On Driving
I am not a car enthusiast. Even though I am a gadget fanatic, I have never gotten why people get so excited about nice cars. (Well, Tesla is an exception. It is more a gadget than an automobile. 😜)To be specific, my hate is not towards the car; my hatred is for the act of driving.
The focus you need to put on the act of driving, the safety precautions you need to take, the adjustments that you need to do because of other people’s mistake and to keep me busy with entertainment. Ooof. It is cognitively exhausting for me.
I know many people who love driving and feel relaxed to steer the wheel and zip through. One of the classical musicians of India, Pandit Ravishankar, said in an interview, his way of unwinding is to drive at high speed in deserted highways or roads.
I am an average driver with a history of no major incidents, other than minor scratches while trying to park for a couple of instances — touch wood 😇.
I am a pragmatic driver. I drive because no else in my family drives. I drive because I love the comfort of listening to podcasts and audiobooks. I drive because I can mark books as completed in Goodreads, after a long drive or a week of a commute. I used to ride my scooter with bluetooth earphones listening to my favourite audio shows/books. But a car is a much safer and secure option.
I got a mid-range car, a year ago. My main criteria for choosing a car was the support of Apple CarPlay 😎. Nowadays, my commute time is my entertainment. I catch up with the podcasts, get updated on the pop-culture, listen to good audiobooks. I don’t even find commute distance of 15 km or the time of 45 mins to be irritating at all.
Human beings are just a creature of habits. What we do something repetitively, comes to define us and our identity.
Now I am thoroughly addicted to audio content. The only way to listen to audio with very less distraction is while I drive (I am quite comfortable in manoeuvring through traffic with a stream of audio pouring in). So I have started to love my commute and driving.