[DesertLynx34]

Age: 17
Tutor: Neighbour who started a driving school
Car: HM Ambassador
Location: Kerala

Though I did manage to get my license right after turning 18, I was never allowed to drive our M800 as our driver uncle reported that I was driving at dangerous speeds of over 40kmph!

Thereafter I went abroad, never had a car there for 5 ish years. Returned to India, joined another driving school to refresh but went abroad again. Finally when I started to drive I was well into my 30s. True story.

[silverado]

Age - 25
Tutor - Local driving school
Car - Premier Padmini with Column mounted gearshifter.
Location - Mumbai

[AJ56]

Age: 16
Tutor: My dad
Car: 2010 Accord
Location: Gurgaon

2011 is when I first got behind the wheel, but only drove on private property/closed roads. The day I turned 18, applied and got my learners and then my proper licence a month later and have driven almost every single day since then.

Since I had been flying giant scale 100cc gasoline powered RC planes from a very young age, driving felt very easy, almost boring.

[Fuldagap]

Age: 12
Car: Gypsy King '98, carburettor one.
Tutor: Myself

I was in 8th standard and father had bought a new Gypsy after selling off our Padmini an year back. Once my youngest uncle told me the theory about how a car is driven. He did not know driving himself but knew a little about how to do the ignition, how to press the clutch and engage the 1st gear and then how to release it slowly while keeping the accelerator pressed accordingly.

I started pushing the Gypsy to a place near our home, nearly 100 mtrs or so, then start it and then 'drive' it in 1st gear for 10 mins only, during hot afternoons. It was so easy to push it all by myself that it was almost magic. The only hurdle was, I could never engage the reverse gear because it had a reverse sounding speaker. So after 'driving' it, I again used to push back the Gypsy in its original position. Then I had to clear the tracks that were made on the ground to clear any trace of me stealing it every afternoon during that summer. After a few days I found out the location of the speaker also and used to disconnect one of the two wires before engaging the reverse gear. This made 2 gears accessible to me now. 1st and reverse. Heaven! I used to put back the wire again everyday after my 'driving'.

After a couple of months, we were travelling to a nearby city when my father suddenly asked me if I wanted to learn a little driving on the empty road. I agreed overwhelmingly. He was about to ask me to start the car by turning the key to ignition but I did that even before he asked me. He surprisingly asked me how did I know how to start the car. I answered him that I learnt it by watching him only. Then as he was about to ask me to engage the 1st gear, I was already doing it. He again asked me how I Knew how to do that. I again answered that I learnt it by watching him only. Then he asked me to slowly release the clutch and press the accelrator. To his utter surprise I did that smoothly and did not stall even once. So he asked me to engage the 2nd gear.

Now, for the 2nd gear, my eyes went to see the clutch area momentarily but I did that too without much hassle. Then came the 3rd gear. I was able to do that too. Then he asked me to use the brakes and slowly bring the Gypsy to halt and my eyes went automatically to see/find the brakes. It was really funny to not 'find' the brakes.

He then told me that I was a quick learner and then he often used to give me the driving seat more often but only on empty roads. Never scathed the Gypsy even a bit. I drove it for a good 12 years.

After a couple of months, I used to take the Gypsy 5kms away to the banks of Ganga during the afternoons. There I learnt 4WD high and low of the Gypsy by carefully and repetitively reading the user manual. I became so confident that once I was really stuck in the mud of the banks of Ganga and some villagers started laughing off that the kid is going to be thrashed by his folks now. Little did they know the power of 4WD Low range of the Gypsy. It was acute fun to see their faces when I asked them of no help and the Gypsy came out to be fine.

I used to wash the Gypsy so often, almost everyday, that neighbours and parents used to think that I have gone mad. But it was a trick to hide the fact that the Gypsy had been somewhere during the afternoon

My family, even today, doesn't know that I used to sneak out the Gypsy.

Riding:
The next year I asked my father to buy me a scooter. He scoldingly told me to try his (1985) Bullet if I'm so willing to ride a 2 wheeler. I told him that I cant even think of pulling it out of its main stand owing to its heavy weight. He told me to forget about a 2 wheeler if I can't handle the Bullet.

I thought for 2 days and asked my youngest uncle the 'theory' of riding the Bullet too. He told me all about it. He himself did not know any riding either

It took me many days to learn how to kick start the Bullet. Also, I used to pull the Bullet a lot on road side just to get used to its heavy weight. The kicks used to give me those famous 'back' too and it used to hurt the foot a lot till I finally learnt the trick to kick starting it finally.

Then one fine day I just gathered courage, sat on the Bullet, kick started it and put it in 1st gear. Never looked back again.

I feel extremely lucky to have learnt driving and riding this way and on two iconic automobiles.

Have driven many sorts of vehicles and motorcycles since then, including, worthy of mention, 2 Tatras and a Tank but nothing charms me like the good old memories.

[SoumenD]

Age-16
Car- Maruti 800(MY2000)
Tutor- Uncle
Location- A small tata steel township in Jharkhand

My uncle drove down to our town on his 800 from Bhubaneswar (~300kms) for holidays and gave me my first lessons. The car was a learner’s delight. Light, peppy and nimble. Took me 3 days to hit 4th gear. No AC/EPS/Audio-system. Was a pure mechanical experience. However I didn’t really hit the roads alone till maybe 25/26 when I bought our family’s first car(zen estilo).

[PassionateDrive]

Age-14
Car- Fiat Padmini (hand operated gear lever)
Tutor- Self taught
Location- Cricket ground

I was on a cricket ground. One of the seniors had got his dad's Fiat Padmini. I lied to him that i know how to drive and took it for a spin on the ground. And to my surprise, i could circle it twice inside the ground. Before this, i had only handled a steering once on my friend's chauffeur driven car, sitting on the chauffeur's lap. My family did not even own any car at that time.

Later i honed my driving skills on my 800, when we got it in our family when i was 16.

[arighna.dutta]

- Age : 12/13 years
- Tutor: My 6 years older brother
- Car: Premiere Padmini mostly, Ambassador, Gypsy
- Location in India: West Bengal

Started by 10, by 13 or 14 years old driving in a full fledged fashion.

Now I feel, it was not right from safety point of view (and of course from legality point of view).

[PVS]

Age:23
Year:1998
First Lesson behind the wheel: From a Driving school instructor, a particularly nasty one at that
Car; Ambassador with the column shifter gears
Location: Chennai

After the initial stint with an Ambassador, I used to drive a couple of Mahindra Jeeps in the early 2000s, in Guntakal area of Andhra Pradesh, graduated to a Qualis in 2003 2004, then to Maruti Esteem in 2004. Ever since then I have been driving regularly, In India, and for three years, in the US (2009 JAN to 2012 JAN). Of course, I have transitioned from a pedal to metal style driving to a more sedate driving style now, and the co-pax couldn't be more happier.
And when I go out with family, 95% of the time, for intracity rides, I am the passenger while the wife takes over the wheel, and does a much better job in handling all the moronic motorists/cyclists/auto folks/jay walkers that abound our streets by the gazillion.