Cherished Memories of Africa — Page 262
244 people around us, except some shop-keepers, carried their luggage and left for their homes. We were on the river bank with no sign of houses nearby and we were wayfarers and strangers in that area. The car was parked on the riverbank facing the river. The driver was not with us and I had developed some fever too. The situation caused great worry. It was gone past isha time. The darkness of night rendered the river water invisible. The hope of Usman’s return also dwindled away. I requested my companions and those few who were there, rather apprehensively, to push my car back. They complied and I took the car about 200 metres away from the river and turned it around to face the other way. Usman Sahib had not taken the car key with him. I tried to start the car; it would start and then stop. One of the men told me to keep the clutch pressed for it to start. I tried that a few times and, by the Grace of Allah, succeeded. As I was used to driving the motorbike, in similar manner, I started driving the car slowly. It was night time and the road was wide and without any traffic. The nearest village was about five kilometres away. We got there and spent the night with school’s headmaster. It was morning. I had learnt driving the car forward but did not know how to reverse. With a little effort I familiarised myself with the reversing gear. With that success, I drove the car back to the river with greater confidence. Usman Sahib had returned by then. He had his own story for not returning the night before. One outcome of this worrying situation was that I became a driver. We usually travelled to villages on untarred roads with little traffic. Therefore, during this trip I had ample opportunity to drive and I became a confident driver.