This is to share the experience today. Everything happened within minutes but is somehow unforgettable.
Today (15th November 2010), my day began like any normal day. A test in the morning & a lazy afternoon. Chennai was blissful as it rained in the morning but then rains took a break & I was treated to nice sun.
At around 3 PM, I received call from my mom that my dearest uncle & aunt are in chennai. They were touring complete down south & have come to Chennai today to meet me. So I called them up right away & decided to visit them. My college is near Mahabalipuram & my uncle & aunt were in chennai around 60 km away from me. So in the excitement I hopped onto my bike & started towards chennai. First mistake was to forget the jacket at my room though I took my helmet with me blissfully.
Travelling on the east coast road is always fun & today was no exception. I rode along at decent speed till the sky began to get darker. Within 10 minutes, the sky changed its colour from light blue to dark black. The sea next to East Coast Road reflected the same black colour making things look more gaudy than actual. Within a minute, it started raining heavily. I had no option to stop the bike under a tree & wait for rains to subside. The wait was much longer than expected but rains finally stopped & again the blue sky emerged. I was drenched even after standing under the tree. I continued my ride & reached chennai. Met my uncle & aunt. Had food with them. The Air Conditioner of the restaurant made the matters worst as I almost caught cold. Then it was a time to depart & I knew that rains won't spare me by just looking at the sky. So I packed my wallet & cell phone in a thick carry bag & started my journey backwards.
I had rode around 12-15 kilometers when my cell phone was buzzing. I stopped to attend the call. It was my friend Rajender. The conversation went like this -
Rajender - Where are you?
Me - Just of ECR (East Coast Road) yaar. Should be there in another half hour or 45 minutes
Rajender - It's raining very heavily here buddy
Me - What should I do yaar? I have to come there anyhow.
Rajender - See if you can stop somewhere for sometime because it is real heavy rain
Me - Chuck it off yaar. I will ride & see what happens
The conversation ended there. He is the last person to care about rains & all. When he was talking like this, I got the hint of what is in store for me. So I again started my bike & accelerated towards my college. When I was about 30 km away, full throttle rains caught me. The wind was so strong that it was literally shaking my bike. Rains shook hands with darkness to become more fierce. The clouds joined the party with loud lightning which was electrifying the sky for almost 2-3 seconds. The climate was showing its deadly avatar. On my left was never ending sea which was looking dreadful now & to my right was never ending ground which somehow were making me feel very lonely.
Anyways; I was driving along with my helmet visor up. The rain drops were really hitting me & were hurting a little. Keeping my eyes open in itself was a challenge. The traffic also had reduced considerably on the road. I was looking frantically for a shelter. A petrol pump, a community hall, a hotel, anything. But there were hardly few things visible on the road. By the time I reached near a board saying Mahabalipuram 14 km, I was completely drenched. My college was just 20-22 kilometres away & there was no point in stopping now. So I decided to continue driving.
Now the riding was converted to following. There was hardly any visibility & with constant hitting of rain drops, my eyes were all paining. I was not able to see much apart from the tail-lights of vehicles in front. So I decided to use my tested & trusted strategy. Follow the tail light!!!! I found a bike was in front of me & I started following it. Life was much easier now. Soon I realised that the biker was also following a toyota innova in front. So I continues travelling till I crossed mahabalipuram. College was just 6-8 kilometers away. Then suddenly the tail light I was following went down & disappeared towards my left.
I just stopped there. I could not understand what happened. There was no road apart from the ECR on which I was driving. That Innova had gone much far by now & I was left there without a clue of how come a bike suddenly disappeared. I looked again to my left & got one more rude shock. The bike had not disappeared but had slipped of the road into the fields next to it. The biker had lost control & bike had fallen. There were 2 people who were lying there in the field. Now I was in a fix. Whether to stop for their help or just follow some other vehicle & reach the college in next 10 minutes. So many thoughts ran through my mind. "These could be drunkards & I could land myself in trouble", "Someone could be really injured & then I might need to travel again on ECR to help him fetch help so just leave it (though I am angry in myself now for that selfish thought but that was my honest thought at that point of time)", "What if they are not injured & might just end up robbing me". So amidst all these negative thoughts, sane thinking prevailed & I decided to give it a try to help those people. So without turning off my bike, I took it ahead & scanned the person lying near the road using the headlight. The person was a young guy around 16-17. So I stopped my bike, parked it & went near that guy.
I uttered the most stupid question at that moment "What happened?". Sitting here, I can laugh about it but in that situation when I was in half senses, I could come only with this. He told me that he somehow thought there is a left turn & turned. His bike slipped & both of them fell down. So we went near the other person. She was a girl around the same age as that boy. So I understood that they were a young couple who were on a bike ride which has gone terribly wrong. Till this time, nobody knew anybody's name. That guy asked the girl "Are you okay?". The girl responded "Yes". So the guy asked "Are you injured?" Girl said "Yes". Then we tool a look at her hand. It was scratched badly. She must have landed up on her hand. The girl also saw it again & then started realising the pain. I asked that guy about his injuries & he also had his hand scratched but not that badly.
Then I told him that I will help him in getting his bike up & running so that he can go home. I asked him where was his home. He told :Kalpakkam". It was 8 km further from my bike. But the next sentence gave me a blow. He said "Sir, I am very afraid right now. I can't drive now". I could very well understand his situation. Anyone would have got afraid at that point of time. It was raining very heavily now also. God of lightning was at his full glory & the mere sound of lightning was frightening on that dark lonely road for a guy who had just met an accident. So I told him, nothing to worry. Things happen. Forget it & move on. If you want, I will accompany you till kalpakkam. You can simply follow my bike. Again the guy said "No sir. Please don't ask me to drive now. Find some other solution." Listening to this, the girl started crying. I again told that guy "Come on man. You have to drive. how else do you plan to go home. If you want, we can go back to Mahabalipuram & wait there for sometime so that you can come back to normal. If we wait here, we ourselves might get hit by lightning or some snake or something". The guy then told me that this was not possible. I asked him why?, He told me that the girl whose name was Parul was his best friend. They both had bunked their evening tuition & were on a bike ride on ECR. They have to go home by 8:00 PM otherwise their parents will do berserk while searching for them. Listening to this, the girl started crying loudly & at the same time, started smashing her hands vigorously in the mud. I think she had lost it. The unforgiving rains, lightning, loneliness, ECR & thoughts about parents catching them red handed was something sh could not bear & she started acting as if she was mad.
So here was I. Caught between a guy whom I was not able to talk out of a situation to drive & a girl, talking to whom was senseless. I started feeling uneasy myself. I thought if something happens to this girl, I might be caught just like that in police matters. If their parents found them here with me, they might just beat me up also. I started to get afraid of the whole situation now. I told this guy whose name was Anand "Look man, I also need to go to my college. This is last time I am telling you either get up & drive the bike else I am leaving. Do whatever you want". I though this is my escape route & I can now go call police for help since I cannot leave this couple just like that on that lonely road.
To my utter astonishment, that guy replied "Please sir. I will not let you go. Please help us sir. Stay with us & help us. I will not let you go. I will even fight with you but not let you go." Now I was getting really nervous. If I start leaving, this guy might start doing something foolish & get beating from me which I never wanted. I wanted to help those people but the situation was really getting out of control. I looked at him. He was looking at me but I can clearly see that he was pleading than being arrogant or in a fightful mood. At this point of a time, I looked at the girl. She had stopped crying & was sitting squarely in mud & was staring at the road constantly. Her eyes showed no emotions at all. This really got me. I was terrified. I thought something has happened to this girl & I told Anand that please go near her & talk to her. He went near her & shook her. The girl just looked at him & started staring at the road again. I thought that she has lost her mental balance. I was cursing myself for being in the situation & still could not run away for the simple reason that I was afraid of the outcome of me running away. It would have haunted me for years that I ran away from those people who really wanted my help. I did not wanted to be a reason for something really bad happening & looking at that girl, I thought she could do anything stupid next moment.
So I thought to myself. What can I do now. First thing that came to my mind was to stop a truck & ask him to carry the bike & the couple to kalpakkam. But the next moment I dropped that thought since meeting a wrong intentioned truck driver would have meant more trouble. Next thought was to stop here only till the rains go by. But I could not just stand there like a dumb while that girl loses it minute by minute. Then again a thought came. Run & call the police. But where was I going to get a police van. And in the mid time, what if these people commit some act of foolishness. I was running out of options very quickly.
So I just took that guys bike out of mud, took it to road & started it. It started instantly. I looked at that guy in a hope of him coming to drive now at least. But he was just sitting down in the mud & looking at me. I again went to him & asked him if he could call some of his friends so that they can drive & carry these people through. He said No. They all will be in a tuition now. So I told him again that in this scenario, he has to drive or face the wrath of parents or risk something happening to his friend. I assured him that I will drive right next to him & make sure that I stay on the left so that these people do not skid off the road. I told that if he starts getting afraid again, I will call my friends to help us. I assured him that once we reach my college, I will some of my friend to drive his bike. I lied that my college is just 1-2 km away. By that time, the rains also had slowed down & the visibility was much better. I told him that this is the only chance to reach my college. This time he said "Sir promise me that you will not run away after starting your bike." I assured him that If I had to run away, I would have done that long back.
So after around 10 minutes of drama, he agreed to give it a shot to drive this bike. He went to Parul & told her to get up. She got up & followed him closely. I could see that she was shaking while walking. He started the bike & started driving along with me. I was on his left to make sure that he does not sway away from the road again. By the time we reached college, we had driven good 6-7 km. So I asked Anand, "Should I call my friends for help?". To my surprise, he said No. I think I can go till kalpakkam now. I said Ok lets go on. He told me that I do not need to come now & he has recovered now. He thanked me for helping him despite his foolishness & threats to fight. He was looking much better now. Parul though was just leaning over Anand & was not uttering a single word. I still decided to go till kalpakkam. I went ahead with them & when they turned into their locality, I turned my bike & came back.
I don't know what to make of it or whether to make anything of it. While we were on bike, I came to know that both of them were belonging to plant engineers families. They had shifted here recently & had no friends apart from two of them. So he really had no option to call any friends & was afraid that his friend will die because of injuries & that was the reason he would have even fought with me if I would have started leaving the place. The whole incidence was over in about 45-50 minutes but has left an ever lasting impression of me. I realised how selfish I can think when situation is worse & how moods swing in moments!!!!!!!!!
Posts
