FEAR RIDES HIGH...
The lady in scooter is going in a straight line. Just in front of our car. She doesn't budge this or that way. My husband was getting so irritated, the traffic light was about to blink red. We are already late to school to pick the kids. He honks, she doesn't sway. Honks again, she shrugs. Then revs up and whiz away. The signal turns red and we are left on the spot.
``Why do people take out their scooters on main road if they are not confident enough,'' my man fumes. These women, he adds. And that hits the spot with me. I argue that I have seen men doing worse on roads. And women driving SUVs with the ease of navigating a bicycle. He tried telling me it was not about gender but about road sense. But I had already digressed to the wrong side.
``This is why I don't ride a two-wheeler. The four-wheeler people get on our nerves,'' I said trying to use the moment to make certain points clear. But failed miserably. ``That lady. She would have been 50. Maybe she learned to ride a scooter recently. Just look at her nerve to take it out on the main road. And you!,'' he turns the table on me. And brutally takes the side of that lady he had abhorred a few minutes back.
It is with chagrin that I always listen to this argument. Because I have no answer to it. I have been driving my car for the last 11 years. But have never build up the spirit to take a two-wheeler on road. I confess, am simply scared.
In my college days, first my uncle and then my brother had tried to teach me. I used to ride a little bit too. To nearby spots, within a safe radius. Once I lost balance when the scooter rode into a heap of metal which was lying on the side of the road and my friend who was sitting behind had a nasty fall. That was the end.
Two years back, my husband had tried to teach me. We devoted some nights to refresh my skills. Nights, because I didn't want to learn on daylight when the world was watching. Again, while taking a bend on a small lane, I just screamed, took away both hands from the handle and declared non-cooperation. The reason evades me. My husband was aghast. That was the dead end.
Time and again, he keeps telling me that I should take it up as a challenge and learn to drive a scooter. But I keep repeating, I feel safe in a car. Maybe one day when all the roads are straight and there are no bends or curves, I might...
``Why do people take out their scooters on main road if they are not confident enough,'' my man fumes. These women, he adds. And that hits the spot with me. I argue that I have seen men doing worse on roads. And women driving SUVs with the ease of navigating a bicycle. He tried telling me it was not about gender but about road sense. But I had already digressed to the wrong side.
``This is why I don't ride a two-wheeler. The four-wheeler people get on our nerves,'' I said trying to use the moment to make certain points clear. But failed miserably. ``That lady. She would have been 50. Maybe she learned to ride a scooter recently. Just look at her nerve to take it out on the main road. And you!,'' he turns the table on me. And brutally takes the side of that lady he had abhorred a few minutes back.
It is with chagrin that I always listen to this argument. Because I have no answer to it. I have been driving my car for the last 11 years. But have never build up the spirit to take a two-wheeler on road. I confess, am simply scared.
In my college days, first my uncle and then my brother had tried to teach me. I used to ride a little bit too. To nearby spots, within a safe radius. Once I lost balance when the scooter rode into a heap of metal which was lying on the side of the road and my friend who was sitting behind had a nasty fall. That was the end.
Two years back, my husband had tried to teach me. We devoted some nights to refresh my skills. Nights, because I didn't want to learn on daylight when the world was watching. Again, while taking a bend on a small lane, I just screamed, took away both hands from the handle and declared non-cooperation. The reason evades me. My husband was aghast. That was the dead end.
Time and again, he keeps telling me that I should take it up as a challenge and learn to drive a scooter. But I keep repeating, I feel safe in a car. Maybe one day when all the roads are straight and there are no bends or curves, I might...
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