The Ghat Drives

Driving a car always fascinated me. As much I remember the seat behind the drivers was always mine. Infact I was very very young when l almost put our car into a ditch thanks to my father agreeing to let me drive for few moments. Anyways there is one particular roads I would kill to drive on. The ghat sections. The weaving, rounding and dangerous roads. These roads test your driving to the limit, it brings the best out of you. And by ghat section I don't mean the ghats such as ones between Mumbai Pune, where its is relatively very easy thanks to good road engineering but the ones you get in proper hilly region. I think what excites me is the how it is a proper test of your driving competence, your confidence on yourself and the car and your skills to back up the confidence. The margin of error is very less, one inch left or right and you might be done. Your driving acumen should be on point and a confidence backed decision making is required. These roads demand all your attention and unlike expressways you cant just cruise or afford even a momentary lapse of concentration. The negative side of this is that you being the driver cannot completely enjoy the scenic views you are driving through. These drives are very pleasing to the eye usually passing though a forest or a city nearby, which presents a mesmerizing view to you as you drive. The driver can atmost steal a glance here and there but taking his eyes of the road would mean skirting with danger. My favourite ghat roads till now has to be kodaikannal roads, these are the one with best landscape and tight roads which require high maneuverability. This piece would not resonate with all the people but definitely with people who love driving especially motorheads who are crazy about manual transmission cars and sometimes prefer torque-y experience of the ghats instead of the speed-y experience of the straight roads :)