Good Old Pandeji. Review on General Tips on Safe Driving

I was going through the reviews on different cars, when I suddenly remembered my earliest driving days.

It was one balmy afternoon after my Xth Standard Board Examinations, while I was vacationing at my grandad’s place along with my cousins, that the sudden realisation came that we should learn to drive. And who better to approach than the ever agreeable grand pop!

I learnt driving in my grand pop’s beat-up Ambassador, along with 4 of my cousins, in my grand pop’s farmyard in Bihar. We had as our instructor, Pandeyji, the loving shepherd of a motley flock.

Pandeyji’s first words will forever remain etched on my mind, ”Gaari mein teen kisaaam ki aaail(oil) hote hain …. aanginee aaail, baarike(brake) aaail auur gear aaail. Paaani hotein hain do kisaaaaam ki, Baaaterri(battery) aur Radiataar. And he thus went on and on and on, describing each and every aspect of driving from each and every angle. His voluble ramblings often made us wonder whether it was my grandad’s ploy to get us off his hair. I had always been a little suspicious of his more-than-immediately acceding to our request..

Trouble with Pandeyji was that he singularly refused to give the controls of the car to us. Resultantly we either used to either sit in the car subjected to his verbal assault or used to gaze longingly at the tractors plying through the fields, with small boys on the driver’s seat. Oh! How we wished we could drive straight into the sunset on such a tractor. Our daydreams used to take a sudden beating when we used to be aware that Pandeyji’s was asking us a question. “Gaari chalane ka samay, idhar udhar maat dekho …. Sidha dekna aaur peeche dekna … nahin toh keya naaaatijja hoga? ” Jolted out of our dreams, as we were, we used to stare at him and smile foolishly. And he replied “Haaaaspitaaaal”.

And as is usual for people of that age, our enthusiasm soon had a decent burial. And it was not until end of college that I enrolled in a proper driving school and learnt to drive.

And today, after having driven quite a few varied cars, when I sit back and think, I realise how true Pandeyji was, when he used to say that you keep on learning how to drive … and the fact that no matter how old you are, you simply cannot afford to take it easy when it comes to safety while driving. I am still learning . it just goes on to prove that in each and every sphere of life, education never comes to an end.

Unfortunately Pandeyji is no more. He expired last year, but his grandson is driving my granddad’s car. Nope, not the weather-beaten Ambi, but a Mahindra Classic.