A Hard Truth of Our System

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Why does a driving license have an expiry date? It is a question many of us have asked, especially when we know how well we can drive. Driving is not like solving math problems or memorizing facts that fade with time. It is a practical life skill, like swimming or riding a bicycle. Once you learn it and practice it regularly, you usually do not forget it. So why should a person, who has been driving safely for 10, 20, or even 40 years, suddenly be treated as unfit or unauthorized just because a certain date printed on his license has passed? Let us take a simple example. Imagine Ramesh, a man in his late 40s, who has been driving since he was 18. He knows every corner of his city’s roads and follows all the traffic rules. One morning, while driving to work, he gets stopped at a traffic checkpoint. Everything is fine, his car is insured, he is wearing a seatbelt, not using his phone. But his driving license expired a week ago. The officer tells him he is technically breaking the law. Ramesh is shocked. His skills have not changed overnight, yet the law says his ability to drive is no longer valid until he renews that small card. So what is this really about? The truth is, it is not about ability. It is about the system. Governments use license expiry as a way to keep records updated, to remind drivers of changing laws, and sometimes as a method of generating revenue through renewals and penalties. But for the common man, it often feels frustrating and pointless. And this is not just about driving licenses. In India, life can sometimes feel like a constant race to collect, renew, and verify documents. From the moment we are born, there is paperwork, birth certificates, vaccinations, school IDs, caste certificates, Aadhar cards, PAN cards, voter IDs, ration cards, bank forms, driving licenses, insurance policies, passports, and eventually, death certificates. It feels endless. There is even a saying, an Indian is born with documents and dies making more. We often joke about it, but deep down, it reflects a real truth about how our system functions. We spend more time proving our identity than actually living it. So coming back to the license question, does its expiry mean you have forgotten how to drive? No. It just means you need to follow a system that does not always care about common sense or your actual experience. The hope is that one day, our systems will become smarter and more people friendly. A time when experienced drivers like Ramesh do not have to stand in lines or pay fines just because of a date. Until then, we keep renewing, updating, verifying, and yes, driving, both on the roads and through the maze of paperwork life throws at us.


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