The Simple Joys of Driving

For quite a long time, I was reluctant to learn to drive. Even when I did, I was not too keen on driving. I was not even a wannabe. I felt, just like Sheldon Cooper of TBBT, that driving was a mundane task better left to plebians (in an intellectual sense) so that I could focus my energies on serious stuff like thinking and reading.

In fact, I put my younger brother, who bought a car after much drama, among the plebians who bought cars for “show-off”. That opinion changed during the last few months.

Be that as it may, I would like to focus on the massive change a new car has brought to my life. I am no longer at the mercy of Uber drivers when I am a little late to the fitness class. I need not wear noise-cancelling AirPods to listen to a podcast in the metro.

However, I can’t read or make notes during my commute. The overall math works in my favour if I can devote the time saved to pursue my interests in reading and writing from home.

Driving has thrown unexpected personal growth challenges like any other major life change. I need to be more aware of the space around me and other people's behaviour on the road. I must check whether I have locked the doors or parked appropriately before leaving my vehicle.

I am absent-minded. I rush into things in pursuit of speed and glory. I don’t pay attention to detail. Sometimes, I’ve left the window open or forgotten to lock the doors. Now, I realise I should also keep the mirrors folded when parked. I’ve developed a mental checklist to battle my absent-mindedness.

In a way, driving demands me to be more present and mindful. I need to estimate subtle angles and anticipate others’ needs on the road. Today, I made way for a person who wanted to change lanes. I felt a moment of kindness in my bosom, though it may be claimed that it is just basic etiquette. This is probably special on the roads of Delhi, where kindness is not the norm.

I was also terrified by how a rogue SUV moved haphazardly across lanes on a busy highway. It reminded me that people sometimes behave recklessly with other’s lives and destabilise their universe. In a way, I need to be optimistic about the kindness and recklessness of my fellow drivers on the road.

Driving, at times, might also double up as a meditative exercise, especially when you are in the middle of bumper-to-bumper traffic. You have to move at the perfect pace where you neither crash nor stay stagnant. The machine you drive and your mind blend into one, becoming a molecule of a slowly flowing viscous fluid. Your soul needs to sync with those of others around you.

You will be disappointed if you were looking for some philosophical insight in this write-up. After returning home from my first drive to the office, these were just some unedited thoughts. And I place them in front of you as they flow.