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It was one of those days when you wake up with the promising feeling of your age-old dream getting sculpted into a gleaming figurine. No I was not expecting a placement call from the German manufacturing giant Schlumberger neither was I waiting for the results of the SMS contest which would put me in the league of those lucky few to dine with actress Trisha; all I was anticipating was a ring from my Driving instructor. Yes, cute and simple, it was my first driving lesson today and Man! I was keyed up. Now to clear up things, let me explain, I am a 19 year old automobile aficionado who would happily trade his life for the latest edition of the automobile monthly or for just a look at the V12 engine of Lamborghini Murcielago, but has never ever touched a steering wheel.
Tarmac aroma

So here I was all geared up, waiting for my instructor like an ideal protégé. I always had this tacit confidence in me that I had amazing innate driving capabilities which were waiting to be explored and if guided I could easily replace the lousy Liuzzi out of Force India in no time. Just as these thoughts were doing their daily rounds I saw a white Tata Indica crawling towards me. Yes there was my Guru, my guide to driving prowess. He was a short man and the closest match to Quickgunn Murugan. He gestured and I wormed my way into the driving seat. He then rushed me through the “ABC” of paddling and then the gears and then instructed me to grab the steering. My maiden touch with the steering wheel instilled “the-whole-world-under-my-palm” feeling and I was ready to conquer the Tarmac when my “Guru” snubbed and grounded me. I made contact with the accelerator and soon I found myself learning gear-shifts while engaging and disengaging the clutch. Now this was an odd experience, as I was well acquainted with the mechanics behind the operations in an automobile, thanks to my classes, but to actually experience it, was a whole new ball-game. Hearing the grunt of the V2 and feeling the Hydraulics and pneumatics of the steering and brake system brought an ear-to-ear smile on my already cheerful visage. I cajoled the roads giving the instructor a million heart attacks as he shrieked “ayyo” on every turn that I made. I, as anticipated, was not bad at driving that is if you overlook my instructor’s thoughts and reactions of the pedestrians. After an approximate 10km drive I was back at my place and the instructor heaved a deep sigh of relief. I could easily make out the fright on his face . But I was happy, a day closer to my dream of breaking the sound speed barrier. I smirked!

Prince Sabahut Ali, Pre-final Mechanical Engineering, Vellore

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