When I try to think of an occasion when I was in a complete no Safe Zone, the one that comes to my mind immediately is on the day I bought my car. I had learnt driving not once but twice and had a valid license as well. But I had never driven alone. I was staying alone and so had no family members to accompany me either. I decided to take the plunge and take a drive to the subway for my lunch. Initially it was all fine - I just had to put my feet on the clutch, turn the key, bring on the first gear, slowly release the clutch, and wait for the car to move and then switch to second gear. Everything was going well as long as I was cruising along the by lanes with hardly any traffic. And then I hit the highway. Suddenly vehicles were coming at me from all directions. There was no one to give me any instructions – to turn right, turn left, speed up, slow down, change gears etc. I was all by myself amongst the crazy traffic. The large trucks and buses that would just crush me to pulp. I was totally terrified. But I managed to hold my nerves and slowly edge my way towards the subway restaurant. It was a huge sigh of relief when I finally managed to park the car outside the subway. But the very thought that I have to drive all the way back home completely took away my appetite. I hung on delaying the inevitable as long as I could, nibbling through the subway bit by bit. But finally the sandwich, the cookies and the coffee as well were done. It was time to get back to the no safe zone.

This post is published as part of the promotional campaign of the book No Safe Zone by Adite Banerjie, a very good friend of mine. She is an amazing author whose works have won acclaim internationally. You can buy her book here.