Epstein's Law
If you think the problem is bad now, just wait until we've solved it.

Its the fag end of the semester, and all academic work is crunching by to a close, and I am eagerly awaiting to start my internship. Inspite of all the things happening now, I still get time for little things, like the daily read of /., Google Blog and of course, Sepia Mutiny.

But the thing that seems to consume most of my thinking time, is neither the assignments, nor the huge problem of finding an apartment at the place where I am interning, but rather whether I would pass the driving test I hope to take next Monday.

One of the largest difficulties I have faced, is that I have never driven a two-wheeler; actually, I have just driven it a bit, for getting the license in India. I have driven my dad's car only quite a bit; I did no extensive travelling on it. I never found the need to - there was always good public transportation system in Chennai, and I depended on it for the better part of my stay there and never regretted it.

So that road-sense is completely missing in me. I lack the quick reaction time necessary for driving on the road, or the ability to foresee what other people would do. I did cycle quite a lot, but the pace of cycling is so slow compared to the gasoline-powered beasts that I never worried about it.

Its this, and the fact that I cannot yet clearly estimate the clearances on the sides and the back. Things always seemed nearer, resulting in me being overly conservative on the dangerous side.

One advantage here, is that, you dont have to anticipate what the other person will do - they are all fixed by road rules. That and the fact that I do not have to worry about changing gears a lot removes quite a bit of tension. But it still doesnt remove the fear.

I have been practising now - on my friends' cars for a while (thrice, in fact ;) ).
I shall be going out more. And I plan to take a rental this weekend, and hopefully get the complete grasp of it.

I always ended up saying this to myself. If the car had arrow keys (yes, keyboard arrow keys!!) instead of a steering wheel and accelerator / brake, I would ace driving. Simply because I have been doing that quite comfortably on my computer for years!!!