My Name is Shah... And I am not a chauvinist

CLARE BOOTHE LUCE once said: Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, "She doesn't have what it takes." They will say, "Women don't have what it takes."
I was almost about to believe as well as support what she said when I read what another version of the entire story. An anonymous quote said “Feminism is the idea that women should be treated like children. Didn’t accomplish anything this time around, sweetheart? That’s okay. Give it another shot after we bend out of the rules. Scratch that. Feminism is the idea that women should be treated like spoiled children. Here, let us make it easy for you to achieve it, here is a red carpet, cuz you are a lady.”
I found both the versions very interesting, and being the diplomat that I am, I decided not to choose sides. Chauvinism or Feminism is an age old argument and will remain for times to come. However, I have always respected women as well as found them equally competitive, if not more, in all fields they wish to enter. Well, almost all.
There are some things which you are genetically handicapped to do. One such thing for women is driving. I know that it seems pretty hypocritical to come from a person who does not know driving himself. But, I have my strong reasons for such a statement. Off late, I have been commuting a lot via road (as there is no alternate transport mode in Surat). I have learnt that most of the accidents happening on road involve women in some or the other way. There are times when they apply brakes suddenly without any reason just cuz they realize they have forgotten to purchase a grocery, or even more common is the crash on turn cuz they could not judge.
Recently, I had the privilege to accompany a very pretty lady in her car on the streets of Surat. Being the driving illiterate that I am, I placed myself in the passenger’s seat. The beautiful lady took the wheel in her hands and we were driving down the streets of Surat. I was avoiding very detailed conversation with her cuz I realized that she must have taken her body language classes too seriously, specially the eye contact one. She used to almost turn sideways while talking to me. I showed my concern twice regarding the threat that prevailed if she took her eyes off the road. With silence prevailing between us, and the music playing in the background, we were moving in a bumper to bumper traffic. Suddenly, the cellphone of the lady rings and she reads the message sent to her. I would like to assume that the message must have been sent by her friend who was being chased by a rhino in some African sanctuary. What on the earth would otherwise be so important that she had to type back a reply while driving the car amidst the heavy traffic. Now, I do not know the exact sequence of sounds, but they went somewhat this way:
Type… Type… Type… Honk… Type… Accelerate… Brake… Honk… Type… Type… Type… Accelerate… Banggggggg… SHIT
The dent in the back door of Toyota Innova proved the point that the gorgeous lady who was accompanied by me definitely knew how to make long lasting impressions. I requested the lady, who had omitted to carry her license as she would have to port it around everywhere, to be seated in the car while I negotiated it out with the Innova Driver.
Now, the decision of me talking to the Innova driver instead of her was not thinking she will not be able to handle it. Nor was it with the feminist support attitude or with the opinion that I should help her as she cannot help herself. It was more because of her magnetism rather that the chauvinism or feminism. After a tough bargain (actually dictatorship at the other person’s end) and after losing a grand, I finally managed to settle it out. This is just one of the quite few cases that I know off and I have been a witness of, both directly as well as indirectly (through other people’s discussion).
Yet, I am not generalizing this Non-Driving Ability Syndrome to entire women community. I am just suggesting that next time you sit besides a girl in the car, wear your seatbelts and keep some cash handy if you wish to impress the lady like i did, if you dont wish to do so, she can handle herself well.

Dont try to support her, try to accompany her (Courtesy: Tum Bin: "Jaanta hu tumhe sahare ki zarurat nahi, main saath dene aaya hu)

So, in the end, I would just like to say that I have not had best of experiences sitting besides female drivers, but most of these experiences have resulted in very good turnouts finally. And all is well if the end is well.

My name is Shah... And I am not a chauvinist; nor a feminist...