I had meant to follow the first episode with a sequel. But my interest in writing waned a bit. On my friend's request, here I am , back with the continuation of my affairs.
I bought my first car , Maruthi Swift, back in 2006 I reckon. Owning a car was absolute pleasure. At the back of my mind, I had nurtured a logical thought that 4 wheeler offers more balance than bikes. Though I had obtained license to drive, I was not confident enough. My lack of confidence combined with the heavy history of accidents, resulted in new entries in my red ledger.
In the first couple of months, I had to re-paint all 4 doors of my car. Parking space was tight in Chennai house, where i had to be precise and I misjudged. But I don't know how I managed to get entangled with the gate at my home in Pondy. The gate was wide open and there was enough space to park a bus.
My driving skills began to improve with time , but i didn't let go my rashness.
It was a Saturday. I woke up at 6 AM in Chennai and suddenly decided to have my breakfast with my parents in Pondicherry. Took 10 minutes to get ready. I didn't bother to wake anyone up while leaving.
Drive from Chennai to Pondy through ECR (East Coast Road) is very scenic but a bit dangerous. The road curves a lot and there is no divider to separate traffic from the other side.
Road was empty, so I was pushing at a very high speed. While I was at the half-way mark, I had almost hit a guy crossing the road at a 4 way junction. I went hard on the brakes, leaving thick tyre marks on road with smell of rubber filling my nostrils. The guy was shouting at me, waving his fists. As the windows were rolled up, I didn't hear much. But I knew he was reeling out expletives. I didn't want to get involved in war of words with him. It could delay my breakfast.
Looking at him with blank expression, i shifted gears and revved past him. Just after few minutes, it was déjà vu moment with a slight change. This time it was a goat that attempted to cross the road. I started shouting expletives at the goat and it had the blank expression on its face. I was too occupied to realize the role reversal that transpired in matter of minutes, thus restoring the balance in universe.
These two signs should have been enough for anyone with half a brain. Looks like I didn't have one at all. I was driving through a narrow bridge at 90 kmph. There is a sharp blind turn at the end of the bridge. When I almost reached the end of the bridge, I realized that a bus was overtaking a car in that turn from the opposite side. This meant that the bus was on my side of the road.
If I had been driving at a manageable speed, I could have pulled my car off the road to a stop. At that speed, I had nowhere to go..
Maybe a better driver would have reacted differently. But i allowed my survival instinct to take over. I almost did a full turn of the steering wheel and the stepped on the brakes, at the same time. The car slid to the side , uprooting one of the stone slabs planted at the road sides. The impact was enough to flip the car over and it rolled down the road.
It would have hardly rolled 4 times in a matter of seconds before it stopped. For me , it was the longest moment. Everything inside my car was air-borne. I felt like a rag doll in a crazy kid's hands. That is the only moment of nothingness i remember till date.
When I came to my senses, the car had stopped with the driver side on top and I was hanging there. I unbuckled my seat belt and tried to open the door and window on my side. Both were jammed. I started feeling claustrophobic , so I even attempted to break the window with my hands. It didn't pan out that well. So I tried the window behind the driver's seat. The stone slab that the car had hit, had shattered the glass cleanly. I pulled myself out through that opening.
The engine was still running and there was smoke. I was afraid that it might burst into flames. Effect of watching lot of Hollywood movies, you know. :)
I went back in, the way I had come out to remove the key from the ignition. While I was in, I remembered to pick up my camera and mobile. I made couple of calls. First one was to the number listed in the toll ticket and gave them the exact location of the accident. Then I called my dad to inform that I was okay but the car was not that lucky.
Ambulance came in 20 minutes..I didn't even a scratch on me. So , they spent the first aid time to explain what I should do after an accident. I got the number to towing service from them and arranged for the car to be towed to the nearby police station. I called my dad again and asked him to come with Car documents. The tow truck and my dad had to come from Pondy, a good 60 KMs from the accident spot. So , I had nothing to do but wait..
I took pictures of my car from various angles and perspective. I was narrating the story several times to the locals who gathered. Some of them offered me country liquor and I politely declined. I quickly got tired of repeating the story. So I walked up the road and sat on one of the stone slabs. Occasionally, a car or share-auto would stop, asking me about the people who were injured in the accident. Got to know from them that the turn was famous accident spot and people involved would loose at least an arm or a leg.
My dad , my brother and his friend reached the spot and we all waited for tow truck that came at noon. We towed the car to the nearest police station at Cheyyur and waited till 5 PM to file an FIR for insurance claim. Sub-Inspector in that station was too busy settling a local dispute of some sort.. He asked me to come on another day to file FIR. Maybe , he needed quality time to coax me into paying bribe for filing FIR.
I reached home at 6:30 pm.. I started at 6 in the morning to have breakfast with my parents. But I had my dinner with them instead and I am not complaining at all.
At the time of accident, the car was 7 months and 1700 kms old.
I had to dispose the car for good and till the claim was settled, i paid EMIs for the loan I had taken on for the non-existent car.
It took another 8 years for me to drive again and own another car.
I bought my first car , Maruthi Swift, back in 2006 I reckon. Owning a car was absolute pleasure. At the back of my mind, I had nurtured a logical thought that 4 wheeler offers more balance than bikes. Though I had obtained license to drive, I was not confident enough. My lack of confidence combined with the heavy history of accidents, resulted in new entries in my red ledger.
In the first couple of months, I had to re-paint all 4 doors of my car. Parking space was tight in Chennai house, where i had to be precise and I misjudged. But I don't know how I managed to get entangled with the gate at my home in Pondy. The gate was wide open and there was enough space to park a bus.
My driving skills began to improve with time , but i didn't let go my rashness.
It was a Saturday. I woke up at 6 AM in Chennai and suddenly decided to have my breakfast with my parents in Pondicherry. Took 10 minutes to get ready. I didn't bother to wake anyone up while leaving.
Drive from Chennai to Pondy through ECR (East Coast Road) is very scenic but a bit dangerous. The road curves a lot and there is no divider to separate traffic from the other side.
Road was empty, so I was pushing at a very high speed. While I was at the half-way mark, I had almost hit a guy crossing the road at a 4 way junction. I went hard on the brakes, leaving thick tyre marks on road with smell of rubber filling my nostrils. The guy was shouting at me, waving his fists. As the windows were rolled up, I didn't hear much. But I knew he was reeling out expletives. I didn't want to get involved in war of words with him. It could delay my breakfast.
Looking at him with blank expression, i shifted gears and revved past him. Just after few minutes, it was déjà vu moment with a slight change. This time it was a goat that attempted to cross the road. I started shouting expletives at the goat and it had the blank expression on its face. I was too occupied to realize the role reversal that transpired in matter of minutes, thus restoring the balance in universe.
These two signs should have been enough for anyone with half a brain. Looks like I didn't have one at all. I was driving through a narrow bridge at 90 kmph. There is a sharp blind turn at the end of the bridge. When I almost reached the end of the bridge, I realized that a bus was overtaking a car in that turn from the opposite side. This meant that the bus was on my side of the road.
If I had been driving at a manageable speed, I could have pulled my car off the road to a stop. At that speed, I had nowhere to go..
Maybe a better driver would have reacted differently. But i allowed my survival instinct to take over. I almost did a full turn of the steering wheel and the stepped on the brakes, at the same time. The car slid to the side , uprooting one of the stone slabs planted at the road sides. The impact was enough to flip the car over and it rolled down the road.
It would have hardly rolled 4 times in a matter of seconds before it stopped. For me , it was the longest moment. Everything inside my car was air-borne. I felt like a rag doll in a crazy kid's hands. That is the only moment of nothingness i remember till date.
When I came to my senses, the car had stopped with the driver side on top and I was hanging there. I unbuckled my seat belt and tried to open the door and window on my side. Both were jammed. I started feeling claustrophobic , so I even attempted to break the window with my hands. It didn't pan out that well. So I tried the window behind the driver's seat. The stone slab that the car had hit, had shattered the glass cleanly. I pulled myself out through that opening.
The engine was still running and there was smoke. I was afraid that it might burst into flames. Effect of watching lot of Hollywood movies, you know. :)
I went back in, the way I had come out to remove the key from the ignition. While I was in, I remembered to pick up my camera and mobile. I made couple of calls. First one was to the number listed in the toll ticket and gave them the exact location of the accident. Then I called my dad to inform that I was okay but the car was not that lucky.
Ambulance came in 20 minutes..I didn't even a scratch on me. So , they spent the first aid time to explain what I should do after an accident. I got the number to towing service from them and arranged for the car to be towed to the nearby police station. I called my dad again and asked him to come with Car documents. The tow truck and my dad had to come from Pondy, a good 60 KMs from the accident spot. So , I had nothing to do but wait..
I took pictures of my car from various angles and perspective. I was narrating the story several times to the locals who gathered. Some of them offered me country liquor and I politely declined. I quickly got tired of repeating the story. So I walked up the road and sat on one of the stone slabs. Occasionally, a car or share-auto would stop, asking me about the people who were injured in the accident. Got to know from them that the turn was famous accident spot and people involved would loose at least an arm or a leg.
My dad , my brother and his friend reached the spot and we all waited for tow truck that came at noon. We towed the car to the nearest police station at Cheyyur and waited till 5 PM to file an FIR for insurance claim. Sub-Inspector in that station was too busy settling a local dispute of some sort.. He asked me to come on another day to file FIR. Maybe , he needed quality time to coax me into paying bribe for filing FIR.
I reached home at 6:30 pm.. I started at 6 in the morning to have breakfast with my parents. But I had my dinner with them instead and I am not complaining at all.
At the time of accident, the car was 7 months and 1700 kms old.
I had to dispose the car for good and till the claim was settled, i paid EMIs for the loan I had taken on for the non-existent car.
It took another 8 years for me to drive again and own another car.
