Telling them you failed the driving test, written
and trials should do the trick.
This blog is going to be about how I managed to
defy all odds and got my driving license (finally)!
Since I was 18 I have been putting off getting my
driver’s license because I have no vehicle to drive, and I had no interest what
so ever about vehicles. It’s true! Even in school when everyone else was super
into cars, reading magazines about cars, watching top gear or stopping on the road just
to see a beautiful car. I was not interested. Frankly I like walking, and I
never had a favorite car nor did I really care.
So when I started thinking about finally getting
my license at age 22, I didn't know what I was thinking! I think it was the Yellow
Panda at Pyxle that tempted me; I thought learning to drive would be cheaper
for the company in the long run than taking a tuk to meetings, and so with that
motivation (for now let’s assume that was the motivation). I enrolled myself in a shabby looking learners, (whose name to this day I did not care to find out. Not
sure if it had a name) because an uncle recommended it and it was kinda easier
on the finances.
And so it started. Driving around Boralla on the
first day itself with a cranky old instructor who seemed bias towards adult
students and made driving seem not worth it to younger students, well we
complained and he got fired.
Then on I had a couple instructors, though I
never really got the hang of it. You know the typical no brainier stuff like “TURN
ON THE SIGNAL LIGHT WHEN YOU START AND STOP! WHICH SCHOOL DID YOU GO TO?” or “DON’T
BRING YOUR FOOT UP TOO FAST WHEN RELEASING THE CLUTCH!” or “THAT’S THE THIRD
GEAR YOU’RE SUPPOSE TO BE ON THE FIRST!” never really stuck with me till the
very last few weeks before the trials.
Then came the written exam, I was told that it
was the easiest exam EVER! I being the bright light I am didn't bother to even
open up the little yellow book and skim through it, and boy did I wing it or
what? No I did not. I failed. In shame I reserved another date and came home,
wasting a perfectly valid off day and Rs.500. Thankfully on the second try I
got the very same paper and I aced it! (No pride, just shame).
Then came the day of the trials! And in the
morning, before the exam we were taken on a trail trail run by the learners,
which went great for me and even the cross eyed instructor dude was impressed
and told the others to take my example of fine driving. And then I failed! It
rained okay… and I panicked! But then again people who almost killer people on
the road passed so I’m guessing there was an advantage of paying up, if you know
what I mean. Then came trial number two in which I brushed against the
pole while reversing and that was over even before I started.
At this point I had decided that diving is not
for me, didn't even book another date, just went home and tried to sleep away
the cold I was having throughout the day. I was so embarrassed I even told some
of my friends that I didn't go for the exam because I was sick. Yeah I felt bad
for lying and I eventually told them about my epic failure, hey it’s better to
come clean and accept your failure than hide it away. Yeah they laugh at you
and if they are your real friends they’ll encourage you to go on and promise
that they will be there to laugh at you again.
After weeks of mother nagging me to go and
finish it off, because: “good money was spent on it so see it through.” Anyway there
I was again at Weherahara for the nth time. I badly wanted to make it my last
and after hours of standing in the hot sun and applying a no pay leave on the very first week of my new job, I was finally there. And I passed. It was a
good day.
Well that’s it. The story of how Johanns Rogers
got his driving license. And after two weeks the card was posted to me. I am officially
and legally allowed to sit behind a running engine and drive the thing!
Although I still have no actual use of it, since
I have no car, I’m pretty psyched about it.
