DRIVING LESSONS (PART I)--OTHERS ARE ALSO DRIVING FINE

January 16, 2005

Dear Reader,

My secretary had misplaced the Jovorosky case file. My boss was a pest. My colleagues were a bunch of inexperienced morons. I was in a rage. I left office lamenting how everybody around me was a big incompetent fool.

I eased my car once I reached the highway. Traffic was, as usual going at a high speed both ways in multiple lanes. It was high speed but smooth. It sort of acted as soothing balm on my brain.

Who were the drivers of these cars, SUVs and motorcycles? I realized that one of them may be my incompetent secretary or colleague. In fact, they were a motley crowd—educated and uneducated, police officers and criminals, smart and lazy fellows, intelligent and imbecile. It would not have inspired any confidence in me if they were working in my office as my colleagues. But they seemed to be driving fine!

Their driving concerned me vitally. In fact, my life was in their hands. If any of them made a wrong move, a terrible accident could occur in which I could perish. But there are surprisingly very few accidents on the roads.

I cannot support low witted, lazy, ignorant people. They give me a lot of headache and tension. But the same people are driving fine on the roads. Perhaps they are doing fine in the world also. It is me who is unnecessarily getting tense. After all the world is running fine. Not only around me but in very very far flung regions also. It is doing fine without my guidance. It has always been doing fine and will be doing fine. The people have always been, are and will be capable of doing fine. I need not worry on account of people. I have to worry about myself. I should be driving fine and everything around me would be fine.

I remember when I was learning to drive. When I used to get discouraged, my instructor friend used to say, “See, every Tom, Dick and Harry is driving. People less smart than you, people less educated than you, and people less active than you are driving. If they can, you can also.

Since then, I have observed, if a man or woman can do something, another also can do it. Perhaps do it better. If one person can drive, millions of others can too. If one athlete can run 100 meters in less than 10 seconds other can also. In sports all records are broken sooner or later.

Millions of people are driving fine around me. Many people we just reject without seeing—because of our prejudice against sex, race, color, religion, language and age, etc. Others we reject on seeing on above grounds but also on the basis of looks. We so often reject people who are not handsome or beautiful. But when it comes to driving on the roads, looks do not count, as, of course, sex, race, color, etc. are also irrelevant.

With warm regards,

Yours sincerely,

Gus