I am anything but adventurous. Let me live my humdrum existence and I am content. So, when I actually picked up the courage to learn driving and, even more surprisingly, passed the test, I visualised being a free spirit at last.

I mistakenly thought I would discover new roads and travel to the farthest horizons. But, summoning up the nerve to tackle new highways and byways was next to impossible for me. The one time I tried, I got hopelessly lost and found myself literally going round in circles. Well, in my defence, I must disclose there was a roundabout involved.

Each time I traversed a familiar road, I innocently thought, “Wow, there are so many identical buildings in this area”. Blissfully ignorant, I was unaware of the fact that I was lost in a maze of my own making.

When I eventually found the way home, I vowed this was the end of the adventurous life. I stuck to known routes and, when a friend advised me to make the most of Fridays when the traffic was thin to make new discoveries, I stared at her aghast. Was I going to waste a perfectly good weekend raising my blood pressure or was I going to spend it doing as little as possible? Of course, I chose the latter option.

After some years of battling the Sharjah-Dubai traffic, I told myself it wasn’t worth the toll it was taking on my peace of mind and delicate nerves.

The move to Dubai was one of the best decisions I have made from a traffic point of view. Now I had the Metro, buses and cabs to choose from.

There is an unbelievable sense of lightness (with the burden of fighting traffic having been lifted from my shoulders) when I jump into a taxi and am taken to my destination without the hassle of being in control and keeping one’s eyes peeled for the lunatic who suddenly swerves into your lane without any warning or the speedster who is convinced his time is more precious than yours and will literally ride on your bumper until you give way.

All one has to do is give directions. I am good at that. Giving directions, I mean. And I am very precise when I issue these, with no leeway for error on the part of the person driving. As soon as I sit inside, I start the description of the route to be taken in great detail so as to minimise the possibility of being taken for a ride.

Of course, I never realised that the precision of detail might amuse some. This was brought home to me when, soon after entering a taxi, I started my litany. As soon as I finished rattling off my rehearsed speech, I distinctly heard the sound of laughter.

Surprised, I asked what was so funny. Turning to me, the cabbie said he had never received such detailed directions and there was no way he would lose his way given such a clear picture.

And then on another occasion there was an even bigger surprise. Boarding yet another one of these public transport vehicles, I began my speech only to be stopped short by the driver completing my sentences. Shocked, I wondered if he was clairvoyant. Realising I was taken aback, he informed me that I had taken the same cab just the other day.

Feeling sheepish at having been cut off mid-sentence, I told myself I should be glad that I was such a good director and the actors were following all my cues.

But I also made another decision. The next time, I would make it a point to take a sneak peek at the driver.