About three months ago, two of my friends came to meet me on a bike from Delhi to Dehradun, which is about 270 km. After staying here for three days, they mistakenly took one of our helmets because it resembled theirs. And the helmet they left behind did not fit us, and it was half broken.
Believe me, in the last three months, I have not found a single helmet shop in Dehradun. We searched everywhere between covering a distance of about 20 km, but did not find a single helmet shop. Finally, we ordered it online, which arrived yesterday.
Driving is something I'm unlikely to do in this lifetime. I'm comfortable riding a bicycle, but the moment we talk about scooters and cars, my hands and feet start to tremble. I even tried learning. I can ride a scooter if there's no one on the road, but I get uncomfortable with a lot of vehicles and people around on the road. I also don't sit behind someone quickly, and I find it safer to take a taxi unless and until I'm not sure the person in front of me drives properly.
People often tell me, Driving is easy, it is not that big a deal, once you start riding on the road, you will be able to do it. But after a lot of tries, I finally gave up on the idea that I could drive. I am not scared of cycling, I am just more afraid of big vehicles. Some habits of the people on the road scared me more. While driving talking on the phone, driving too fast, changing lanes more often, and the worst part is to keep phone between their ear and shoulder and I can not digest that now people watch watchreels. Maybe it happens only where I live, but I see it every day.
Mostly, if I am in Dehradun, I go to an NGO to deliver sports and life skill sessions to children. I do this voluntarily. This time, a boy told me that on the way back, you come with me, my house is near your house. I refused him because I sit with only a few people, or else I book a taxi for myself. But he said he drives safely. I sat again without a helmet. About five minutes into his scooter ride, he received a call and began talking to the person, pressing the phone between his shoulder and ear. My heart skipped a beat. I hesitated for a couple of minutes, wondering how to tell him to pull over and talk, but when I overheard the conversation, I realized he was angry at someone, and an argument was underway. I immediately asked him to stop the scooter and decided to book a taxi and come home myself.
All this is very scary for me. Mostly, I see people talking on the phone and driving very fast, which is not at all for me. As soon as we got home, we booked a helmet online and as I told you, the helmet has arrived. Maybe a helmet is a small thing.
But to me, it feels like safety, peace of mind, and a reminder to trust my instincts.
Our cat Lemon did all the modeling for the photographs.