The "penner" feels it’s been
ages since she wrote something interesting for herself (and for every jobless
person who reads her blog!). All she writes now is assignments, term papers,
class tests and exams.
Oh! Oh! Wait. Please, stay! Apologies
for such an introduction, but you know I am not that crazy to write an article
on "how I got back to writing"(or may be I am). At least, I have
tried (and tried harder every time) to be a responsible writer.
Please Note: I love abrupt starts. A
major consensus amongst Homo sapiens sapiens all over the world
is that women are bad drivers (and today’s blog post is as exciting and
controversial as this fact itself). Your diplomatic, feministic viewpoints on
the subject are of a little help (since even women tacitly believe they are bad
drivers! This issue is “seriously” funny!).
I want to share a fresh, funny car
driving experience (not that when women drive, there’s anything funny going on)
that compelled me to raise my metaphorical sword (forgive me, I call my cute
“pen” with that name).
Today when I was driving back home from
college, a red color car (with an evil, chauvinistic male driver) just tried to imprudently grab the "free space" in front of my car...the space, which
legally and ethically belonged to me (Could you believe THAT?). Besides, it was red light time and changing spots from here and there was sheer stupidity.
Anyways. The point is I didn’t let him
do that. I have a certain unsolved issue with male drivers who try to
intimidate women by their adventurous car moves and stunts. Not their fault,
actually. Women drivers get uncomfortable quickly and automatically with high
speeds as well as in cases where another car comes in their car's close
proximity (we are referring to a threshold of super low 7.5 feet distance in
some cases).
I wasn’t even aware that the battle had
started (Holy Moly!). The guy honked uncouthly and restlessly. He gave me angry looks. This was as if his world was shattered after he got defeated by a women driver. To be
downright frank, I admire how most men drive cars (and other vehicles). Unlike majority of women, men readily accept thrill and adventure with arms wide
open (and that's cool). Women are a little too "safe" drivers, which
is annoying at times. That said, rash and risky driving should be saved for emergencies. In general, men need to learn the art of patience!
Okay, Okay. Back to the story! When the
lights turned green, that guy tried some crazy, inefficient stuff to
overtake my car (unnecessarily indulging in a competition, I'd say!). I want to
pause here and tell you that I never, ever let passion come in between reason.
But I hate the fact that men have problems in accepting a clean, clear defeat
from women, especially when it comes to car driving (damn! I am giving this the
status of an international, political debate now).
Seeing unjustified contempt in his
eyes, I felt a certain responsibility. It was not about “me” anymore. It was
about us, the women. He wanted me to lose because I was a woman (Haww!!! ladki
se nahin haar sakte?). It was increasingly about the respect of our sex’s
competence. Women become the second sex (borrowed from Simone
de Beauvoir) when it comes to a tough sporty activity or operating gadgets
or, well, driving cars (why?). Even if 90% men are near-perfect drivers,
driving ain’t their sole territory (Yeah, you may bring back some
of that feminism at this point).
Fine! I said I am game! I decided to
give this guy a car lesson, a tough car lesson. To the guy’s surprise, I had
accepted the challenge. I increased the speed of my car (Voila!) and tactically tried to
find spots through which I could make my way in the traffic. The battle (road
race!) continued for almost 15 minutes. The poor road had become an F1 racing
championship ground (and I acted like Jacky Ickx).
It was a life and death situation (LOL
No, no it wasn’t. To be honest, I was okay with losing the car race than my
life, but still...).
Time to disclose the results of the
game. I am not a very good driver, but luckily I had a clear, major victory this time (which is why I wrote a blog on this incident in the first place!). After that, I
took a turn in an opposite direction. If you are reading with disbelief now,
you are so opinionated. I would have loved to see his sulking face (I am
wicked), but the speed of my car didn’t permit that.
End.Of.Game.
The "penner" of
this piece has been accused of spreading hatred between both the sexes by
focussing heavily on her raw imagination. All this actually stems from a childhood experience, where someone told her that she was a bad driver.