While reading a story about Royal couple Kate and William's baby, I was scanning through the photo gallery. It came as a pleasant surprise to me when I saw Prince Charles driving his car with Camilla sitting next to him. Similarly, the Duke was driving his car and Prince William his; and all of them were wearing seat belts as well.
I couldn't believe and reviewed all the photos many a times. Then I was informed that until recently even the queen used to drive her own car.
The genesis of my surprise is the common practice in India, and more so, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where driving your own car is seen as quite low.
People buy the most expensive luxury cars and hand them over to their smelly, unkempt and uncouth drivers, most of whom learn driving on the job. Sometimes they even get their driving licences by bribing and not by taking an examination.
Such drivers then enjoy the power behind the wheels, while the owners (sometimes the whole family) crams at the back seat and feels 'great' about being driven.
Such people see those, who drive their own cars, with a different kind of eye glasses.
There are people, who, when the car stops, wait inside, for the driver to get out from the driving seat and come to the other side of the back door for the 'sahab' (officer) to get out.
There are others whose drivers start honking when they are more than 200 metres away from home, so that the slave working for them can come running to take the small bag from madame, in which she is carrying green coriander, maybe.
Living amidst such high and mighty 'super class', when I saw the pictures of the Royal family members driving their own cars, it amused me and made me think.
Keeping a driver is not a big deal in India, where untrained drivers (majority of them) are available at as less as 3000 Indian rupees for a month.
Yet, driving your own car is real stress buster, unless one is in a stressful job and would prefer to avoid the stress of driving on congested Indian roads.
And I think the Royal family and so are many others, understand it and want to enjoy and have fun behind the wheels.
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