Cheers!!

hmm
Three of us at my friend's place on a Friday evening...
I guess we were done with our dinner and had decided to watch a movie. But before that, there was a need for something pleasing(though not for me).. which can be generalised as 'alcoholic beverage'.
There was it in few mins.. on the table with three classes.. though I refused to have(I am NOT trying to prove myself a 'bhola bhala' :) )
I was given a glass with whisky(.. I guess).

Hmm as a tradition.. the next step is to go for the friendly remark.. 'Cheers'

I joined the party in this step, the glasses went in air for a collision..
I tried to place my glass on table and oops..!
The next moment both my friends in loud voices said....
'Hey, you are not supposed to place the glass down without taking a sip.'

Hmm nice learning ;-)
so had a sip..(Plz believe me.. only a SINGLE sip).. I literally didn't like the taste..(same again)

After sometime, I went in the kitchen to have some water. I saw a bottle of water placed near the shelf. I asked my friend before drinking
'Is it ok to drink that water?'

He replied with tongue in cheek.. 'Yeah yeah.. you can of course'
With a doubt in mind, I drank it without giving a second thought.

Damn it!! My mouth started burning as I drank it.. My friends bursting out laughing..

Later I was told.. It was RUM (or was it GIN.. Have to contact that 'great friend' to clarify on this :))..

Illinois Driving license

Hmm.. getting a driving license back in India was a hectic thing but getting the same in Libertyville,IL was altogether a different experience and quite a satisfying job too. You will find the reason for this now..

To get a driving license, like in other places, a written test followed by a driving test is necessary. The only change here is to have a vision screening before the written test and to have the driving test along with the examiner.
After 3 days of reading through the traffic rules, signals, sign boards n other necessary things I passed the written test with 88%( I remember, I answered 28 questions out of 32 correctly ;-) and 80% is the minimum required score to pass). For this one of my colleague also had accompanied, who also got passed along with me.

It was almost 2 months, that I was driving the car and I was pretty confident of getting through the driving test. And I was informed that getting through it is pretty easy provided you don't commit any stupid mistakes or violate any serious rules.
So I decided to go for the driving test on one fine Friday. After getting my coupon, I had to wait for my turn for about half an hour. During which, I was observing people around me. Saw quite a few different people, interesting one was a girl who had a habit of applying lipstick every 5 mins(I guess this was coz, she was talking a lot.. a typical one:)
On my turn to the counter, I was greeted by a strange looking, arrogant bespectacled lady. Arrogant was the way she talked, so was her looks. Then I passed through the cashier way to the parking area where I was supposed to pick an examiner.
In the waiting area, I was questioned by a lady, around 55 yrs of age for my details and the form. Her looks were very serious and seemed that she wasn't having a nice day. After confirming that all the indicators, horn and the breaklight are in working condition, she was in my car the next moment. Yes, she was the judge for my hearing!
I was asked to follow all the instructions given by her and so I did. It was only after few mins on our way to highway 45, I had to apply the break firmly which really did give a hard jerk. This was coz of an idiot who stopped suddenly infront of me due to one more idiot who took a turn from the other side. Hmm.. she gave a look.. a look which said a thousand words. Damn!! I was really scared at that point of time.. not coz she is going to slap me but for the outcome of the test.
Keeping this thing aside, I just moved on as per her instructions.. After few mins of driving and stunts like up-hill parking, U-turns, I was told to get back to the driving office.
Immediately after hitting the driving office parking lot, I heard something from her which kind of stirred me.
She said - "You did not pass the test"
It really took few seconds for my brain to process those words. Before me asking for the reasons, she started off saying, - "You violated one of the important rule of not taking off the vehicle to the right when any emergency vehicle is coming on the way."
Then I started to recall the whole trip, as when did I encounter with such a vehicle but didn't get a clue of it :(
I politely asked her, 'Ma'am may I know where exactly did we face this vehicle ?"
She started firing off saying.."The vehicle in front of you had to stop immediately coz of an ambulance which took a turn from the other side. And you didn't notice it due to which you had to stop just inches away from that vehicle"
Again it took some time for me to know that the 'second idiot' was actually driving an ambulance. I responded to her comment, "But ambulance and other emergency vehicles should have a siren ON", For which I got an unconvincing answer, - "But the flashing lights were ON"
After that I went in deep thoughts.. trying to understand as what exactly was going on and how all this happened.

Taking the receipt, I was back to office and then to home. I couldn't sleep that night properly coz of this. After a long time I faced the ugly face of 'failure'. I was very uncomfortable the whole day. Not coz I didn't get the license but it was really difficult to take this failure. I still don't know what exactly that feeling was all about ..
The next day, I tried hard to forget what happened the previous day but in vain. I decided to take a small break and then give a second attempt. I was under more pressure now, coz we can have only 3 attempts in one year(or 6 months).
On Tuesday morning, I was again in the same office with all the familiar staff faces. After many days, I wished. Wished for not seeing the same lady. I was fortunate enough this time. One nice lady examined the same things as before and then we were ready to take the test.
I was asked to show more experience( plz don't ask me in what..! :-) and responsibility while driving. The test was over in 10 mins and yes, I was declared PASS this time.

After many days, I wanted to shout in joy!! But controlled myself saying, its just a driving license. But I was very happy that moment ! :))