The Overcoming of Phobia of Driving.

It has been almost a month now since I bought this scooter. 11.11.11 was the date when I got its possession. To do so, I really had to cajole a lot of courage and determination, and money, of course! Buying a vehicle was one of the toughest and courageous decisions that I’d have ever made in my life, more than to continue working with BHEL. It is not like that I don’t know how to drive a vehicle; it was just that a couple of incidents resulted in the development of fear of driving that had made an unwanted place in my heart.

Even though I knew how to drive a 2-wheeler, I always had a phobia about driving. I wish after seeing that bloody truck, which was meandering all over the road, I had not dropped off that bike on that day when my father was training me about driving. On that day itself, I had decided to keep myself away from sitting on the front seat of a bike. Afterwards, a few more attempts were made to learn driving, which went futile. Meanwhile, my love for walking non-stop for hours was growing. I could not help myself after all this, but foster the decision I had already made. Well, those decisions were made by me. I was the producer. And I only was the merciless critic. And when this happens, anybody can make a guess what would be the output. My whole college life just passed without driving a bike on the beautiful roads of Chandigarh. Although I tried to get a few friends’ bikes a couple of times, but then, even if they would’ve wanted to help me out, they’d have taken calculated risks only. In my case, well, I don’t have anything to say. Since I knew how to ride a bicycle, all that I got to drive was a two-stroke vehicle, I’d always be thankful to Vimmy & Shubham for giving that chance to me.

Before coming to Hyderabad, I had learnt how we drive a car, but the traffic sense of this place made me go in a shock. I met with an accident on the first Sunday itself after my arrival here, when I was trying to cross the road and got struck by a scooter on my left hand. It seemed to be a minor physical injury, but mentally, it was huge! Very huge! After a few days, I read an article in the newspaper, which was speaking something about the road accident statistics that happen in India. Andhra Pradesh was ranked the worst of all the Indian states. The fear returned. I started avoided driving again. Two years just went by, and then I realized the urge to have a vehicle.

People of age lesser than mine buy 1000 cc bikes these days, and I was the one who was making a decision to buy a 110 cc scooter. Sometimes I felt shameful while discussing about this with the people around, but then, it is my life. Nobody else would be giving a damn to me, be it for a good, or a bad. Hence, after completing a light market research, the said amount was transacted in the seller’s account to buy a metal-grey colored Honda Aviator (It was the first cheque payment that I made in this life). Now I’m not afraid of anybody making any comment about it. After all, ‘If it doesn’t give you a high, why do it?’

Now that I’ve driven more than 300 kilometers on the busy roads of Hyderabad, I’m pretty confident about my driving skills. As there is always a scope of improvement, I’m thriving to do more. Plus, I learnt that unless an effort is made, fear can’t be overcome.

By the way, I’ll be getting done with the registration process in a couple of days, and then will be getting a permanent number in another couple of days.