Midnight coffee!

Not intentional, not planned - we hit the road at about 10 in the night.This was an year ago; the days when I started to sit behind the wheels and tried to balance them on the freaking Bangalore roads. Dad and an uncle from next door personified the status of my "Gurus". Sessions lasted for an hour or so every night in the nearing neighborhood. Driving had taken a spot on my daily routine from a fortnight. 2 wheels are a lot easier to tackle, with not a lot of brain work required. But when it turns out to be a 4 wheeler that you need to handle, then comes along with it all the thrills. Your eyes, feet, hands are all pulled into full action. Brain gets overworked trying to match the safety to perfection.The first time I ever tried to drive, the only thought that came to mind was "If I ever had exercised all the sense organs as much I was doing during these driving minutes, I would definitely be no less than a super computer!". Quite true isn't it ? A few days more into this exercising I was doing a fairly good job; but was yet to be certified from the expert - My Sis. She is no less than a Schumy when on the hot seat. My last session was pending though. I had to get over the fear of driving on the expressway and which one to head to was the question. 4 lane Mysore road - yes the nearest and the familiar one win the maximum votes.

5 of us(Myself, sis, a childhood friend living next door, her dad, of course my daddy dearest as well) hopped on occupying all the seats. Turned on the engine,stepped on the accelerator and yes we start off the unexpected journey. Initial kilometer or two was smooth as the roads were familiar to my senses. Residential area meant less vehicles around. Knowing the location of every hump and filthy pot holes on that patch of road - it was easy to drive by avoiding them all.

Confidence shot up and I owe it to the constant guidance and encouraging words from the experts along. They were all enjoying the SLOW drive on that cool and breezy night. I emphasized on SLOW with an intention. Indeed I was really slow that day. A happy teen on his luna passby zooming to glory and thats when I realized my speed - it was not more than 40kmph. So afraid was I that I could feel my sweat glands working up. I said to myself - Not bad dear, you are doing it great for the first go , especially for a lady like me who has this roadophobia since the childhood days. Random thoughts started running parallel on mind. Words started popping up faintly and lyrically as narrated at home by all the ones who know me from the day I was born - "She is scared of road and vehicles from the day I know her walking on road. As a kid she would jump into the gutter with a sight of a truck approaching from the other corner of the road."

Pomph! A sudden loud honk of a lorry got me back 100% on the road. It was time to fight these lines away and erase them off from my memory. Increased speed stepping a little harder on the accelerator but conscious enough to be able to balance it right. More compliments and comments on my driving showered as we proceeded. The headlights highlightened a sign board that read Ramnagara. Wow! was the feeling . I made it, sweeped a clean 70 km in about 1hour 25 min.I announced the name of the city aloud as we entered it. My excitement sounded as if it was first time I was seeing that name. With that announcement came a short break to switch over. Sis grabbed the steering and sped away showing her skills and the grip on the wheels.

A decent 15 minutes drive landed us in the coffee shop. First time we had the genre of the kind like Daddy and Uncle making themselves comfortable on the cozy sofas of the branded cafe shop. The price tags on the menu card left them shocked and raise thier eyebrows. I scrolled down each side of the menu for something thats new , never tried, but ended up deciding my all-time favorite cold coffee. As Sis and friend engross themselves in the coffee deciding conversation, my sight of vision turned to the clock ticking and banging to the hourly tunes.

This was definitely adding more fun - placing orders at 12am! Shoot it man. Its midnight. 2 cups of hot espresso, a cold coffee,a creamy chocolate drink, a latte (not sure of the fancy names) is not complete without a hot cohocolate fudge cake. The cold night complimented the hot fudge so well that the plate lay empty in just about minutes of its arrival. Tossing them all down our throat it was time to head back. Woohoo... the mission completes with uncle driving us back safely into our street and bidding a smiling bye for the special day(ooops "MIDNIGHT" I would rather call it) of all our lives.

Every time I visit a coffee shop now, I wear a smile on my face while I place the order. Guess the same is the case with the other four too :)