While driving on the roads of Kabul, you need so many other things except knowing the rules of traffic and a watchful mind that should harbor you home safely, and this list is not limited. You need the prayers of elders, good relations with high-ups (in case you ended up in a legal or a police mess), a sharp tongue to give tit-for-tat answer to one who will hit your car and start at shouting at you before you do the same, a prophetic patience to see and tolerate all the follies that your fellow drivers do without even knowing about their acts and of course, a brave will-power to escape the spot if you were the one to be blamed for an accident.  Even with all these, if you were not able to end up safely, it would certainly depict a defect in your fate and you will have to accept the consequences as something written. It is the reason why, drivers of Kabul exclaim this with high notes in their voice that, ‘If you can drive on the roads of Kabul, you can easily drive anywhere in the world’. And having a look at all the things happening here, I strongly agree with them.

Of numerous problems being ignored, traffic problems in Afghanistan are so critical that they leave lasting effects on so many other factors, directly or indirectly associated with them. They cause the deaths and injuries of hundreds of people, they give birth to innumerable quarrels between the drivers and drivers or other people that usually end up in severe enmities, millions of dollars of fuel is being burnt due to traffic-jams and other reasons, and to many people with sensitive minds, driving on these roads is a major source of frustration and the resultant medical complications like increased heart-beats or high blood pressure.

The biggest problem, which adds to the severity of the problem, is its nature of being invisible. When we talk about it in public or when same is debated in the offices of concerned authorities, the problem is not taken seriously and blown into air with a sneer and you start doubting your mental well-being. More or less, same would be the thoughts of others in this regard.

A friend of mine stopped driving at all when he came from a foreign country as he discovered with his experience of less than a month’s driving that his driving would not do much harm to him physically but psychologically. He did not know that on roads of Kabul, a person who follows rules is considered the most dangerous because he tries to do something out of routine and threatens the routine practices of driving.

When I used to sit with my cousin on the front seat and saw him driving dangerously, I used to get angry but now that I have discovered that the other way would be even more risky, I have learned to keep calm even if your vehicle misses another vehicle by a couple of inches. This inch-to-inch driving skill is really brilliant and I am sure it can be appreciated the world over as other nations might require an advanced technology to reach to our level of head-to-tail driving on such congested roads.

Obtaining a driving license is considered a very difficult process in all the countries of the world but in our county, you can pass all the hardships if you find a good agent who can arrange for you a license in a few thousand Afghanis. Now, this customer-oriented nature of our country is a blow to all those who blame the country to be a difficult one in doing business.

Of the numerous lessons to learn on the roads, the first and most important is not to wait for your turn and enter violently against a row of cars that are moving across you and soon you would discover that your courage has intimidated them and they have decided to stop and let you go away. But if a driver on the opposite lane is more courageous than you, then you should be ready to handle him properly after the accident. In such circumstances, if you hesitate to cut down the lane of cars moving in front of you,  you would be greatly scolded by all the drivers that would be honking their horns at your back and in some cases, it might turn out to be even worse.

Waiting for your turn is also against the routine of traffic here because if you did so, you will keep waiting and no one would notice your presence, not even the traffic police. If you repeated this gentle act for sometimes, you will learn so many lessons the way others treat you on the road, the golden one is not to wait anymore and you will see that it has almost solved your problem.

Stopping car on a busy road in a way that you block the whole flow of traffic is a routine practice, for which you should not rear any guilt in your conscience, because you may be doing something important like seeing-off a friend, waiting for a delivery from a shop or others and all these reasons are far more valuable than the time of drivers who keep cursing you in their vehicles. As far as curses are concerned, repeated interaction with them would make you feel at home with them and you would no more remain stranger to them.

Roads of Kabul are best places to exhibit one’s wealth and political or social approach. If your father is on a good government post, if your brother is a commander in any forces and can reach to your help with a dozen of his bodyguards, if anyone of your relatives is a minister and can easily take you out of the hands of police, if your uncle is a tribal chief and can turn all the wrongs into right, then you have a license to do whatever you do on the roads, including beating the traffic warden (as was rightly done by the son of an Army General). Having a look at the power you hold, you can show eyes to other drivers, you can use abusive language, you can drink and still drive, you can threaten the drivers and pedestrians of all the hell that you can call on them and so many others. It would definitely give you more emotional satisfaction and feeling of power when you will exercise the powers you have.

And there are few things that most of our drivers are totally unaware of. For instance, there is no concept of using seat belts, taking vehicles for their fitness, understanding or abiding by the traffic signals and many more. One, who does respect these things, is considered mentally unsound. And of course, horns have been fixed in cars with a good intention so they should be used profoundly and in this regard, you must forget if you are passing by a hospital or a school or whatsoever because a good thing always remains good.

So if you want to be the best driver of the world, never miss this golden opportunity and enter this unique racing track to learn the unique tricks.