It was the eve of diwali (festival of lights and crackers). I was only 11 then. Our home was situated in Pasumalai (a hill near madurai, Tamilnadu), as a part of state electricity board quarters. I set off on a ride on the bicyle that my uncle has parked on my house. I was just learning to ride the big size cycle then. Twenty metres from my house, the connecting road slopes down at 45 degrees for hundred meters. Then it takes a sharp and flat left turn (failing which it leads to free fall of twenty meters). Then again a slopy right turn (about 20 degrees) follows for another fifty meters to reach the ground level. As I pedaled the cycle through the slope, the cycle picked up good speed. Suddenly, when I tried to have the speed in control, I noticed that the break was missing. I didn’t have much to think anything else. I somehow succeeded in turning the first turn. But the second one was very sharp and there was a big speed breaker which toppled the cycle in a second. I fell flat on the road with chest rubbing down the slope of the road. My uncle and my dad rushed to me and admitted in the nearby hospital. Everybody there ignored the failure of break and was scolding me for riding the big size bicycle. I was feeling a burning sensation allover the body. The whole front part of my body had bruises, even the skin got peeled off at many places. (Forehead chest, stomach, thighs, knees etc.). The doctor applied medicine all over, and dressed with white bandage. On the day of diwali, I couldn’t even fire a single cracker. All of my friends and brothers were dancing, and feasting while I was crimping at one corner of the house like a specimen in a medical hospital. But the point to be noted is: As an amateur driver of the cycle, driving at high speed from the hill top without having breaks, I was very much vulnerable to death against any vehicle that could appear on front. Fortunately, no other vehicle was on the road when the whole incident was happening.
That was not the first time. Earlier (say six months back), Me, aravind (naughty neighbour) and karthik (my younger brother by 5 years) got in to a government van that was standing idle at the slope, in gear. Aravind and me were playing with the steering wheel, while karthik was on the back side of the van, sitting cool and composed. Suddenly, the van started to move in the downward slope. (the gear has fallen to neutral, when we were playing in the driver’s seat). The slope leads to a twenty metre deep valley, which could easily take our lives. We shouted, tried pressing the pedals at the bottom, one by one first, then all together, but in vain. We were so small and ignorant, we couldn’t stop the vehicle. Just when the van was about to fall, it stopped. We held our breadth and got out of the vehicle and ran away. My dad and the driver searched and finally caught hold of us. The vehicle had stopped by hitting on a mile stone on the rear wheel. Thank god, milestones have other benefits too. But when we were enquired, both me and aravind instinctly blamed karthick (taking advantage of the age) for getting the van move on the road.
During college days, I drove an old and abandoned bike (Yamaha RXG 1
35) of my uncle. That vehicle drinks a litre of petrol for every fifteen kilometers and roars a sound equivalent to a Jetliner. Close to midnight, Godfrey, prabhakar, 6 other friends and me were returning from the bear bar in three bikes. We had just a bottle of bear each, but that was enough to give the cloudy effect. The college road is a straight, smooth two lane road for 5 KMs. At the end of the road, is the infamous Allagappa University and the college of arts and science. As our campus is on the left side of the alagappa college, we have to take a sharp left turn at the end of college road. 
Godfrey had Vespa Select, prabhakar had his Honda splendor and my Yamaha – 3 persons in each vehicle, was driving steadily till we touched the college road. Knowing the road conditions, suddenly God (as we call Godfrey) picked up his speed in the scooter beyond 80 kmph. A strong vibe took control of me. “How can a scooter lead YAMAHA RXG 135?” I too gave my accelerators a full throttle. As the competition picked up, all the three bikes were riding at the maximum speed designed for them. The speedometer needle of my bike touched 140 Kmph once and become defunct. The needle went back to zero. But the bike was racing with huge sounds and throwing away black soot from the condenser. In a jiffy, the end of college road appeared. We got to turn left. The two other bikes by then accepted the defeat and reduced their speed. The bear and the winning spirit in me had taken a few seconds more to reduce the speed, and by then the left turn was very close. I pressed the brake strongly and the bike started skidding. At a high speed, the bike took a higher radius of turn and moved across to the right side, just in front of a Government bus horning (sound) and beaming (headlights) heavily against us. I thought we are finished. As my legs were very firm on the breaks, the bike continued skidding and it somehow crossed the complete width of the bus. The bus went ahead of us in less than a inch gap from my forehead. The bike went on skidding and landed up in the 2 feet dry and deep drain on the side of the road. My headlights broke popping as the bike fall vertically in to the drain with the load of three people. All the three of us escaped with a minor scratch on the knee. All these happened in a much shorter time, like a fast forward action of English movie. I still remember that night afresh and consider tha
t night as the first night for my second chance to live.
As we got up, I saw my petrol tank was empty. (at high speed, this damn bike has consumed one litre of petrol for just 5KMs). There was a burning smell all over my bike. We rolled down the bike back to college.
Even after the incident, my style of riding bike did not change. I drive at the maximum speed possible, frequently changing the gears, and showing off a great control on the bike. Many juniors from my college got inspired of my driving and tried to imitate my style. Many well-wishers used to advice me to drive slow. I really didn’t mind them, because I had enough control on driving even at that high speed. Only the courageous and daring people preferred to sit at my back while was driving.
I thought “The best driver in the world is to drive at a very high speed and at good control”, as we seen in the movies etc. Recently, may be a three years back, my attitude towards biking changed once for all.
While I was going for an evening walk with my pregnant (3 months) wife, we were discussing about the cute baby boy and his future etc. I noticed a biker coming close to us at high speed. From his face, I understood he is in complete control and he is coming so close, only to take a right turn for the gully. But my wife didn’t. She was afraid as if he is going to hit her and the baby. As he came close and took the turn, my wife felt a big shock and fainted. Fifteen days later, the baby boy (my first son) was taken out dead from her body. I’m not very sure, whether the bike incident was the reason for my son’s death, but I’m sure that the biker has made my wife to faint. I have been driving more rash and close than him, but I haven’t realized the impact of the fear and trauma felt by the people. From there on, I have considerably reduced my driving speed.
Even after, in one of those hot days, my clutch wire tore into pieces while changing gear in a busy road. It didn’t run into any major accident thanks to the slow speed. I wonder, in a decade of biking, I had only one sudden malfunction (other than tyre punctures) of the seven hundred and fifty spare parts used to make a bike. Nowadays, I ride only in 30s and 40s (KMPH).
My well wishers had been telling the same thing to me. Sometimes, we are influenced so much by some other factors and we tend to overlook the obvious. And, life takes its course and makes us realize the obvious. I’m taking pain to describe all these; just because of an accident happened last week. He is my colleague and had a severe accident fracturing one of his legs driving at high speed. Hope he change his course atleast from now on.
Thinking of the accidents, I recalled two more incidents………….
1. Another night at my college, I was heading to my home from hostel. My bike did not had the headlight, but I managed to drive slow and steady (around 40KMPH speed). From a distance, I saw a fellow crossing the road with his bicycle. I reduced the speed to let him cross the road. As I came closer and felt that he should have been crossed, I again accelerated the bike, only to hit his cycle at the rear end. The cycle toppled down and the fellow fell down. I stopped my vehicle and went to help him. Oh no!!, he was a police constable. As I was about to run from the place, he promptly caught hold of me, and took me to the police station (I had hit him just before the police station). He allowed me to go out only on the next day morning after grabbing the 300 bucks I had. The whole night I was in the police station (most of the time witnessing other interesting cases…) – What a shame!!!
2. It was Valentine’s Day. That was the final year, and we dec
ided to see a movie with all the college students. We organized the event, and arranged two vans to go to the movie. I and some more friends resort to our motorcycles (we always demonstrated heroism for no reason). While we were returning from the movie, I tried to overtake one of the vans. Girls seated inside got excited, shouted and waved their hands seeing me in the bike. I too waved my hands back, just to hit directly over another bike, who abruptly stopped the bike in the road just in front of me. I didn’t get enough time to react as I was curiously waving hands to the girls seated on the van. Actually getting in to accident is not a problem, but having it when the girls have your eyes on you is a serious problem. As I came to the senses, I saw my bike broken in many parts. We just dropped those broken parts to the nearby mechanic shop, and reached the college before the Van reached the college in another (friend’s) bike. When the Van entered the college, I stood there welcoming (hiding the bruises at the elbow) them. The girls were happy seeing me alright.
That was not the first time. Earlier (say six months back), Me, aravind (naughty neighbour) and karthik (my younger brother by 5 years) got in to a government van that was standing idle at the slope, in gear. Aravind and me were playing with the steering wheel, while karthik was on the back side of the van, sitting cool and composed. Suddenly, the van started to move in the downward slope. (the gear has fallen to neutral, when we were playing in the driver’s seat). The slope leads to a twenty metre deep valley, which could easily take our lives. We shouted, tried pressing the pedals at the bottom, one by one first, then all together, but in vain. We were so small and ignorant, we couldn’t stop the vehicle. Just when the van was about to fall, it stopped. We held our breadth and got out of the vehicle and ran away. My dad and the driver searched and finally caught hold of us. The vehicle had stopped by hitting on a mile stone on the rear wheel. Thank god, milestones have other benefits too. But when we were enquired, both me and aravind instinctly blamed karthick (taking advantage of the age) for getting the van move on the road.
During college days, I drove an old and abandoned bike (Yamaha RXG 1
35) of my uncle. That vehicle drinks a litre of petrol for every fifteen kilometers and roars a sound equivalent to a Jetliner. Close to midnight, Godfrey, prabhakar, 6 other friends and me were returning from the bear bar in three bikes. We had just a bottle of bear each, but that was enough to give the cloudy effect. The college road is a straight, smooth two lane road for 5 KMs. At the end of the road, is the infamous Allagappa University and the college of arts and science. As our campus is on the left side of the alagappa college, we have to take a sharp left turn at the end of college road. 
Godfrey had Vespa Select, prabhakar had his Honda splendor and my Yamaha – 3 persons in each vehicle, was driving steadily till we touched the college road. Knowing the road conditions, suddenly God (as we call Godfrey) picked up his speed in the scooter beyond 80 kmph. A strong vibe took control of me. “How can a scooter lead YAMAHA RXG 135?” I too gave my accelerators a full throttle. As the competition picked up, all the three bikes were riding at the maximum speed designed for them. The speedometer needle of my bike touched 140 Kmph once and become defunct. The needle went back to zero. But the bike was racing with huge sounds and throwing away black soot from the condenser. In a jiffy, the end of college road appeared. We got to turn left. The two other bikes by then accepted the defeat and reduced their speed. The bear and the winning spirit in me had taken a few seconds more to reduce the speed, and by then the left turn was very close. I pressed the brake strongly and the bike started skidding. At a high speed, the bike took a higher radius of turn and moved across to the right side, just in front of a Government bus horning (sound) and beaming (headlights) heavily against us. I thought we are finished. As my legs were very firm on the breaks, the bike continued skidding and it somehow crossed the complete width of the bus. The bus went ahead of us in less than a inch gap from my forehead. The bike went on skidding and landed up in the 2 feet dry and deep drain on the side of the road. My headlights broke popping as the bike fall vertically in to the drain with the load of three people. All the three of us escaped with a minor scratch on the knee. All these happened in a much shorter time, like a fast forward action of English movie. I still remember that night afresh and consider tha
t night as the first night for my second chance to live.As we got up, I saw my petrol tank was empty. (at high speed, this damn bike has consumed one litre of petrol for just 5KMs). There was a burning smell all over my bike. We rolled down the bike back to college.
Even after the incident, my style of riding bike did not change. I drive at the maximum speed possible, frequently changing the gears, and showing off a great control on the bike. Many juniors from my college got inspired of my driving and tried to imitate my style. Many well-wishers used to advice me to drive slow. I really didn’t mind them, because I had enough control on driving even at that high speed. Only the courageous and daring people preferred to sit at my back while was driving.
I thought “The best driver in the world is to drive at a very high speed and at good control”, as we seen in the movies etc. Recently, may be a three years back, my attitude towards biking changed once for all.
While I was going for an evening walk with my pregnant (3 months) wife, we were discussing about the cute baby boy and his future etc. I noticed a biker coming close to us at high speed. From his face, I understood he is in complete control and he is coming so close, only to take a right turn for the gully. But my wife didn’t. She was afraid as if he is going to hit her and the baby. As he came close and took the turn, my wife felt a big shock and fainted. Fifteen days later, the baby boy (my first son) was taken out dead from her body. I’m not very sure, whether the bike incident was the reason for my son’s death, but I’m sure that the biker has made my wife to faint. I have been driving more rash and close than him, but I haven’t realized the impact of the fear and trauma felt by the people. From there on, I have considerably reduced my driving speed.
Even after, in one of those hot days, my clutch wire tore into pieces while changing gear in a busy road. It didn’t run into any major accident thanks to the slow speed. I wonder, in a decade of biking, I had only one sudden malfunction (other than tyre punctures) of the seven hundred and fifty spare parts used to make a bike. Nowadays, I ride only in 30s and 40s (KMPH).
My well wishers had been telling the same thing to me. Sometimes, we are influenced so much by some other factors and we tend to overlook the obvious. And, life takes its course and makes us realize the obvious. I’m taking pain to describe all these; just because of an accident happened last week. He is my colleague and had a severe accident fracturing one of his legs driving at high speed. Hope he change his course atleast from now on.
Thinking of the accidents, I recalled two more incidents………….
1. Another night at my college, I was heading to my home from hostel. My bike did not had the headlight, but I managed to drive slow and steady (around 40KMPH speed). From a distance, I saw a fellow crossing the road with his bicycle. I reduced the speed to let him cross the road. As I came closer and felt that he should have been crossed, I again accelerated the bike, only to hit his cycle at the rear end. The cycle toppled down and the fellow fell down. I stopped my vehicle and went to help him. Oh no!!, he was a police constable. As I was about to run from the place, he promptly caught hold of me, and took me to the police station (I had hit him just before the police station). He allowed me to go out only on the next day morning after grabbing the 300 bucks I had. The whole night I was in the police station (most of the time witnessing other interesting cases…) – What a shame!!!
2. It was Valentine’s Day. That was the final year, and we dec
ided to see a movie with all the college students. We organized the event, and arranged two vans to go to the movie. I and some more friends resort to our motorcycles (we always demonstrated heroism for no reason). While we were returning from the movie, I tried to overtake one of the vans. Girls seated inside got excited, shouted and waved their hands seeing me in the bike. I too waved my hands back, just to hit directly over another bike, who abruptly stopped the bike in the road just in front of me. I didn’t get enough time to react as I was curiously waving hands to the girls seated on the van. Actually getting in to accident is not a problem, but having it when the girls have your eyes on you is a serious problem. As I came to the senses, I saw my bike broken in many parts. We just dropped those broken parts to the nearby mechanic shop, and reached the college before the Van reached the college in another (friend’s) bike. When the Van entered the college, I stood there welcoming (hiding the bruises at the elbow) them. The girls were happy seeing me alright.An another perspective, This is only a potential accident.
6 comments:
In those days whenever I saw de sign board on roads "Speed thrills, but kills" I used to think the other way " Speed kills, but thrills" but not anymore....I have become more sober....probably my adrenalin has slowed down for good...Be grateful that unlike Poo and Venkatachalam you are lucky enough to write your experience....
Anywayz we all wud luv to have that last accident you've mentioned...ha ha ha...
@Siarud
That's exactly correct maps..... We are fine enough to have a pleasant life.
This doesnot mean that we should not take risks. Speed racing is synonymous to risks, but risks should be taken only for a purpose, especially those life endangering ones.
"Adrenalin has slowed down for good" - may the right way to say is "Use of adrenalin is restricted to the critical matters" and not for show off.
hope things are going well.........
i love it how every post in this blog is so personal and heartfelt.
Thank u Rima.
That's what exactly, this blog is meant to be....
Sorry for my bad english. Thank you so much for your good post. Your post helped me in my college assignment, If you can provide me more details please email me.
Hi anonymous,
Pl. tell me how to email, without an email Id, and even a name...
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