This happened about 10 years ago. My cousin had bought a new black Activa and I asked for a ride. I was expecting a no because I had never ridden before, but he readily said yes. He sat behind me and we just took off. In my head, I was thinking it’s going to be a cakewalk, for most of you it might be, but it wasn’t for me. While taking a left turn, I accelerated carelessly and we fell into a ditch. God’s grace, nothing happened to us other than few slight bruises here and there. I was just worried about the new vehicle and not our tiny bruises. He definitely felt bad, but didn’t say a word. I made a decision that day. I promised myself I would not ride a two-wheeler ever again. And that was it, I never thought of riding and I knew it was not my cup of tea. I felt under confident and terrified at the sight of a two-wheeler.
Time passed by and getting a vehicle never crossed my mind even after the havoc and inconvenience auto drivers caused on a daily basis. I was conditioned to their overcharging and arrogance (except for a handful). This continued till I got a job. The location of my office was such that, no auto drivers were ready to come without tantrums, curses, exorbitant pricing and sometimes they just wouldn’t come. Taxis were not so common then and I was not ready to shell out so much.
“Why don’t you buy a two-wheeler or use the car? It’s just a 7-8 km ride from home”, my husband said one day. Two-wheeler I was petrified of and four-wheeler I didn’t know how to drive. I just snubbed it and continued with my cumbersome process. Fed up of my constant cribbing, my husband, got me a two-wheeler. “You just wasted your money”, I said.
First few days, I was horrified that I would hurt myself or kill someone. I gave up, but my husband didn’t. He persisted that I practice. So for a few months he trained me every day, only after 4 months I was able to ride all by myself. It’s just practice, nothing else, he said. And he made me get rid of the fear for which I would be eternally grateful. Riding gave me a sense of independence. Now, I am contemplating on learning driving too. Sometimes, all you need is just a push.
So the point here is not about my meagre triumph, any Tom, Dick and Harry can ride a bike or drive a car. All I am trying to say here is we have a tendency to give up on things easily even before trying. It’s easier to give up, I know, but just give it a shot and practice and practice, you will surely succeed. Practice certainly makes a man perfect, at least close to perfect!
PS: Btw, am not with my husband anymore, I wrote this in 2013-14 I guess, publishing it now. Also, I drive now. I have one more piece of entertaining article about my driving coming up soon 😂 it has a lot of drama, accident, police and courts 😂. Watch this space!
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