02nd July 2016
"Fear is temporary. Regret is forever", I could hear these whispers. Whispers, in that same voice... The voice that I dread sometimes. It was early morning, around 6:30am. I was dropped somewhere close to Miyapur, Hyderabad after 12 hours of journey on the last seat of a bus. I had then gotten into a cab, swiftly moving on the dark roads to my destination. Yes, it was still dark that day. Now, I've always wondered what he must have sounded like. Could it be that his voice, the whispers I hear, was just as I was imagining it to be?! I will never know. But his words.. his words were stuck with me. Well, not his exact words about death being temporary.. Death might be temporary for us but it surely is permanent for the people we leave behind now, isn't it? The whispers I was hearing were mostly about fear. I did not want to think about death, now.. Not on this day.
I soon reached home, paid the cabbie, got down with my luggage and stormed into my house. The sun was rising now. The darkness, gradually, vanishing away. I had gotten ready in approximately an hour (which is quick by my standards). And just then, I heard those distant screams "K! K!". "That moron must have taken a wrong turn, where is he now?", I was asking myself, while I got out of the front door.. only to notice my "beloved" friend standing in the middle of the street (yes, the wrong one) and yelling my name at the top of his voice, because he forgot his way to our apartment. After a little navigation from the balcony, he found his way back to my place. We both ate what was served by my mom that morning. It was vermicelli, I remember. We were running late so we bid our good byes and ran towards the car. We always used to run like this for the front passenger seat, but not today. Since it was just us, I would be doing the driving and he would take the front passenger seat (also he is just learning to drive so is happy with the co-passenger seat). Problem solved.
I slowly turned the car out of our garage, its pearl white colour was looking stunning in the sun, that morning. "Wow! I love this car!" I said. Just then Avyaan and my sister had arrived with my brother-in-law at the driver's seat. "I am so glad you guys have finally come. I thought I would have to leave without meeting my super-cute nephew", I said and kissed Avyan. Even though we were getting late and it was 09:45am already, I could not stop myself from playing with him. "I think he loves me, he loves me a lot. More than his parents", I told my friend. "So, the least I could do is spend 5 minutes with him", I said. Just then he started acting all cranky.. asking to put him down. Little rascal had to do it just then! Now, before my friend could start making fun of this, I said, "We are getting late, let's leave!"
Out on our way, we were. "Bangalore, here we come!" read our Facebook statuses already. "You aren't tired from your bus ride now are you, K?" he asked concernedly. "Dude, remember, two weeks ago, I traveled from Pune to Hyderabad for 12 hours, then left for Vizag immediately in a bus again for 12 more hours, after reaching Vizag I then immediately drove back to Hyderabad in the car?" was my reply. And, uh, I did not stop there. "I am tailor-made for this shit! I am the real deal when it comes to things like this!"
Just 10 minutes into the journey, after saying bye to my mom... and 2 minutes after calling myself the "Real deal".. We... CRASHED!
So, did this post pique your interest? No? Well, I guess this should, then.
Alright, so where did I leave this post?
Ah yes, I crashed... I crashed our beautiful pearl white Honda City. I blame my OCD for that... and of course, my retard friend!! Let me explain, after my friend had shared his concern, we were at this toll booth (very close to my home) where he pointed out at all the parking and toll tickets that were already stuffed in the cup holders and the phone/wallet placer beneath the hand break (thanks to my kid brother, Maddy and his 7000kms (Yes, you read that right!) drive). I had just taken a left then, leading onto the outer ring road, after collecting the new toll receipt. He offered to throw the old ones out.. But the obsessed clean-freak that I am.. I just could not stop myself from cleaning the mess, personally.
So, naturally, not giving a rat's a** about the road ahead of me, I looked at the tickets, bent to my left and tried to grab as many as I could.. (as if I was worried that my friend would pick them all! God! Why am I wired like this?), totally unaware that I was slightly steering the wheel to the left all along while bending. If anyone's been to Hyderabad outer ring road ever, they would know about the exits and entry roads (the inclined roads) that connect you to the outer ring roads. They are at an elevation with just the metal obstructions at the edge to stop you from falling off the roads until you get on the outer ring road. And those metal frames are exactly what we hit.. The car banged to the metal railing and I suddenly pulled the car to the right.. (Another mistake that most do, to go with the reflexive action). Luckily for us, there was no one behind us and neither of us was hurt. And thanks to the railing it stopped us from falling off the roads into the valley-like ditch some 20 feet below. Now, we both immediately got out... Well, uh, my friend tried to.. but he struggled to get out. Because of the collision to the left, the front door was damaged and it was stuck, it would not open completely, just very little. I had to pull very hard.
Now, for the initial minute or two, we both argued that it was the other person's fault. Like any good friends would do - he blamed me while I blamed him. After the adrenaline rush and the anxiety subsided, I took pictures of the mishap for the insurance claim that would follow. My friend, who was still nervous and was nowhere close to being calm was blabbering about "plans". "Let's cancel the trip, I will book a hotel, here. Will give the car for repair and get it fixed in 2-3 days tops. Then, we will go home as if nothing ever happened. We'll tell your family that we were on the trip all the while." And he was taking his phone out to google hotels, Honda service stations and stuff. As if he had it all figured out. And after I was busy looking at the left side of the car which was hurt pretty badly, I stopped... I needed a minute.. It was all just too much for me.. And I just stood there. After a few seconds of silence, I said to my friend, "No, we are still going."
This is how our beautiful Honda city looked (a during-the-trip and after-the-trip picture).
To be continued in - "The Madness Continues"
See you on the other side,
K
"Fear is temporary. Regret is forever", I could hear these whispers. Whispers, in that same voice... The voice that I dread sometimes. It was early morning, around 6:30am. I was dropped somewhere close to Miyapur, Hyderabad after 12 hours of journey on the last seat of a bus. I had then gotten into a cab, swiftly moving on the dark roads to my destination. Yes, it was still dark that day. Now, I've always wondered what he must have sounded like. Could it be that his voice, the whispers I hear, was just as I was imagining it to be?! I will never know. But his words.. his words were stuck with me. Well, not his exact words about death being temporary.. Death might be temporary for us but it surely is permanent for the people we leave behind now, isn't it? The whispers I was hearing were mostly about fear. I did not want to think about death, now.. Not on this day.
I soon reached home, paid the cabbie, got down with my luggage and stormed into my house. The sun was rising now. The darkness, gradually, vanishing away. I had gotten ready in approximately an hour (which is quick by my standards). And just then, I heard those distant screams "K! K!". "That moron must have taken a wrong turn, where is he now?", I was asking myself, while I got out of the front door.. only to notice my "beloved" friend standing in the middle of the street (yes, the wrong one) and yelling my name at the top of his voice, because he forgot his way to our apartment. After a little navigation from the balcony, he found his way back to my place. We both ate what was served by my mom that morning. It was vermicelli, I remember. We were running late so we bid our good byes and ran towards the car. We always used to run like this for the front passenger seat, but not today. Since it was just us, I would be doing the driving and he would take the front passenger seat (also he is just learning to drive so is happy with the co-passenger seat). Problem solved.
I slowly turned the car out of our garage, its pearl white colour was looking stunning in the sun, that morning. "Wow! I love this car!" I said. Just then Avyaan and my sister had arrived with my brother-in-law at the driver's seat. "I am so glad you guys have finally come. I thought I would have to leave without meeting my super-cute nephew", I said and kissed Avyan. Even though we were getting late and it was 09:45am already, I could not stop myself from playing with him. "I think he loves me, he loves me a lot. More than his parents", I told my friend. "So, the least I could do is spend 5 minutes with him", I said. Just then he started acting all cranky.. asking to put him down. Little rascal had to do it just then! Now, before my friend could start making fun of this, I said, "We are getting late, let's leave!"
Out on our way, we were. "Bangalore, here we come!" read our Facebook statuses already. "You aren't tired from your bus ride now are you, K?" he asked concernedly. "Dude, remember, two weeks ago, I traveled from Pune to Hyderabad for 12 hours, then left for Vizag immediately in a bus again for 12 more hours, after reaching Vizag I then immediately drove back to Hyderabad in the car?" was my reply. And, uh, I did not stop there. "I am tailor-made for this shit! I am the real deal when it comes to things like this!"
Just 10 minutes into the journey, after saying bye to my mom... and 2 minutes after calling myself the "Real deal".. We... CRASHED!
So, did this post pique your interest? No? Well, I guess this should, then.
Alright, so where did I leave this post?
Ah yes, I crashed... I crashed our beautiful pearl white Honda City. I blame my OCD for that... and of course, my retard friend!! Let me explain, after my friend had shared his concern, we were at this toll booth (very close to my home) where he pointed out at all the parking and toll tickets that were already stuffed in the cup holders and the phone/wallet placer beneath the hand break (thanks to my kid brother, Maddy and his 7000kms (Yes, you read that right!) drive). I had just taken a left then, leading onto the outer ring road, after collecting the new toll receipt. He offered to throw the old ones out.. But the obsessed clean-freak that I am.. I just could not stop myself from cleaning the mess, personally.
So, naturally, not giving a rat's a** about the road ahead of me, I looked at the tickets, bent to my left and tried to grab as many as I could.. (as if I was worried that my friend would pick them all! God! Why am I wired like this?), totally unaware that I was slightly steering the wheel to the left all along while bending. If anyone's been to Hyderabad outer ring road ever, they would know about the exits and entry roads (the inclined roads) that connect you to the outer ring roads. They are at an elevation with just the metal obstructions at the edge to stop you from falling off the roads until you get on the outer ring road. And those metal frames are exactly what we hit.. The car banged to the metal railing and I suddenly pulled the car to the right.. (Another mistake that most do, to go with the reflexive action). Luckily for us, there was no one behind us and neither of us was hurt. And thanks to the railing it stopped us from falling off the roads into the valley-like ditch some 20 feet below. Now, we both immediately got out... Well, uh, my friend tried to.. but he struggled to get out. Because of the collision to the left, the front door was damaged and it was stuck, it would not open completely, just very little. I had to pull very hard.
Now, for the initial minute or two, we both argued that it was the other person's fault. Like any good friends would do - he blamed me while I blamed him. After the adrenaline rush and the anxiety subsided, I took pictures of the mishap for the insurance claim that would follow. My friend, who was still nervous and was nowhere close to being calm was blabbering about "plans". "Let's cancel the trip, I will book a hotel, here. Will give the car for repair and get it fixed in 2-3 days tops. Then, we will go home as if nothing ever happened. We'll tell your family that we were on the trip all the while." And he was taking his phone out to google hotels, Honda service stations and stuff. As if he had it all figured out. And after I was busy looking at the left side of the car which was hurt pretty badly, I stopped... I needed a minute.. It was all just too much for me.. And I just stood there. After a few seconds of silence, I said to my friend, "No, we are still going."
This is how our beautiful Honda city looked (a during-the-trip and after-the-trip picture).
 |
| The one at the bottom is after the water wash at Inorbit Mall ;) |
To be continued in - "The Madness Continues"
See you on the other side,
K
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