Unleashing The Driver in Me.

Living across the river from the most un-parking friendly city in the world has its benefits. You can actually own a car, park your car for less than $400 a month and even drive your car to fabulous destinations like the Cheesecake Factory and outlet malls-with more parking! Oh the joy of a car is truly felt on rainy days (and weeks) such as these.

Let's face it. People in Manhattan who own cars are the same ones with either very, very rich Jewish grandmothers or who wake up at 6 a.m. every morning to move the car they inherited during their college days, from one side of the street to the other-'tis the wonders of pre-8 a.m. street cleaning.

Once we acquired a car, I realized that I needed to re-acquire some driving skills. Getting a license was the easy part. Shocker of shockers, if you have an Indian driver's license, New Jersey pretty much hands you a state license. No driving test required. Yep, thats right. I only needed to pass the eye exam and written test (which I failed the first time round-why are there so many legal questions? Oh right. This is New Jersey.)
I just can't get over the fact that my itty-bitty pamphlet of an Indian driving license got me a plastic ticket to driving freedom! I mean you can practically make those things at home!

See, I learned to drive in Pune. That right there is a problem. Pune driving is unlike driving anywhere else in the world. Buffalos serve as stop signs, rickshaws and cyclists are your side view mirrors, because you have none (the buffalos would knock them off!) and roads are like moon craters. The key to Pune driving is to look straight ahead, avoid looking in the rear-view mirror at all times or some guy on a bike will think you like him, grab the shift stick with dear life and don't even think about hitting those brakes!

I loved every second of driving in Pune. Not always loving the actual driving, but loving the exploration and navigation of my world that was Pune. My home, my friends, my college, my grandmother's house, my Accounting classes, my bars, my clubs, my coffee shop...mapped out from one end of the city to the other. I practically lived out of my car.

The first thing that got to me when I started driving here in Jersey is how many rules and signs there are. I just wasn't used to looking in all these mirrors, looking out for all these signs and actually stopping at a red light. It's all so distracting. I mean how are you supposed to drive when there are like a hundred things to focus on? And don't even get me started on the Jersey Highways! The whole experience is so intimidating!

Once you get used to it though, it's not such a big deal. The first few months I was like an old Parsi aunty driving a Fiat but then I quickly realized driving in Jersey is not that different from driving in Pune minus the Buffalos of course. Oh there are equivalents of Buffalos here in Jersey but that aside, finally I am beginning to experience the pleasures of the wind in my hair, radio jammin' kind of driving, living it up till I have to succumb to the evils of mass transit Monday morning...