An unforgettable Christmas

25 December 2007 is one day I will not forget in a hurry ...

My day began as a very ordinary one. I got up around 10 am, and since I had some pending work at office, I decided to head out to office around 11.30 am. I had hardly gone 300 meters from house when I ended up in an accident. Yes - AN ACCIDENT!


Let me explain, how it happened. I took a left from the main road, which by the way is right next to my house, to hit a road which takes me. I am renowned "rash" driver, but, trust me when I say - today, I was doing 40 Km/hr tops. I was hardly 50 meters into this road when I saw this kid try to cross the street in his Kinetic Activa Scooter. And by kid, I mean he was around 13 - 15 years old. Yes - you guessed it right - not even legally aged to drive a bike!

So, I must've had at the max 5 meters between me and him - when I saw him. I slammed on the brakes - both front and rear - and hit the horn as well. But that stupid sick son-of-a-bitch just kept coming. And as you would've guessed it by now - I ended up ramming into him.

The first thing that happened was - atleast what I recall now was - I went flying and landed head first on the tarred road. Thanks to my helmet - I lived. I remember the force with which I slammed down - and trust me when I say - it was freaking hard! I am 101% sure that if not for that helmet - I'd have died on the spot! Going on, after my head-first plop, my body followed suit. To be more precise, my hip was the next thing to touch the tarmac. Thanks to the momentum my 115 kilos frame commands, it didn't stop there. I went skidding for a meter or two (I have a couple of cuts and abrasions on my hands and feet to prove that).

For a brief second, I lay on the road trying to grasp what had just happened in the last 2 seconds. I saw people crowding around me and somehow, I managed to get up. Thats when the stinging pain hit me. My hip was just bursting in pain. It was just absolutely agony! Commanding all the energy I had, I walked over to the side of the road where there was a slab to sit and sat down, lest I end up being run over by some other passing vehicle.

That's where I saw the kid who's bike I had rammed into. Surprisingly, he didn't have a scratch on him. And neither did his bike, which - for the sake of being honest - infuriated me. Come on, I had just got my hip busted and my bike trashed, and there was this kid - whose mistake it was in the first place - who didn't have a scratch on him or his bike! I had every reason to pissed - Didn't I?

The weird part was, he didn't even ask me how I was and how I felt. The kid just wanted to flee from the spot. Come to think of it - It was the most natural thing for him to do - given that he, as a minor, didn't have a license, and in the event the cops came, he'd be arrested on a non bailable offence!
So, he tried to get on his bike and flee. But, the people who had gathered at the spot, prevented him doing so. The kid persisted in his attempts - and resulted getting slapped a couple of times by the irate mob.

Someone in the group handed me the keys of the Activa and said - "Don't give him the keys till someone from his home comes here!". It made sense to me - so I pocketed the keys. The next second, the kid came running to me and kind of demanded that I give him the keys to his bike. It infuriated me and the first things out of my mouth were - "Do you have a license ... Wait till the cops get here and then I'll see whether I want to hand over your keys! The kid just froze at the mention of the cops. The next second he was like - "Forgive me bhaiyya ... It won't happen again!".
I knew that if I pressed charges, the kid would have gone to jail. Its not like I had anything personal against the kid, but, my bike obviously had taken a beating, and I wanted his parents to pay for the damage. Period! There was now way I was going to compromise on that!
So, I told him - "Go call your parents; I want to talk to them! If they don't come - I'll call the police!"

The kid continued with his begging, but I paid a deaf year to him and his pleas. My prime concern right now was to check whether I had indeed broken my hip, or, was it just a sprain. With this in mind, I headed over to the nearest hospital - Spurthy Hospital - which was about 100 metres from the spot where I had the accident.
Thankfully, a gentleman, who had been a part of the crowd, and had seen me limping off towards the hospital, offered me a lift. I promptly took it.

30 mins later, I was 500 bucks poorer, but the doctor had given me the good news - it wasn't a fracture. Just a "impact" injury.
To quote him:

Doc: "Its not a fracture ... The X-Ray confirms it!"
Me: "Are you absolutely sure ... It hurts a damn lot you know!!!"
Doc: "What’s you're weight son?"
Me: "About 115 kilos!"
Doc: "Well ... You see ... If you were my size - you're hips might not have hurt so much. But, at 115 kilos - its bound to hurt a lot after a fall like that!"

Although, under ordinary circumstances, I would've considered that statement as an inciting/insulting one, today - it was music to my ears!

As I head out of the hospital, the kid had bought a few of his relatives along with him for "negotiations". Trust me when I say - they all looked like shady characters - The typical goons and hitmen you see in Tamil movies!

I was in mood to bargain or argue, so I told them very clearly - "You see - my bikes been damaged. I wont press any charges if you pay for whatever cost I will incur for it. Else - I have no other option but to file a police case!"
Although very hesitant, the kids uncle, agreed!


I rode the bike - yes, I RODE IT - to my neighboring mechanic shop and told him - "Bhaiyaa ... I just met with an accident - the bikes been fucked big time ... Please check and see what’s wrong and how much it's going to cost to repair it!"
A quick inspection later he says - "500 bucks". I just looked at the kids uncle, and I guess he understood what I meant by that. He promptly paid the mechanic the prescribed amount. I handed over the keys to him, told the kid - "Next time - please try to be more careful!", and we all parted our separate ways!




What a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas eh!!!