Some people are considered fortunate when they meet with an accident. Some others are not. They are fortunate for they have met with this sweet accident that everybody looks forward to at some point of time in their life to meet. Yes, they have fallen in love. While the not so fortunate are the ones who meet with more deadly accidents on the roads or at their workplace. Some escape with little or no injuries, some others are crippled for life and the less fortunate ones are married to death.
After a pleasant weekend, I was all set to go to my office on a sunny Monday morning on February the second, 2004 at about 9.05 am, with full rejuvenation. New hopes and ideas for the week were spurting in my mind. I had to cross the 100 feet, quadruple lane ring road with a divider in between. I am aware of the Bangalore traffic which is reckless and horrible. People do not follow the obvious traffic rules; no lane discipline is observed, no indicators used, no horns blown and more so one ways are also violated. But I am a precocious person and used to first look at the barred side on the one way because I knew that though I know about the rules, the other person need not necessarily know. Keeping all this in mind, I first looked to my left which was the wrong side for the traffic, and found no one. Then I concentrated on the right side. A whole bunch of vehicles was flowing on the road. I waited for my turn to make a move. And when I found that there was no one, I just kept my right foot down the footpath on the road. No sooner had I done that, I found myself lying on the road with my cell phone on one side and the bag that I was carrying in my hand on the other. I did not know what had happened. I found a bike lying below me and below it was a man, in all probability the rider, who was bleeding profusely from the left side of his forehead. I immediately realized that we had met with an accident. A 150 cc, 12 BHP bike that appeared on the scene out of nowhere from the wrong side speeding at about 40KMpH had crashed into my not so muscular body. I quickly got up, collected my bag and felt the pain on the left side of my cranium just behind the ear. I moved my fingers over the area to see if there was any cut and just found a streak of blood on my fingers. I was happy that there was not a big cut requiring any stitches. As I was a little too much informed about head injuries, I quickly conducted a system test on myself. I tried to listen and found that the ears were functional, and then tested each eye for sight, blurred vision and ability to distinguish three fingers as three; by His grace, they too performed as per expectations, and then tried to recollect some phone numbers and names just to ensure that I had not become a case of short or long term amnesia. A sense of joy seemed to engulf me as I thought I had successfully come out of this test. But soon the pain radiating all over my cranium brought me back to reality and I realized that I was a victim of accident and had to keep up my composure. The injured portion had begun to swell by now and I did not know whether it was a blood clot or just a swelling due to pain. By now quite a few people had gathered at the scene and were trying to help the biker. Some of them were looking at me with a sense of hostility and some others did not even know what had happened. Somebody gave me my cell phone which was lying on the road till then without getting beneath the tyres of any vehicles. I quickly tested it for functionality and found it working. The location of our accident was quite dangerous. Any vehicle could have easily smashed all of us- me, him and my cell phone.
After a pleasant weekend, I was all set to go to my office on a sunny Monday morning on February the second, 2004 at about 9.05 am, with full rejuvenation. New hopes and ideas for the week were spurting in my mind. I had to cross the 100 feet, quadruple lane ring road with a divider in between. I am aware of the Bangalore traffic which is reckless and horrible. People do not follow the obvious traffic rules; no lane discipline is observed, no indicators used, no horns blown and more so one ways are also violated. But I am a precocious person and used to first look at the barred side on the one way because I knew that though I know about the rules, the other person need not necessarily know. Keeping all this in mind, I first looked to my left which was the wrong side for the traffic, and found no one. Then I concentrated on the right side. A whole bunch of vehicles was flowing on the road. I waited for my turn to make a move. And when I found that there was no one, I just kept my right foot down the footpath on the road. No sooner had I done that, I found myself lying on the road with my cell phone on one side and the bag that I was carrying in my hand on the other. I did not know what had happened. I found a bike lying below me and below it was a man, in all probability the rider, who was bleeding profusely from the left side of his forehead. I immediately realized that we had met with an accident. A 150 cc, 12 BHP bike that appeared on the scene out of nowhere from the wrong side speeding at about 40KMpH had crashed into my not so muscular body. I quickly got up, collected my bag and felt the pain on the left side of my cranium just behind the ear. I moved my fingers over the area to see if there was any cut and just found a streak of blood on my fingers. I was happy that there was not a big cut requiring any stitches. As I was a little too much informed about head injuries, I quickly conducted a system test on myself. I tried to listen and found that the ears were functional, and then tested each eye for sight, blurred vision and ability to distinguish three fingers as three; by His grace, they too performed as per expectations, and then tried to recollect some phone numbers and names just to ensure that I had not become a case of short or long term amnesia. A sense of joy seemed to engulf me as I thought I had successfully come out of this test. But soon the pain radiating all over my cranium brought me back to reality and I realized that I was a victim of accident and had to keep up my composure. The injured portion had begun to swell by now and I did not know whether it was a blood clot or just a swelling due to pain. By now quite a few people had gathered at the scene and were trying to help the biker. Some of them were looking at me with a sense of hostility and some others did not even know what had happened. Somebody gave me my cell phone which was lying on the road till then without getting beneath the tyres of any vehicles. I quickly tested it for functionality and found it working. The location of our accident was quite dangerous. Any vehicle could have easily smashed all of us- me, him and my cell phone.
Nobody exchanged any word, neither me nor the biker nor any of the onlookers. It was a peaceful accident indeed! I quickly collected all my belongings, checked for my office keys, identity card and stuff and started moving towards my friend and colleague’s house which was just close by. All this time my head was aching and the pain was shooting everywhere. A different kind of nervousness had gripped me and my limbs were shaking. I could also see some stars before me.
I reached my friend’s place, my trousers soiled with grease and oil and my body aching in pain. I quickly gave him an account of what had happened. He made me relax on the sofa; his sister-in-law immediately washed the wound, applied some antiseptic lotion and smeared an herbal cream with a touch of affection and warmth. I began to feel better and the pain seemed to vanish with her soothing touch. His mother gave me a spoonful of sugar and a glass of water. I felt a little relaxed and remembered my mother who would have done something similar to ward off all the pain. That’s the magic power that He has bestowed upon this visible God, whose love and care will make you forget all your miseries and sufferings and you will regain your joys. After resting for some time, my friend took me to a nearby doctor. The medico prescribed some pain killers and assured me that everything will be fine and advised me to take rest.
I reached home and prepared myself to take some rest. Called up my friend in office and told him about the recent developments. The news spread like wild fire and soon I started receiving calls about my well being. The only nice thing about being un-well is the attention that one gets from his friends and relatives. One is convinced that one’s existence on this planet is not just a burden and that there are people who really care about his presence on mother earth. For all others one has to write pieces of literatures. I spent the rest of the day quite restlessly. All this time my head was aching slightly and my body had started showing some spots of pain here and there where the vehicle had hit me. The pain killer had started to act by then but the pain in my heart was still beyond its reach. Somehow I was feeling sorry for this loss. It had become a part and parcel of my life. I remembered it only after reaching home. But it was too late by then. I had lost my dear pen in the mishap and I am very sentimental about it!
Trivia: Written on February 9, 2004 after the accident which took place at Banashankari 3rd stage, Bangalore.
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