Sainath Driving School

We’ve been here at Shop No. 2 right across from Bedekar Ganpati Mandir for a good while now. Kothrud has changed a lot, but this corner stays pretty much the same. Most mornings start with the sound of the temple bells and me trying to get the office shutters up. It’s a small space, just enough for a desk and some chairs for people to wait. We spend most of our time out on the roads anyway. Pune traffic is no joke, especially around these narrow lanes. Usually, someone walks in looking a bit nervous about getting behind the wheel for the first time. We just sit them down, take their details, and explain how the clutch works. It isn’t fancy work, but it’s what we do. The cars are parked nearby, and they’ve seen a lot of learners stall them over the years. We know all the bumps and turns in this part of town. Sometimes it gets dusty in the office, and the tea stall nearby is where we usually end up between sessions. People know us by the name on the board. It's a simple life, teaching one person at a time how to navigate these streets without hitting a curb. We don't have a big staff, just a few of us who know the roads well and have the patience to sit through the jerky starts and sudden braking. It feels good when a student finally gets the hang of it and stops panicking at the intersections.