"Press the breaks Sister!! Oh Sister! Sister! What IS this Sister?!!?" And no, this was not my brother screaming at me. If I had been blessed to have heard him call me Sister as many times, I would want nothing more from life... except for a 2 storeyed mansion with a private swimming pool by the sea side, a corporate firm whose profit is in billions of dollars, a red Mustang, and to make these things work- a rich husband. :)
"Sister, driving very easy. You listen what I tell you, then good. Otherwise not good. Ok Sister??" he adviced, to which I nodded and rolled my eyes hoping he had not caught me at it. This guy was my driving tutor. And this was my first day out... driving. I must say that the guy did have a lot of patience. Otherwise I wouldnt have lasted this long. Not that I'm much of a nuthead.. but you know how it can be..
"I tell you take automatic. You take manual. Manual difficult Sister." He had already wasted a lot of his broken english vocabulary persuading me to learn driving an automatic car instead of a manual one. Though I had forever turned a deaf ear to his blah blah blah, here he was again trying to make me change my mind. (shaking head in disapproval) "Automatic? Pass at first test. Manual? Pass after 20 test". He had felt it would be easier (esp on him) if I were to learn an automatic and probably he was right. But come ON! I'm spending hard earned cash on this guy! Make 'use' of what you spend for until your heart's content (consumer policy Section 2 Clause iii) ;)
We reached the ground where we were to practice for the drums test. "When middle back window come to half of second drum, stop. Turn wheel full left. Reverse. Ok Sister??" After having stared at him for a whole minute hoping the prevailing silence between us would help me concentrate in decoding what I'd just heard, I gave up. Nodded briskly to him and put the gear on reverse. Well actually, "tried" putting the gear on reverse. After having struggled with it for a while, it finally gave way. But the creaking sound that resulted, to my horror, didnt quite go unnoticed by the driver. "Sister Sister!! Careful Sister!! Please!!". I felt sorry for the poor guy and his vehicle that I was jeopardizing and tried my best to get through between the drums. Unfortunately, 10 seconds through, i heard "Stop sister! Stop! Sister you no see? Only when back window middle reach half drum Sister!!" That was IT! That was when I lost it. Totally frustrated was I that my voice became demanding. "What exactly do you want me to do!? Which half of which drum?? Where middle!? here or there?", I asked quizzically, pointing to either side of the rear windows. He smiled and I felt myself cool down a bit. "Sister. I know you very hot. First time driving, no problem. All become ok. Ok sister? You want water sister??" My jaw dropped open and trying to bring back some color to my face, I smiled. All 32 teeth out. "No thankyou. Im fine. Just tensed." Five minutes later, he came back, held out a can of Mountain Dew and said, "For you Sister."
Two hours later, he dropped me back at my college and wished me "Good luck Sister. See you tomorrow." True enough, he did manage to get into my good books with a Mountain Dew. But what dawned on me now was that, at the rate at which I was going, this guy was going to be a part of my routine shedule for the next few months or even years. And for the same reason, it was going to cost him more than just a can of Dew.
