Awesome Blossoms: Horn OK Please Read Free

for a Learner’s license (LL)”. I rudely walked away without thanking her for her assistance.
    Alas! As a child, I lived in a fairly backward state where the RTO agents didn’t even have an abacus to boast of  – forget co mputers – and they had issued me a DL when I was grossly underage. No wonder, it seemed to have been made of parchment paper and looked like a used napkin with a photograph stuck on it.
    When I had shifted base to another city in another state, I had applied for a new DL just to get myself a cool-looking plastic card. The RTO there had issued me a duplicate license – plastic, of course - for they were going through the computerization era then but had no means to validate the authenticity of my first Driving License. But now, when I had gone to apply for a duplicate (third) of my duplicate (second) license of my original license (first), I learnt that it was invalid.
    The world around me suddenly came crashing down when the lady at the counter told me bluntly that there was no way I should be driving with my custom-made DL and would have to apply for a learner’s license and start afresh right away.
    With my head hung in shame and despair; I recalled my childhood days when a boisterous, over-enthusiastic Uncle of my mine who boasted of a lot of local connections had gifted me my first DL when I was barely fourteen. He’s now dead and gone, but he had me live in shame now for my childhood stubbornness when I wanted my bragging rights among my friends back then.
    It was a common practice for pre-teens to have fake DLs, all around the world, yes, but in the not-so-developed states of India back then, one could easily bend the law. Driving had always been a passion for me and I had been a victim of my own stupidity in the pre-computerization era.
    The guilt, remorse and anger inside of me took me to a local driving school. My shame knew no bounds. Always on the right side of the law, this was certainly a smear mark for me to carry the burden anymore. I approached a Driving School and duly filled out all the forms. I was told to start my lessons the very next day.
    For anyone at my age, the very loathsome thought for a roadie to attend a driving school and apply for a Learner’s license before applying for a permanent Driving License can have a devastating impact on one’s morale, confidence, ego and self-respect. Unfort unately, I had no one to blame but myself.
    Over the next few days, my family would face the wrath of my fury for my childhood folly. It was ironic that having passionately driven all over the world – in the US, in Europe and across India – I now had to eat humble pie and attend a driving school.
    I woke up the next morning and while brushing my teeth, I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked exactly like the guy in my previous DLs. Now I knew where the frown had come from. The anger, the irritation and the frustration imploded inside me and the impact of it all bloomed on my face and gave birth to a frown that got captured in camera and made its way to my DL. 
    It was obvious that all the folks in the house kept their distance from my preachy self then. The breakfast was on the table and a neatly wrapped sandwich was kept beside it along with a bottle of orange juice. Fuel for my soul and coolant for my brain as I left for my driving classes.
    I was met with sniggers and stares of young brats at the driving school as I made my way inside to meet Ismail, my driving instructor. Ismail, a lanky twenty-year old with neatly cropped hair, measured me up from head to toe and smiled and slid into the passenger seat as I tried to fit in behind the wheel. I sat inside a dinky, smelly car that was a mess of a ride. Neither the steering wheel nor the brakes were under my control and the car moved as though its wheels were rectangular.
    “Go easy, Sir, please be patient. I know you can drive but rules are rules. We have to do this if you want your Learner’s Permit”, said Ismail