Cars and Drivers

The other day, while driving on lonely country road in Maryland in my prized Lexus with seat warmers, GPS, and other gadgets, I started reminiscing about my first experience of driving a car on a secluded road in Britain.

Having come from Pakistan from a family without a car, finished graduate school in England, landed a job, I felt the need to learn driving and own a car to join the Jones and impress others. I went to a driving school and the instructor took me to a remote corner of the city on a secluded country road. We exchanged places, and finally I was in the drivers seat. Then the instructor asked me if I know which pedal is the brake and which one is for shifting gear. I could see the look of amazement on the instructor's face when I told him that I do not. How could he imagine that a 25 year old have no knowledge of such things. Finally he showed me the stuff and he let me drive even though he was scared of his life.

Being a traditional hardworking and competitive immigrant, I devoted time and money to learn to drive the English stick shift car during my lunch breaks with the instructor. I even bought a beat up beetle Volkswagen to accelerate the driving license process. I would bribe my English roommates with fish and chips or curry if they would sit with me in the car while I practice the three point turn U turn without touching the narrow curbs of British roads or parallel parking.

Finally, I convinced the instructor that I am ready for the driving test even though he was not certain. We arrived at the test station, and he got out of the car and wished me luck while the examiner got comfortable in his seat. After the examiner told me to drive, I dutifully checked my mirrors and made the move. Things went well for about 10 minutes until we arrived at busy narrow road and he told me to turn left. There was a huge truck in front of me so I missed the turning and instructor shouted at me for not following instructions.

Having figured by then that I will fail the test, I kept my cool, and made a successful three point U turn and returned back to the original route. Thereafter, I just followed the instructions blindly until the end of the test because, I had lost all hope and waiting for the test to end. Once we were back at the testing facility, the examiner told me to park the car and started the oral examination. By then, I was enjoying this pretension of the test. So when he asked me about how to enter the motorway, being a civil highway engineer, I told him about the design speed and curves of the entrance and exit lanes. The questions then ended and after a long pause, he told me that I passed the test to my unbelief.

The driving instructor was also surprised by the result of my passing the test in first attempt. It was considered a greater achievement among my immediate circle of Pakistani and Indian colleagues. This was more than getting a PhD. Some of my colleagues and friends from Indian subcontinent left England for Australia and USA without ever getting the drivers license even though they had tried several times. Of course it was a piece of cake for them to get drivers license in USA and Australia.

The following weekend after the passing the drivers test, I drove from Bedford to London in my red beetle to show off to my friends and family. Of course on a busy Friday night, I was lost in the city and went round Piccadilly circle several times. The car did not have a fuel gage and got struck on the road with no gas. I had to walk to nearest gas station and beg for a can of gas hoping the car is not ticketed or towed away. With my Lexus, I would not have all this trouble, it tells me where to go and how many miles left before the next fill up. However, I will still trade my Lexus for the beat up beetle and delight of driving a car on my own first time.