Go Karting

Last weekend we went as a part of our team outing for Go Karting. I had heard about Go Karting in the past few times, but had never been to one.
Let me put some facts first . I have a terrible ( I wish I could replace this word with "terrific"!) sense of traffic , I am one of those who can not cross roads without asking Godfor divine intervention. Pa and my bro tried to help me learn ride cycle and then scooter but I just could not .On one of the scooter learning lessons , with Pa ,my tutor, on the pillion seat , I accelerated the bike to the maximum , next I remember the scooter stood on its back wheel , like a war horse , ready to take the fight !!! that was the end of scooter learning for me . Next came the four wheeler , I did try to manevoure car drive once , with my friend on the side seat , assuming that this must be comparatively simple, though this was not a disaster , but since my friend didn't offer me the driver's seat again, I think he realised the hopelessness of the effort and gave up .
Well coming back to the topic,the moment i came to this has something to do with Car race , one thought that flashed my mind ... Great , I will finally get a broken hand bone. Since childhood , I wanted a hand bone fracture (I realized that leg would be too complicated ) , I had seen my friends in school flaunting there hand plasters , getting prefrential treatment with teachers , friends and always wanted one hand fracture with a nice plaster and signatures from all my friends !!
Trying to get more infomation on this sport I searched internet ... and what I learnt was , to say the least ,was intimidating ... "Go-karting or Karting as it is popularly known was first started in 1956, when an American, Art Ingells built the first Go-kart for his son. It was built around a lawnmover engine, using a rope steering wheel. Since then karting has come a long way. Most formula1 race drivers started their careers with karting. Mika Hakkinen, Michael Shumacher and our own Narain Karthikeyan have all been karting champions. Karting is the first step to motorcar racing"
Great , So I might be in the same league as Formula 1 race drivers ... hmmm now this is something ... So what was the preparation required for this , well some of the instructions I got were
"• Long flowing clothes like Salwar Kameez and sarees are not allowed.
• Long hair is also disallowed, as the engines are right behind the head of the driver."
Ok So what am I supposed to do with my long hairs ???? Should I cut them short or get shaved completely ? "No" , pat came the reply , "Just tie them up nicely and this should solve the problem", OK so finally I was ready for "Go karting" ....
When my friends asked should we get a ticket for you , I told them bravely "O Yes I want one" , one of my colleaques suggested tactfuly " There are some two seaters also , so if you want to sit with somebody we can take one for you " .... Hmmmm .... " No I think i can manage"
All my mental conditioning fell apart , the moment I saw one GoKarting race , what with screeching sounds and the dangerous turns , I was pretty sure this is not for me , let me just accept the fact that this game is not for me . They had made artificial walls with tyres and when I saw a car crashing on the tyre wall I almost decided to give up , afterall it is better to face humiliation then to face death !! But then the ticket was already bought and I had my pride to save ... So I bravely moved in to the arena ...
I wore the helmet given and almost choked from suffocation ( I am not admitting it was fear ) ... managed to somehow sit on the seat .... mind you it was no minor accomplishment , with my astronomical weight ( I am not disclosing this either) and almost groud level seats, by the time I sat , my shoe were entagled in between brake and something... "Not a good sign " I thought.
Finally I did manage to start the kart , yes and all I thought was If I can complete one lap I would be happy ... but what happened in next 30 seconds is hard to explain..I sailed through smoothly ... I was in full control of the car and my thoughts... and I started enjoying the ride. I knew there was not a tini mini chance of mine competing with others... but then I was happy ... just to see the car in my control...I was happy that I could control my fear !!! By the time second lap was over I got feel of the race route and actually knew that there was no need to use brakes ... just use accelerator effectively ... and one can manouver the route easily...
I know it might not be a major accomplishment ... but it did teach me a thing or two... our fears are always greater then what is out there, we always underestimate our learning capabilties and want to be in our comfort zone . How many times we have missed a chance to do something challenging, missed an opportunity just because of the fear of the unknown ? After all it is all about managing the Fear ....