Thirteen more classes left for her test. If she managed to get twelve ticks on the incomprehensible Arabic sheet on her test day, Naina could have her driving licence in hand. She had driven ten years in India. She had driven a Maruti and later a Hyundai car holding a valid Indian driving licence. What an irony, here she was re-learning from scratch how to drive in this new country. Yaris was a bigger car, but she did not find any difference when she drove the first time. However, the excitement she had a decade ago had waned.
She had always wanted to drive her father's fiat in her teens. But her father had strictly instructed their driver never to pass the keys to her. She sulked, cajoled her father and even bribed the driver. But Naina's tricks did not move a single facial muscle of her Dad nor changed the constant smile of Ramsingh. Mom never had a say in these matters.
Naina's husband, Pradeep had himself never driven a car. Hence when he enrolled for driving lessons, he suggested that she too join. Pradeep had planned to buy a car once they both acquired their driving licences. Naina was on top of the world. Her first lesson at the Singh driving school in Hyderabad. She had woken up early, all raring to go. She got her slot a week later than her husband. Her aim was to impress her parents with her driving skills. They were visiting her after a fortnight. She even imagined how far her Dad's jaw would drop, if she picked them from the station and drove them home. The very thought gave her a thrill. She paid complete attention to her driver's instructions. Her over enthusiasm pushed her to cover three classes on some days. She was confidently driving on roads with her trainer monitoring her.
Two more days left for her parents to come. She still had to learn reverse parking. But she decided to give it amiss. She wanted to go car shopping with her husband. Pradeep's insistence on not to do so fell on deaf ears. She argued that she was already reverse parking their scooter and so could easily reverse park their old car.
A loud burp broke her thought. Prasad longed for a different tea burp. The tea at the small shop in the driving academy had tasted the same last three years. The fragrance of jasmine flowers and the tinkling of bangles was also missing. Sunita was fond of glass bangles and flowers. He could not afford to buy jasmine flowers everyday. He was a poor fisherman and she a maid. In the small shanty hut, she planted few jasmine plants gifted by her master's wife.
He handed her the keys and was about to reach for the small tobacco powder pouch in his pant pocket, when Naina from inside the car was signaling him to come along. She was raring to go on the road. Today would be her first day out on the roads. Prasad quickly placed the tobacco powder in his lower jaw and was relishing the taste. Naina started the car and was easily gliding it on the roads. Prasad seated in the front, was still lingering on his wife Sunita's thoughts and her swollen belly. He still had to save enough to see his tiny face. Famine few years before had forced him to move away from her and join here as a driver in a teaching school. He was lucky for in leisure time in his village was driving his friend's old Ambassador and that earned him this job. He had never had any official driving lessons and yet he was earning a livelihood out of it now.
Today, it was a day of a new cuisine for Naina on the road. He regaled how he taught his wife, cleaning and cooking fish. In seven lessons, Prasad had taught at least 10/12 varieties of fish preparations to Naina. Two for the price of one. From the moment he entered the car, he would start chatting and the entire conversation would be about fish and not driving.
But today's lesson she really wanted to focus and not repeat past blunder. She remembered how she drove Pradeep on the lanes on Hyderabad, seeing the sparkle in his eyes when she drove easily. They had gone for a movie and ended it with a lovely trip to a Chinese restaurant. She checked the time, it was getting 10 at night when they were entering their apartment block. The over confident Naina, having impressed her husband with her driving skills, confidently reversed to park in their slot. "Thud", came a loud noise, She had banged the car on the pole while reversing it. The new car had a dent, the car's backlight cracked open. Naina had a shock, she thought she could reverse easily, how foolish of her in judging that a four wheeler and two wheeler had similar reverse parking methods. She looked at Pradeep. He grinned and enquired how many days she had learnt reverse parking. She gave a sheepish grin. She still had to learn to impress her parents, Dad in particular.
This time, she carefully practiced her reverse parking properly. Finally the day came and she passed her driving test. Elated, she went to thank Prasad and offered him some extra tip for his driving lessons, for she had two courses for the price of one. She would miss his verbal cooking lessons. She had learnt names of varieties of fish, hamour, sea bass etc., though she would never cook them. She was climbing the steps of the van to return back. Prasad shouted "Madam, please try all the recipes" Naina, nodded and a smile escaped her lips. She was a vegetarian.
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