Crash On Board- Episode 1

One fine evening, I and a friend of mine, left the premises of our apartment on a bike, while humming songs and enjoying soft breeze. The scenario was that, we were on a Bajaj Pulsar 220cc and were going to a temple, some 2 kilometers away from our apartment. But, if things in life were so simple, who would enjoy it?? This time, the excitement was brought in by a stranger. We had barely crossed the entrance gate of our apartment, when a young and hot-blooded guy happened to cross us over on the left side. That’s pretty normal, isn’t it? But he spiced up the incident in two ways. Firstly, he brushed his bike and body with ours. Secondly, after going about 150 to 160 meters ahead of us, he turned around and smirked along with a gesture!

Things were so simple when we were kids. Very less degrees of emotions and much more fun; who cared about any gestures!! I only knew the use of two fingers. I used the ‘little finger’ to signify that my bladder was full. The other one was ‘thumb’, which meant two things for me. If I had to tease anyone, I would roll down all the fingers and show only the upside-down-thumb and say “Thenga”, or else the very common use of the thumb was to say “All the best”. But, when I grew up, I realized the importance of one more finger, which happens to be the alternate finger from both the thumb and the little finger. Yes.. The middle one!! It must have taken me months to know what it really meant. The first time I saw the use of it, was in one of the Mr. Bean’s movies, when I was 15 or 16. Little did I know that, Mr. Bean had taught me a very useful gesture that would become an integral part of a person’s life.

Mr. Hot-blood reminded me of Mr. Bean when he used the same expression, that too with a smirk!! Before I could realize anything, I was already a part of an unofficial bike race!!! The finger worked like a ‘Nitrous Boost’ and the 220cc engine started vomiting all the power it had in itself. It was evening and I guess, Mr. hot blood missed something. He missed the intensity on my friend’s face and also that comparatively, we were on the better bike. He had the same make, but a mere 150cc… I must say, this was the first time for me to be a part of a bike race and I loved every nanosecond of it. I could feel the brute power of the engine and the air filters used, made it even more enthralling!!

The 150 to 160 meters advantage and also the speed difference were overcome in a matter of less than a minute. Even in the narrow roads with twists and turns, we were riding at 75 odd kmph. As I had mentioned, life can never be simple; Mr. Hot blood proved me right yet again. He had what I call, a momentary lapse of his brain. Less than 15 meters ahead of us, Mr. Hot-blood evolved into ‘Mr. Lunatic-cum-Brainless’. He slowed down his bike and very “intellectually” tried to take a U turn on the road (pun intended). Now I’ll explain why I conferred him the title of ‘brainless’. The road was NARROW and he tried to take a U-turn, which was literally not possible at all (Unless u do a 180 degree stunt, which I’m sure he must have never heard of). Moreover, he never cared to look into the rear view mirror. Even the fact that, one must use INDICATORS while taking a turn, had gone beyond his mind’s reach. I’ll assume he was wearing sunglasses at night; hence could not see the pass light!! I’ll also assume, he was wearing ear plugs because of the noisy traffic, that too in a very low density area, and hence could not even hear the honking!!

A “T” could not have been any more perfect!! Thanks to his brilliant idea of taking a U turn (which actually happened to be flat 90 degree turn); he stood right in front of us. And, BANG!!!! We collided. Even the DISC brakes could do nothing, but just reduce the impact a little bit.

Thankfully, no one was hurt badly. After the impact, I nonchalantly got off our bike, unhurt. My friend had a few bruises, but our bike didn’t have any issues. But, we were pretty sure that, “Mr. Mindless” had got the worst aftermath of this accident. As expected, the nearby audience interfered. And, like two opposition parties, joined either sides; some supported us, while the others went against. But, we were least bothered about the ongoing chaos. We dusted off each other, before giving a piece of our mind to “Mr. Mindless”. Then, we were off the scene.
Nothing ever is pleasant in an accident, but strangely enough, we both managed a huge laugh on our way back. I understood, in depth, the importance of the “gesture” that had been portrayed and the effects that it can have. And indeed, the roads are filled with idiots!!!!