Accident

My country holds the dubious distinction of having the largest number of road accidents in a year. Being a true citizen in this regard and despite my best efforts to avoid it, I ended up incrementing the stats one day.

It was a fine enough day. As my parents were out of the town, I had to regretfully crawl out of my bed and climb on my bike get to a nearby restaurant which was a few miles away. There was not much traffic on the road. Though, what one means by traffic differs from the conventional idea where one of the lesser towns in India is concerned. A good way to visualize two-wheelers on these roads would be to imagine 10-15 vehicles within a fifteen yard circle travelling at 40-50 kmph exhibiting brownian motion with a forward bias. In such a scenario, getting a high out of whizzing through the traffic is something that is hard to resist.

The confidence of a novice biker who has never been through an accident would put Tiger Woods to shame. It was with this confidence that I gunned through the road at over double the average speed, attracting a few choice phrases along the route from fellow drivers and laughing it off. As it happened, I soon discovered another guy on the same high, weaving through the traffic. Thinking that the day was turning out to be an interesting one, I drove right past him, in a manner which suggested an impromptu race. Quick on the move, he responded with a reciprocatory surge and thus we raced, responding to each others' moves.

Sometime into the race, I noticed a white blur in the midst of the traffic and increasing in size. However, the figure refused to fade and grew more and more prominent as I realized that in the midst of motorized four-wheelers, this was a four-legged mammal, ambling placidly across the road, and, being a cow, was quite patient at that. Extrapolating the mammal's route, I estimated that by the time I reached it, it would have moved on and hence, confidently increased my speed.

However, the cow had other plans. With disapproving eyes, she watched the progress of two bikes through the heavy traffic, with the first one confidently aiming for her. As I watched her, I felt the first signs of her slowing down. Directly in the line of my advance, I was forced to slow down a bit, however, as she started to move on, keeping her eyes on me, I pushed up to my earlier speed.

It was only at the last moment when my line was clear and I had increased my speed a bit knowing that my counterpart would be put hopelessly out of speed, the cow decided she didn't really need to cross the road.
Because I didnt have a prior indication of her benign intentions, her bovine touch turned out to be the logical conclusion.

After that, I lost my balance and things started moving too fast and I faintly remember crashing into a roadside cart, which ultimately resulted in a torn ligament and a binding relationship with a plaster for two months. From then on, I have been a vehement critic of flight without the aid of mechanical devices and impromptu races and most people agree with me on both matters.

About Me

Hello, and welcome to my blog. I am a mechanical engineer working with a software firm for an aeronautical company. Sounds confused huh? As Baz Luhrmann - of Moulin Rouge fame - would say, "some of the most most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their life, some of the most interesting 40 -year olds still dont ", which apart from sounding like a bad apology / pathetic excuse, pretty well sums up my idea of a life. What is life without change anyway. A set of experiences makes up a life. Concentrate on making the elements interesting and you will lead a life less ordinary. This blog is about sharing my experiences, interests and views with you and your views and comments on the same.

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