Along the way ...

TRAVAILS OF CAUTIOUS DRIVING:

A5 backseat commentary for my solo driving in US this year:
* Day 1: Excited with full clapping - "Well done Mom ! You did it !"
* Day 6: Smart aleck with full firang twang, "You sure know to drive Mama !"
* Day 21: Full exasperated, "Its taking too much time today ...."

Seriously they should come up with Dora/Diego/Mickey etc with songs saying "Eat your food ... eat your food...". Kids respond to everything on these shows. Atleast they will start eating too !!!!!

I spend days looking for those tiny little shoes. And then they get lost in minutes. Hufp !
 

 

Filmy Biwi ka side Effect

Eureka - S4:E14
This sequence excited me so much I had to make this collage.
And that episode, where all stuff start flying upwards. That was in lieu of the title sequence, we have been watching for so many seasons already.

Minnesota icebox - (in a sing-song Advertisement voice)
Cold khana garam karna ho ? - 30 sec in microwave.
Hot khana thanda karna ho ? - 30 sec in balcony.

Warmup Cold food ? - 30 sec in microwave.
Cooldown Hot food ? - 30 sec in balcony.

First Snow of the Season !
Yeah ! Finally its here !
Regret not taking the before photo.
But it just went from 0 to 1 and then 2 in 1 hour !

Driving in Minnesota

Everyone said that it would be difficult to drive on the right side of the road - after learning to do so on the left side. Now I realise that was the easiest part ! Just follow the other vehicles. Ofcourse at any turn, we might subconsiously move to the left side. But my rule is to keep chanting "right side" in the first few times.

Apart from driving on the right side, there are lot of other things to be learnt. Like the STOP sign for instance. Theoretically I thought, what a time waste ! I was used to the Bangalore habit of driving non-stop on a clear road, till we hit a jam.

But its not our fault. People density is more in Bangalore. With less elbow space, the traffic may look chaotic. But we do have some sanity in those chaos. And so everyone drives carefully. Atleast caring for the immediate neighbouring vehicles. (These explanations will be difficult impossible to absorb for the casulties that happen. But things happen everywhere)

But now I love the STOP sign. It is such a breather. No matter what, vehicle should come to zero at a STOP sign. And the first one to stop, goes ahead first.

And then the lane system. Stick to your lane. When the road curves, you curve. But do not move out of your lane, without giving indication. It is so smooth. Yet initially my jaws would literally drop on the floor, watching cars zip diagonally across the road, right in front of us. Inspite of the simplicity of this action, my heart is always in my mouth, while changing lanes on a busy road, if I need to take the next turn. And then add the "Left/Right lane must turn Left/Right" thing. I have missed turns, gone far ahead and come back so many times.

Every single time I go out, its an adventure. And I did have the baap of all adventures recently. I got lost. I took a road, which I knew by name. But I forgot that here roads can run for miles together. Forget road, 'Yonge street' (in Toronto) is nearly a 1000 mile long. Big mistake. Big lesson here.

Number one. Never go by name alone.

When you are lost, dont keep on driving non-stop in the hope of finding something familiar. Come to a stop in the emergency lane. And think.

Better still call & ASK. Asking for direction is always always helpful. Cliche I know, but I will tell you why.

Me ? I kept on driving on that never ending road. Then I took some turn and it went into the mountains. Then I switched over to some highway, which sounded familiar. Only when I saw the neighbouring city name board, I thought now I have to stop, or I might cross over to Iowa. Plus my toddler needed to be picked up from school and my friend from a govt office. Both were stuck there thanks to my promise of being there in 30 minutes. So I stopped at the next Caribou Coffee, called my hubby, said I was lost but pick those 2 up first. And then I proceeded to have a nice cup of coffee :)

After good 15-20 minutes, I asked the coffee shop attendent, which way to France Avenue ? He says, "Oh take this 62 East and France Avenue will be in another 5 miles." Twing, 5 miles ! Just 5 miles and I made my hubby come from so far ! Why didn't I ask before ! Bah. This is why - when in doubt, ask.

I thought it's embarrassing to admit that I got lost. But someone I know said, "It happens all the time. I have lived here for 30 years. But I dont step out without my GPS." So there, GPS is the best friend of drivers out here.

By the way, there is one good thing about getting lost. I finally stopped looking at the road, watching the lane lines & oncoming cars, and I could focus on each & every sign on the road. A major switch from Indian-driving-mode to the US one.

Let me explain. After all the years of driving from a right-side seat (the Indian right-hand drive), it became an instinct to watch out for the road dividing lines on the right; and being close to them. Same thing happened when I started driving here in USA. So here I was, seated on a left side seat, steering the car closer to the line on my right. Which means the car is right on the line, in two lanes. And that's a damn dangerous thing to do ! Aww.

Eventually I did get over it, after I realised it. But still, it had not seeped into my subconsious. I was still looking out for a car to come right on from the next turn. Or maybe for a dog to run across. When actually the most important thing to do is to look out for signs.

I think they must have a 'Department of Road Signs' here. They are so many, so up-to-date and so detailed. Speed limits. Construction activity. Each and every road, street, lane & area. Which lane to take for which place. Everything is out there. You just need to read them.



So there, a newbie Minnesota driver jotting her experiences in a long post.

Turn, straighten, turn, straighten

Let me begin with the grand 94.3FM Radio One PJ
Rajnikant Idea No 111nama - The other day I went to the park. Policeman came and started screaming at me. I gave one tight slap. I said, "What is this ?" Car-ra. "Where is it?" Park-ka. "So what is this?" "Car Park". He he ha ha ha ha ...

May not be funny in print, but it's funny to hear it on Radio. Especially that Rajni imitator. But something which is not funny, is the whole Car Parking subject.

Finding a car park, say in Jayanager. Sliding it into the tini-tiny space, without touching. All those are old news. Something conquered and struggle forgotten. Now it's second nature.

But now there are newer challenges facing us drivers in Bangalore. We face it each & every time we want to drive into that viscible free space. It's called "Multi Level Parking (MLP)".

First time I parked in Forum MLP, I was totally floored. No, I did not floor the car or anything. I was absolutely fida. Forum MLP is that beautiful ! You enter the base level, turn the steering, just enough degree to tackle the turn. Bus, and now you could even fall asleep with your feet on accel. Till your ride screams "parking available". Coz the angle is so smooth, you can drive up nonstop. No changes required at all.

That's it. I thought this is the parking heaven. This is what Bangalore needs. And soon I was feverishly praying for MLP's across Bangalore.

My prayers were answered. MLP's did come up everywhere. Just that they forgot to employ the same engineer/designer. That means, most of them screwed up.

Each MLP that came up was one degree more icky than the previous one. My office one is great. But it requires to adjust the steering at every level. Turn, straighten, turn, straighten. Imagine doing that for 6 floors. Imagine that much concentration, that much focus. Every since I discovered internet, my attention span has reduced so much - this much focus is the longest I ever have.

Most screwed up would have to be the one in a mall near Koramangala Ring Road. My friend told me their MLP requires slow driving & reverse at every level. Reverse ! On a slope ! At every level ! I cannot even begin to imagine ... the level of stupidity. Seriously, reverse on a slope - I am definitely not going that side.

License to ...

Yuhoooo !!!!!!!

I cleared my Driving License test. First attempt. Not bad.

But there's one more week wait to get the actual license. No problem ! After that, it's me and my car and Bangalore city (for now). All the congested roads (Majestic), open freeways (Outer Ring Rd), crawling-traffic roads (Hosur Rd) and loop of one ways (Richmod-Residency-MG-etc), and the countryside (Mysore Rd, Magadi Rd, etc) - Be Alert ... here I come !!!!

I hope to make good use of all that I learnt from my hubby & the driving instructor.

The test as such, was ok. It involved driving from the Jayanager RTO office to the Service road near Nandini. Via all the 4th block afternoon rush traffic ! Here, I had to get off for the next applicant's test. I was left wondering if I had made it ? Or did I flunk ? (Though I knew I am not so bad). Before the actual test, there is some patience needed in the RTO office. 2 different queues, but smooth and quick moving. That's because of an early, very early morning start. The best part was, the view of Jayanager BDA complex market from the 7th floor office. Vendors setting up their wares. Strong coffee smell wafting up even up there.

Hmm, I guess, now my real test will be to come shopping here. All by myself. Cool!

Bangalore driving behavior

Am noticing subtle changes in Bangalore driving behavior. Well there have to be changes in behavior considering the major hmm, roadblocks out here. Bangalore traffic is learning.

Lately I have seen them drive in 3 single files. In other words, lane discipline. Not a new concept, but it being voluntarily followed out here - now that’s new. Seriously, earlier, driving meant winging your way into any possible gap available, to move ahead. It meant if you are lucky, you would save time. Else, get stranded and stall others as well. Now everyone moves ahead. Slowly but surely. Until few months back, there was this typical Bangalore behavior of no-honking. People had no problem spending extra minutes at a signal, simply because the guy ahead was slow at starting his bike. Over the last few years, when the few minutes at various signal have begun to add upto half an hour or more, in every commute, people have realized that every second counts. If that guy likes to spend his night on road, he may very well go ahead with that; but we don’t want to. So what’s the next best thing to do ? Honk. Honk him out of the way.

Likewise the other major speed breakers are the slow moving vehicle driving ahead of us. They single-handedly stall/delay an entire part of the city.

While there is growth and learning in people, there is hardly any trace of it in the administration. For that matter, they seem to be unlearning all lessons in commitments, discipline and helpfulness. The most pathetic example of this are the two crucial incomplete flyovers. They now resemble excavation sites. People have patiently borne with the ugly sight as well as the inconvenience of regular all-day traffic jams. For nearly 2 years. And while it is still nowhere near completion, the work has stopped. Total standstill. Government has revoked the contract because they didn’t finish it on time. While the contractors slapped a case and a stay order. So till this dispute is resolved, we will have to live with prime roads in dug-up state. This is seriously pathetic. It more than 2 months now. And as usual there is an acceptance of the fact. Indeed, now people have learnt to get over the adversities created by administration. Debris are being cleared to squeeze in as much space as possible. I guess Bangaloreans will continue to be patient for some more time !

Driving lessons continue

My driving lessons continue. I have joined a formal class now. My hubby taught me to be brave on roads. Now I will learn the rules of the game.

Am driving confidently now. So not much of an adventure. Maybe the adventure will begin when I get my license and venture into congested city areas !

But one amazing thing is, after learning all the details of driving, am now stuck with starting trouble. Everytime I stop and start, its with great many jerks.

The instructor, who earlier was impressed with me, now is going mad. "Examiner will fail you !", he screams. Ah, maybe I should change from my loose sandals to a tight fit one - for better judgement of the clutch.

One trivia about the instructor. Both the ringtone & dialtone of his mobile phone, have DDLJ songs. If you call him, you get to hear Tujhe Dekha to yeh jana sanam.. and if his phone rings, its Mehdi laga ke rahna. Cool. Maybe a good omen, that I will do well in learning this skill.

Driving lessons

I drove for the 6th time yester-evening. Wow !
My first lesson were the ABC (Accelerator, Break, Clutch). Combined with Steering control. Gears were not new, thanks to my long experience with geared two wheeler. Same continued the next day. We drove in rural area with almost nil traffic on road. It went so well, my coach (my hubby) never once loss his temper. Next there was a huge huge gap. And I got my next lesson, only by incessantly bugging my hubby. Now this was such a disaster; as if I had never even seen anyone drive. Accel screamed at every light touch. Breaks were always sudden jerk. Wheels never went straight. And that was the begining of my hubby's "coaching rage". Fourth lesson was okay. Fifth lesson went smoothly and ended when I reached a deadlock with an oncoming bus, at a narrow stretch.

Yesternight, I drove through wide but sparse-traffic road. And for a long stretch. 40 minutes, I think. There were two close calls. An overtaking lorry nearly touched us and managed to push us off the road. I stopped, without causing any damage to us or others. This was mainly because I was intimidated. The fix ? "Drive in the middle of the road". What ? "Give way only at the last minute, when required. Now START". Spelt out very patiently. Wow. And so it went on, till I was really really exhausted and really could not see anything in the dark. Hmm, well so this class was about being bold and also use of light blinkers.

Well I do want to learn driving asap. I am worried I might cross the learning age. Dad says, after a particular age, it difficult to get the instincts required for this skill. Hmm, why o why did I waste so much time? I should have got started in my teens and thus by now, driving would have become second nature to me. Okay I was busy with the thrill of driving a scooter or in dozing off in bus, for my daily commute. Driving would have been too much of an effort. Thats why. :D

Anyway, its a matter of some more time and I will be flying a machine ! Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrooommm.....