She flinched as a large leaf hit the windscreen. The automatic viper moved it away. It was not a heavy rain, not the rain where you would need an umbrella. If you are wearing a jacket with a hoodie, you would pull the hoodie up. Priya enjoyed driving.

Fall had just begun, and the trees had transitioned from lustrous greens to melancholic shades of reds and oranges. Some would like to stay in, bake a cake and have it with some hot coffee. Priya was not the type. She was out in the rain taking her driving lessons.

Some speed, said the teacher. More speed, more speed, more, more, more.

Priya accelerated with hesitation.

I’m afraid, she admitted. I’m afraid to lose control.

This is what we are here to learn. How can you learn when you’re afraid to try? It is more dangerous to slow down sometimes than to speed up. You don’t want the cars behind you to smash you, do you?

No, but I don’t mind, she smirked. Once you’re dead, all your problems are solved—no worries about your driving license. No worries about job, relations, health. Complete freedom.

The teacher agreed. Yes freedom, but what if you don’t die and worse what if you are reborn? Are you a Hindu? What do you think happens after death?

Yes, I am a Hindu. We do have the concept of heaven and hell. But if you have unfinished business, your karma leads you to rebirth. You may be born as a human, an animal, or an insect. You cannot choose it. As I said, your karma leads you to it. So ya, death may not always lead to freedom.

We make a right turn now. Park that thought and focus on parallel parking of this car now.

She went ahead, making an S with the car. Once she parked it, she wondered whether she wanted to go back to her home. Driving, felt like freedom. The freedom that she hadn’t felt in a long time. Not in her home at least.