, we won’t do that again".
From that point I totally lost my confidence that I would ever pass. I got lots of questions. What if he remembers me well? What if he noted down our car number and complained? What if the authority comes & gives us warning or ticket? etc. That day was a hell to me. Evening when Raaz took me for a test drive to that office again, I was in full tension. After seeing the way I drove, Raaz suggested to go home then.
The morning came and I was having all sorts of imaginations. Ours was the first appointment for the test. We went early & stood in the queue. As soon the office opened, we completed the basic formalities and were searching for the instructor. By the time we saw where we supposed to go, there are already two other cars in front of us for taking the test. I was very upset because we wasted time. But I have to say that the delay was for good. Because the instructor who went with the first car was the same one who caught us red handed the previous day. I escaped.
Finally my turn came. Test started with the usual protocols which I was very familiar. Once we hit the road, I started relaxing and this time it went very smooth. For all the efforts I took to remember almost every rule for driving, I know I would pass as soon as I did lane change and rode perfectly. [I even left my hair without knot, so tht the instructor can see that I m moving head for navigating the road ;). ithu epdi iruku]. So the test went on for 20 minutes and finally I passed with flying colors. I was very happy and Raaz treated me with American breakfast [onnum ileenga...kaancha bun num, vennaiyum + coffee :)]. So I was very excited the whole, couldn’t wait to tell my brother that I passed. Aaatha naan paasaaiten :) .
From then everything became an experience to me. When I took my car to drive alone; when I rode first time in free way;when I rode first time in rain. Long drives at nights, long drives on a snowy road [patches only], taking my in-laws in the car etc. I thought the excitement will be over within a day but everyday is a new experience for me. I remember once my colleague BN said it would be lovely to drive a car in a cloudy evening. That time I thought, how could one enjoy when driving with concentration? But then once when I started driving, I realized how true it was. And the journey is going on and on with more experiences in store...

Driving - The Attempt

This is a continuation of my previous blog
Well, after many trial drives, Raaz decided to book an appointment for my driving test. I wasn't that sure about taking this test but Raaz was telling me not to think about the result but the test. Like the trial drives, it was a trial test. [click aachunna ok ;)]. I went for the testing through driving school. When went to the place an hour before and he made me to drive along the testing route. To be frank i was not at all confident. There were too many things to remember like u need to navigate the road every now & then, u need to look at the mirrors before stopping or starting the car at signal, look for pedestrians etc. The driving teacher was actually scaring me and more over as i was so used to our car, i was not at all comfortable with the teacher's car. The car jerked hardly every time i hit the breaks... and i couldnt get the intensity of the accelerator... but some how i was able to drive in control.
Finally my turn came. The examiner was not even smiling [may be part of their job]. As part of protocol, he was asking me certain questions and i was answering promptly [athelaam correcta soleeduvomla...evalo training athuku :)]. Then we hit the road everything seemed to go fine until he asked me to pullover & park. Well u know, that was the one perfect thing i learned when i practice with Raaz. Then he asked me drive again. Everything was going fine... i navigated the road, put the indicator and when i was driving forward, dunno from where it came, another car came & before i hit the brake, the examiner hit the other break[they generally have 2 breaks for such cars] and it was that moment i realized that i lost the chance of passing. It was a critical mistake and i don't remember what happened after that. I came to my sense only when he was explaining why i was failed. Well, i spoke with Raaz immediately and as a normal reaction - i was trying to put all the blame on the other car...[ippo kooda i don't from where it came :)]. Raaz was cool about it because he anticipated it. well it was a bad experience and lesson well learned.
After this i decided two things, first was that i should practice more and make use of the maximum time limit of learner's permit . Second was to take the test in our car rather than going for a driving school vehicle.
It took me some days to drive again with confidence. In the mean while we shifted our house to a new area & i gotta job immediately. Now with one car it was hard for us to manage but luckily both of our offices were near & so every day Raaz dropped & picked me from office. It was a very good chance that i continued my driving practice and yeah, of course along with the usual scoldings & fighting. ;). After 2 months of such practice, Raaz was so confident that he used to sleep in the passenger seat while i was driving and that helped me to concentrate more on following the test protocols rather than answering to "y did u go that way...y didn't u follow this rule..." type of q's ;). Raaz one fine day gave me green signal that i can take the driving test.[ he later told me that he was not sure whether i would pass :)]. The area, the driving test office everything was new to us. We didn't know how strict the officers will be, what was the pass rate, the traffic at the time of test etc. But still, we blocked the date for test. This time we were very keen in booking the time when the road might be with less traffic. Heavy traffic most time leads to more mistakes.
Now with the date booked, i wanted to drive in the test route to get familiar with. But unfortunately we both didnt know the route of testing. We went to the office one sunday and drove around the area with certain assumptions about the route...basically we tried many probabilities across the roads for route. Still i was not satisfied and i was asking raaz whether there was any other way to find the route. The thoughts & incidents following this discussion were something which we both will never forget in our lives.