8th grade at India Gate

When I was driving back from my easy run today, I heard that Hasin Khan, my father’s driver of nearly forty years had passed away.

I learnt how to drive in eighth grade during the summer break. The National Gallery of Modern Art, situated at the India Gate quadrangle, held summer programs on art history and I was enrolled in one such course.

Hasin Khan would drive me there and in the dusty grounds around the quadrangle, before or after class, he taught me how to drive. It’s unimaginable that a car would be allowed to do that today.

Sometimes, a long run, takes me around that quadrangle and I remember those days. The memories are sepia toned, my father’s grey Nissan kicking up dust and Hasin Khan telling me the best advice I’ve ever heard about driving in Delhi.

Always go around people and animals.