Still got it!!!

My instincts for driving on the streets of Pune, that is. After over two months in Pune, I finally drove my Kinetic out on the streets yesterday. I had been warned against doing so for two reasons, first, the traffic of Pune has worsened since my last visit three years ago and second, there have been a number of new roads and flyovers that often render the once familiar city, strange and unknown. All these days I complied with a heavy heart. After all once upon a time I considered myself the queen of Pune roads. I loved hopping on my kinetic and zooming around town for business and pleasure. Driving a two wheeler in Pune is the epitome of ultimate freedom and you will pardon my exaggeration if you have lived in Pune and know what it is to have to otherwise depend on public transportation or expensive rickshaws. Fortunately for me, I’ve always had the convenience of a two-wheeler as it is commonly called since my school days, first a bicycle and then a Luna in my first and second year of junior college. Once my older sister went to the US to pursue her Masters, I got her Kinetic Honda coinciding with my entry into Senior College. So as you can see, I’ve never been without mobility and without that freedom.

I have been in the US for the last 7 years. The first time I visited Pune was in 2002. At the time I would ride pillion with my sister. I distinctly remember how shocked I had been with the increased levels of population, pollution and traffic. I would hang on to my sister or the tire behind for dear life as she zoomed around town. The second time I visited in 2003, in the short 3 weeks’ visit, never got to ride my kine. The third visit, 2005, I had resigned to the fate of the three downers mentioned earlier. I also rode the kinetic a couple times, once taking it all the way to Pune Central on Bund Garden Road – quite gutsy I must say. This is my fourth visit and I’ve been very obedient in not driving and sticking to the rickshaws to drive me to and from my interview locations.

Yesterday however I don’t know what got into me and I just had this great urge to drive, by myself again. This time however the kinetic, now almost 14 years old, no longer starts through the battery, it has to be kick started every time. Given me and my temperament, this doesn’t work for me – having to kick the kine a few hundred times before it finally relents – not meant for my kinda people. Luckily for me however since my sister had ridden the kine earlier in the evening, I was able to push start it (battery start) and didn’t have to go through the horrendous and tiresome kicking exercise. I had a smile on my face as I tied up my scarf – my own good old scarf (which my sister now uses), in the perfect face-covered-with-only-eyes-revealed manner – a style perfected by the girls and women of Pune and felt the kinetic come alive. I removed it from its stand, reversed it like a pro and off I went, sending a silent prayer Heavenwards.

Oh the familiar wind in the hair/scarf, the traffic, the twists and turns you make as you navigate your way through traffic, the incessant blowing of the horn or the “noise” button either by me or other drivers on the road, the heightened senses and alertness as you look in every possible direction to either avoid hitting others or being hit by them, the familiar route (I took an easy route – what was once my everyday road to work), I cannot explain the feeling. I was finally enjoying this freedom, I could drive all night and still not tire. I LOVED IT!! It was liberating. After parking it at a Pay n Park location, I went about my shopping. Finally when it was time to return home, the kinetic wouldn’t start no matter how much I kicked it (literally) – to start it of course. Finally I had to ask this random guy who was waiting on the street with his girl friend (I presume) to help me start the vehicle which started promptly with one kick of his..hmm..anyways, after that I didn’t have any more trouble, and as I returned home twisting my body and the kine through the traffic of humans and other vehicles, overtaking and speeding in the darkness of the evening, the familiar smells, sounds, and sights surprisingly calmed my senses, put a smile back on my face with a confident voice at the back of my mind reminding me that I had still got what it took to drive on the mean streets of Pune.

Meanwhile today I had another interview at a familiar location. Work is going well. Along with collecting data, I’ve started on the transcriptions which are going slow but at a good pace. Other than that, I am looking forward to wrapping up the project and finally go on a relaxed vacation to Goa and Mangalore…I fear that this may not be a vacation for long since I’ll have to start preparing for OCMC between now and September 3. Heaven help! But to my professors, colleagues and well-wishers who read this blog, I am doing well with the project and although things are a little slow at the moment, they are not without their good and great moments. Rest assured, I am not slacking