RACER: on 'charge'

 'Just put your sign here' said I, as she remained perplexed.

I am a daily wage employee in a Government Office; one among those who are not supposed to enjoy any other benefits other than getting paid for the work we do.  Right from the day we got married seven years back, I haven't given her anything costly. A husband who earns a meager salary cannot afford to buy expensive gifts. Thank God! She was content with samosas and pani puris. She would get a greeting card along with these junk foods on special occasions. While my colleagues boast about the ornaments their husband had gifted them on birthdays, anniversaries, idiotic 'monthversaries' or the husbands planning to surprise their wife with a diamond ring, I would be there waiting for the peon to bring the daily free evening snacks, which I readily pack in an A4 size paper for her. The main reason for our happiness is that we won't compare ourselves to others.

Oh! I forgot to introduce her. She is Nancy, whom I affectionately call 'Chak'. This 5ft tall oval-faced lady has bubbly cheeks and short hair. The serious face she makes while showing her anger reminds me of a cute minion.

This is a special day for us. After saving enough pennies, I finally gathered the money for an electric scooter. I brought her to a nearby 'Hero-electric' showroom.

"Chak, you don't have to depend on buses anymore for your daily commutes", I said with pride.

I could see the happiness on her face and at the same time, that innocent worrying countenance

"But, I don't know how to ride a two-wheeler"

I must add something to this. Because this might give an impression that she is a good car rider. But no!! Just like any other Indian girl, she got her license when she became 18, but never had she driven any vehicle after that. It seems that she got this license to use as ID proof while filling out the application forms.

Finally, we booked a grey-colored Hero-electric Photon scooter, a small initiative on our part to save the environment; the most attractive thing being the subsidy given by the Government.

Her driving lessons began the very next day. I was her mentor cum coach. In the beginning, just to attain handle balance, I would ride the scooter to an uphill road and then ask her to go downwards with the engine off. The only thing she had to see is that she must step on the road in no way. After completing the 'handle balance mission', she was taken to the next level.

"Switch on the scooter and accelerate slowly". It wasn't difficult for me to teach her as she was picking up fast. But being a lovely student, I made her repeat the exercise several times. I would be there holding the backrest and running beside the scooter. She would ride at 15kmph, which made it easy for me to catch up. But, when she is in a good mood, she would ask me to extend the class hours, which made me exhausted running behind her. The way I took my breath after her lessons just resembled a mad dog.

Day by day, she improved and with that, her speed too increased. Now it's nearly impossible for me to catch up. Still, she needed me to run behind the scooter to add to her confidence. She would stop the vehicle, turn back and shout

'You are not showing the same interest. You don't even run beside me nowadays'

'Hey! Stupid! How can you expect me to run at 40-50 kmph. You are an expert now'

Thank God! She just ignored the 'stupid' and welcomed the 'expert' with a warm smile. I saw a glow in her eyes. She started going to the office by scooter. In the initial days, she became gloomy when some random person shouted at her for her mistake. She would come back and murmur herself 'Every expert was once a beginner'

As time passed by, she too became one among those experts who treated beginners with contempt. And the day finally arrived, the day that challenged her driving skills.

One fine morning, she was on her way to Office. On the way, she encountered a middle-aged man who suddenly started taunting her. He kept following her, passing comments on the inability of women riders to ride a bike and other blah blah. She lost her temper that she challenged him for a race till the next bus stop 1km away. The road was heavily trafficked. She panicked, as she couldn't even think of facing him if she lost the race. It took her a few seconds to understand the dilemma she is in. On Indian roads, the power of the vehicle doesn't matter, the one which needs less space to travel could move in the heavy traffic during peak hours. She handled the situation like an expert. She moved along the traffic like a shrimp. The unlucky man was on his bullet, and there wasn't enough space for his 'chariot' to move forward. The moment of pride finally came, she had won the race.

She looked back to see his defeated face. Such was the rage inside her that she forcefully spat on the road…..completely forgetting that she was still wearing her N95 mask.

Trying not to change her expression, she moved forward to the next medical shop to buy new masks.

He might have learned his lesson that we mustn’t undermine someone …. 

PS:‘Never show your anger with your masks ON’ 😑