On the Secunderabad Cantonment road, a two-wheeler zipped past cars and Army trucks. Shockingly, a seven-year-old, helmet on head, was driving the scooter, with her father riding pillion.
This reporter followed them some distance, across roundabouts and traffic lights, and finally intercepted the father and daughter for a chat.
Surender Sharma, grinning indulgently, clearly saw no wrong in the child driving. "My daughter is very tomboyish, adventurous. She loves driving and I never stop her from doing any activity,'' he said, also explaining, "She is my only daughter.''
The child, a student of class 3, shared that she has been "learning to drive since she was four years old." Because it is "thrilling."
And has the police never stopped and penalised them?
"When the police come, I take over and hold the handles, so we have never been booked,'' said Mr Sharma, a businessman.
It is illegal to drive before the age of 18 and under-age driving exposes not just the minor driving but also others on the road to grave danger. The father shrugged off that bit of advice and they were off, the seven-year-old driving again.
Earlier this month, a minor at the wheels of a speeding Mercedes car in Delhi ran over 34-year-old Siddharth Sharma, who died in hospital of his injuries. The teen's father has been arrested on charges of abetment for allowing his minor son to drive.
