Road Accident

I often said to myself no matter the emotional turmoil which most often lasts for few hours, I should always learn to value life. Despite the recurrent negative write ups, and expression of emotions in its most explicit sense, I never could find the creativity within me to write a completely positive article and express optimism which I implement in life. Most often than I can think of, I was encouraged by readers to express the beauty of happy emotions in my writings and I failed in vain.

7th July, 2010, a rainy day on a Wednesday morning, I was all prepared to manage the Press Conference of my company, Audi India at the mahalaxmi race course, Mumbai.

Murphy’s law as it some times is ‘ things go wrong when they are meant to go wrong’, I was unable to find a decent transportation from home, and thus, my company car was sent to pick me up from Hotel Trident, Bandra at sharp 08:15 hrs. I started my journey in an auto rickshaw at 07:45 hrs to make it to trident on time.

A smooth surface road where it is not the traffic that is expected but speedy vehicles,I was on the Bandra Kurla Complex Road in Mumbai. Five minutes from my desired destination, the driver decides to switch his auto rickshaw in the sport mode, making me experience sportiness in a local machine. For some strange reason at that very moment, a pedestrian happened to act eccentric and crossed the road with every possible intention to die. While he got saved by a Hyundai car in the first attempt, where the driver braked on time, the foolish man was soon to get a hit by my unsteady auto rickshaw.

The most right thing to do that very moment, the driver of my auto rickshaw braked in from his sport mode on the wet slippery road , whereby I experienced the weirdest feeling of my life. I felt the brake; I heard its noise; I experienced the record breaking RPM (rotations per minute) of the auto rickshaw. The auto rickshaw toppled, all topsy turvy.

A second ago when the view before my eyes was the windscreen, it was now the chassis (bottom) of the auto rickshaw, where nothing else seemed visible to my naked eyes. I knew it for sure in those few seconds that 'my life is over'.

I did not have the time for fear of death to grip my heart; I was in a state which I will never be able to define. Saying it 'being unconscious with eyes open' would be an understatement. All I can recall is a strange sadness, where I wished during the topple that it did not end so soon.

Out of more than 30 men gathered, only 1 lady in her 40's took me out of the rick, making me climb on what happens to be the bottom of the auto. She calmed me down when I was in a complete shock; looked at me with only concern when she did not even know me; uttered 'God bless you'and I could feel the genuine pray that followed with it.

Flip side to Murphy’s Law, ‘when things are meant to go right, they always do, no matter what’. The seat of the auto rickshaw came out, the handle twisted badly and I come out with only bruises on my body, which later resulted in only a swollen hand and leg.

I guess, this is what it meant when people said, 'you are God's favourite child'.

Written by Vrushali Deshpande