An Unforgettable Day!!!!!

In each of our lives, there comes a day in which we would have experienced some horrible, exciting, dangerous, or not-very good events. I have had many such days in my life and September 11, 2013 happened to be one such unforgettable day.... for many wrong reasons.. I almost lost my bike and perhaps my life.


The day started off with some frenzy as I had to rush to the the Passport office at Tambaram to submit my documents and avail a passport. Unlike my usual self, I had made a checklist of all documents required for verification, took photocopies of each relevant document, and placed them in neat folders... Very not typical for me as I am a person who never had the habit of doing things in a planned manner.

I started off the day rushing to the passport office. The weather was not a pleasant one as it was drizzling heavily and I had to rush to the passport office..... Throughout the 6 kilometer journey, my heart kept telling me that something bad was about to happen.... Fortunately, there was no hindrances in the passport availing process and I completed the formalities within a hour and half..... I left for office around 12 PM with a satisfactory feeling of having applied for a passport finally.
The first half of the day ended in happiness.




I left to office around 12 PM. As I had to attend a birthday party of my friend's child in the evening, i decided to start a bit early. So, I logged off my system around 6:20PM and took my bike. Then, I took a bad decision. Instead of taking the regular route that goes from Ramapuram-->Guindy-->Chromepet, I took an alternate route that starts from the backside of DLF IT park... This was due to the fact that the traffic in the regular route was always bad during the rainy season. I thought that taking the alternate route might help me save a few minutes.... Boy, how wrong I was!!! Things were going well smoothly till I reached the place called Kolapakkam..... This is a silent village near the Airport... The beauty of the fact is that not many people in the Chennai city even know its existence.....  While riding my bike towards Kolapakkam, I noticed that the road, normally buzzing with vehicle activity, was deserted..... I assumed that it was due to rain... I didn't realize that this silence was a warning.

Upon riding my bike for 2 kms, I came to a spot, which contains a 40 feet long bridge that is the only way to pass from Kolapakkam to Gowl Bazaar (A sleepy village 5 kms from Pallavaram). I saw a crowd that had gathered nearby, but didn't realize the reason. I saw two lorries cross the bridge and decided to ride over the bridge.
A picture of the Flooded Bridge is shown below:

 Just as I entered the bridge, I realized that the bridge was flooded upto a feet in height. The force of running water made my bike stop abruptly. I got down from my bike and tried to return to the shore, only to find that the strong flow of water was pushing my bike inch by inch into the river... Before I could react, I slipped from the bridge, along with my bike, into the river.
 

Within seconds, I was dragged along the river. I could feel the strength of the river current and realized that I might die. After all, this was a river that ran for miles and had depths of fifty to sixty feet. I struggled for breath as I tried to stay afloat. For a few seconds, I thought I could hold on to something and go ashore. But after sometime, I realized that all my attempts were in vain as I was being dragged, perhaps to my death, helplessly...... I removed my helmet and looked into the skies wondering whether I could never see my wife or my unborn kid again...... I could only helplessly watch as people from the banks shouted at me to swim ashore (Little did they realize that I could not swim). For a few seconds, I was getting ready to say my last prayers thinking that I was definitely going to die... Fortunately, I was rescued by three young men from the village. They dragged me ashore and sent me home. While making the journey home, I just thought about my struggle in the river and how I could have evaded it... I realized that in life, you should never take unnecessary chances without knowing the repercussions.... I could have avoided the whole embarassing incident if I had not taken the alternate route or even taken a minute to assess the water level on the bridge... I am blogging this to remind myself that in the future, I should always think twice and act wise before taking any decision, no matter how small it is.

I wish to take this opportunity to thank the villagers for saving my life and god for saving me.
This incident has been like a rebirth and I am hoping to make it count for good.