We hear of life-changing events in people’s lives, much of it comes when one encounters the most unexpected situations, but for me, today was that very day that altered the way I look at life or the slightest complacency that I ever had about my existence. And if ever, I had the slightest doubt in the existence of god, all of it, just vanished into thin air this very day, 6th January 2012.
Every moment I breathe seems a blessing,
Every second I step without tripping is a blessing,
Every laugh share with a friend seems a blessing,
Every walk of mine is a blessing....
The day started off in a perfect daily routine, of trying to fight myself from waking up from the warm blanket that soaked me in, on a cold winter morning, but the racing needles of the clock, set me up to dress up, and off I was to college.
There was a letter to be posted by today positively at any cost, but I didn’t know if I’ll even get the letter, you see, I’d lost hope after several trials on getting it, but thankfully I did. But when I did, I had to rush to the post-office as it closes at 3. So having left a project discussion, I set off with my friend to the post office which was only 3 km away, a distance not so noticeable if one drove. Or so I thought. Having driven for 1.5 year, and on a road so frequently traveled, it was almost as easy as walking a few meters on a road that you travel by everyday. That, which should have taken about 15 min, took what seemed like a lifetime, when the clockwork of your brain just stops and no matter how hard your brain tries to work, it actually stops to work.
Never having met with an accident before, today was my first one. And before I can start thanking every human form of god I met, I thank god that it was only a minor accident. You see, in this over-populated Indian society of today, every common man, seems to have a driver. The so called ‘elites’ have left the steering, and their pea-sized brains only like to laze on the backseat and leave the beauty of driving and the beauty of the car, to a driver who only knows how every accelerator, brake, and clutch works. I don’t even know why they buy these beautiful cars when they don’t even know how to drive, taking a caravan on street would’ve been better, if all they wanted was to sit back and laze. But alas ! The beauty of the cars and the beauty of driving can only be felt by those who have tried or have the slightest sensitivity to their surroundings (which I say has a negative growth in the materialistic and hypocrite world of today). They have handsomest Audi, but they spit out paan on the road, ashes of cigarette, and packets of chips. To a world that doesn’t care for its own roads, what much do expect of any care for the people on the streets. But apart from my everyday glimpses of the painted rich, there’ll always exist insolent glares of men, apparent F1 drivers with loudest music that’ll explode their cars, or the ever slow grandmom driving on the DND while a whole traffic forms behind her. Having faced these everyday roads, the good and not so good moments. Nothing could ever replace the pleasure of driving. Swishing past, the wide road, while the water and clouds combined to form one, and you tunnel through it, (through the DND road over Yamuna) or driving 40 km with heels at 8 pm or having driven through absolute blinding fog with little blinker lights or having driven through traffic jams on a flyover (on the ascending side, when you have just learnt driving, and you just can’t figure out how can you leave the brake and accelerate and trust that gravity doesn’t take over you too fast :P ) or the way driving becomes a part of you just like breathing. Feelings that could never be truly defined, but etched its mark in your everyday routine, that you just can’t let go off. And no matter, how much you’d shout out at people who lost their steering wheel to adrenalin, you would still want to wake up the next day, and drive. :)
However, everyday isn’t as pleasant as the previous, or as predictable as one would want. And today was one of those very days. A fancy elitist car was driving slowly behind the auto in a decent speed while I was on its right, so having taken a right turn I slowed down, like I slow down at every turn, like every other person should. But the driver found maybe a gap of about 2 cm between the auto and me, which to him seemed like a 100 feet, so there it went, at bolting speed, passing through a gap that it hardly could, accelerating from 10km/hr to about 40 km/hr in a matter of a few seconds. And that, of course didn’t go well with my car !! Alas ! My brake and my speed were decent enough, but there, went my bumper, out on the road, dangling with one end on the road and the other still joined to the car. Like every hit and run case, the fat woman in the backseat only stared back with horror as the car further sped to 100 km/hr. Having too much on my head to think all at once, I switched on the blinker, stopped car, and came out to check the damage, a part of me was relieved that it was nothing major and that me and my friend were safe, but a part of me was tensed and horrified looking at the first ever harm to a car that I had driven for so long. I reached out for the phone and called up dad, I needed help, that was certain. But he wasn’t helping much either, apart from the consistent worrying and suggestions that I had already thought of. Me and my friend examined what all could be used to hold up that bumper, from muffler, to thread which could be found nowhere but in a bracelet that a childhood friend of mine had made for me, we tried to hold it up, the world still sped past, and people just glared and past by. But alas ! God has different forms, he is in every human, he, who helps, when nothing seems to work, when one tries to fight a dead end. He came with a strong plastic thread sorts, and that was all we wanted !! He tied it up so perfectly, that it was the perfect temporary hold I had ever seen. And we just stared and thanked him more than we ever could. I still thank him from the core of my heart, I wish him the best in life, and I pray his deeds be blessed. He came perfectly on time, the savior. And nonetheless, I had called up some friends whom I told to get a mechanic from the petrol pump. But our job was done, before they reached, and I sincerely thank my friends for being friends and being more than I could ever express my gratitude for. So I carefully drove till the post office, with the friend of mine, we posted on time, and as they say, everything comes crashing on one day, today was exactly the day I didn’t have money in my purse, but thankfully my friend had exactly the right amount of money that was required. Having posted, we reached the mechanic nearby, all thanks to my dearest friend who knew the place all so well, while I still gazed at the new roads and shops on street, we finally met the mechanic who told to get the car, and told it would only take about 45 min. Relieved, we walked back and took the car to the mechanic, and he dealt with it as a person deals with toys that he plays around with day in and day out, I was amazed by his skills, I was amazed by the recovery of what seemed to be horrifying, I was amazed by the love of my friend who stayed up with me from the time of crisis to recovery just for me and being the only guide in what seemed like a strange island to me. And somehow I was just amazed by everything that had just happened. Somehow perplexed at start but acquiring peace that I had never felt before. The sense of relief that gushed through my blood, made everything look so beautiful, I was drenched in gratitude for all that I went through and all the help that I received. I became so humble, a state, which was just not a word, but a feeling of respect for everything that surrounded me. Of the life I lived, and people who made my life a life to be lived for. The little titter-batter of cribbing just ended, right there, when the bumper fell down. Now, every moment was filled with hope. Not expectations, not wants, not cries, just hope. Clear, calm and serene.
Of all that I am, and all that I will be,
Is not my doing alone,
But of all the people and incidents that shaped me up,
To who I am,
And who I can be,
I am grateful for thee presence,
In every breath I breathe,
I am blessed to have friends who really are friends,
And humans whose entrance only for a second, is godly presence…
To thee above,
And to all humans with the purest heart I know,
I pray for everyone,
I pray for your well being,
I pray that you be blessed,
The way you have blessed me with your presence…
A day I will never forget,
A day that changed my life,
A day that reminded me of my transient being,
A day that broke all my inching complacencies….
Amen…
