Today am grateful to Rajinder for having taught me how to drive a car !
When we shifted to Delhi in 1997, I didn’t know how to drive a car and we didn’t own one as we were anyway bankrupt. In Delhi, the process of building back our lives started. By 1999, Krishnan was given a second hand car by the pan masala company that he was consulting for and it was a white Maruti 800. Krishnan had learnt to drive in a proper driving school in Chennai and had his license ready. A few days of driving around and he became quite comfortable with driving a car.
I had never learnt to drive a car, but somehow always saw myself driving one. While I could ride gearless scooters and tried learning how to ride a motorbike, I never managed to do it. When I met Krishnan he had my then favourite bike – a Kawasaki and I was happy being a pillion rider. Once the Maruti 800 came home I wanted to learn driving :).
Our dear friend Rajinder, the first person whose face we saw in Delhi as we alighted from the train and who has proven to be our lucky charm, immediately offered to teach me driving. It took him 3 to 4 days of teaching me and I caught on. I still remember the slope in Patparganj where he taught me the concept of the first gear and how the vehicle moves up on its own with just a little acceleration …. well, I took to driving like I was born for it. I absolutely love to drive and from that day in 1999 to today, I must have driven nearly 100,000+ kms.
Thank you Rajinder, for teaching me how to drive and for being a wonderful human being besides being our lucky charm.