Tuesday, March 14, 2006

My Dad's Gift AP 09 BB 6324

At last "my" problem of commuting from one place to another is solved.My pappa(father) gifted me a bike.It's grey metallic Honda Unicorn.I tried out both Bajaj pulsar and Unicorn.Then finalised Unicorn because it is of my type :-).I was happy for buying one of the best bikes in the market.But at the same time I am confused and panic because I was a no-vice driver.This is the first-ever bike in my life.I was used to Bajaj Scooter only.That too in Ongole(my home-town) where the traffic is not even one-hundredth of Hyderabad.
Seeing my poor condition my dad decided to give me a driving hands-on tutorial by instructing me siting on the back-seat.Does it sound strange(Bike-Driving Tutorials!!!)?My fathere is my alchemist(Paulo Coelho).I was weak at geometry in high-school especially I used to feel hell-like to draw incircle.My father learned the method from me and taught me the easiest approach to do the job.Ths fact is he is from Biology background(Masters in Vet Sciences).
My classes started and went on for five hours.
Hour 1: My father told me to first get acquainted with changing gears.Its critical to use the right gear at the right time.I practised the process for a few minutes keeping the bike still i.e., first gear down then neutral then second so on fifth.Then we slowly rode off to a petrol bunk.He told me to get the tank filled,check the fuel guauge.It is a good habit to keep track of mileage given by the bike.My bike is giving 50-55 mileage.
Hour 2,3: He told me to drove to Ameerpet.Ameerpet road is the busiest in Hyderabad.I was totally shaken at the sight of the traffic.Irony is I never got an opportunity to feel the real heat of traffic as I was always packed inside the city bus when ever I traveled to Ameerpet. He told me not to get confused.Just maintain proper balance of the vehicle holding on to clutch and brakes.Then slowly move on when ever you get an opportunity.Don’t hurry and at the same time don’t relax.Following his instructions I tried moving in the gully and successfully got out of the maze.I felt as if I got a Olympic gold medal.
Hour 3,4: My father was going to Sholapur on some official work.So we drove off to Secunderabad Railway Station.At one instant in our journey the traffic signal was about to go red.I was confused whether to move on or wait.He asked me to increase the speed a bit and carefully cross the road before the signal goes red.But I was confused.I was going slowly on fourth gear.The bike stalled exactly at the junction.Then the signal went red for my side and green for the other.I was sweating seeing the vehicle stream rushing towards me.The traffic police was shouting at us.Then My father told me to calm down,use the electric start, and immediately get out of junction.I followed the instructions and got out of ‘chakravyuha’ .Funny thing is I was doing all sort of things that delay my efforts to get out of the confusion.I was switching on lights changing gears what not but not at all using the electric start mechanism.
Hour 5: This hour is review of the show put on by me in the past four hours.As he always did, my father encouraged me and praised me that I picked up driving in the busy traffic faster than he did.I was worrying about the signal incident.He said “It’s all common.But take care of your driving and driving of others on the road.Others because not only the mistakes done by you but by others on the road can cost you.There is no hurry.Don’t travel at high speeds.While speeding up or speeding down estimate the movement of the other vehicles on the road.What ever you give an indication to others on the road that you are speeding up or down through indicators.In case of speeding up if you cannot estimate better continue with your speed.In case of speeding down give an indication to the vehicles behind you before slowing down.Above all be careful and always wear your helmet.Again there is no hurry.Be calm and cool while driving.”

After that I returned to my room safely.I had a smooth ride.

Now I am comfortable with my driving even in the busiest of the busiest roads.All this is because of the confidence given by my father.I got my bike registered and its number is …(you guess?).

Happy Biking!!

3 comments:

Chaitanya said...

hi buddy,i know how much confident ur ,while riding!!
U even don't care to see a car of
ur size coming infront of u , do u call it as confidence??
for me its overconfidence.
This time come to me for another tutorial :)

Sreejith said...

Bravo ra :) Even i got a little nervous when u stalled the bike at miyapur junction on the very first day you got the bike :D but u managed to get us out of the junction quickly. So my confidence in you was justified. In case you do need driving tips do ask aaradhya.. he is in my opinion the safest driver around :)

Afshan Shaik said...

wow
such AN AMAZINg hands on u had from PAPPA!!!

me fuming with jealousy
COZ he didnt allow me to drive his car yet :(