New Life!

Sometimes we take life too easy and casual... without knowing what might be coming next...

It was November of 2005 and i was in Mysore with my cousin. The thanksgiving weekend was around the corner. I was really excited as i thought that this time i will relax totally. A few days before the thanksgiving weekend i got to speak to my dad and i told him about the thanksgiving weekend. He got excited too and said why don't you visit Delhi and spend time with us. Hmmm..... that was a great idea. I packed my bags and left Mysore for Delhi. I took the late night train from Mysore to Bangalore. I had to catch a flight the next day morning from Bangalore.

The train from Mysore usually departs at 11:30pm and arrives in Bangalore at 4:30am. For some reason the departure got delayed by an hour and half. When we started from Mysore i thought the train would reach Bangalore a little late and i slept. When i woke up it was 5:00am and i was in Bangalore. The train was empty and was moving out of the platform and going towards the yard. An old couple who were in the train said that the train will stop at the yard and we shall get down there... I was sleepy and i heard their words. Just as we left the platform a few hundred meters ahead the train stopped. I happily jumped off the train and started to walk back on the railway track towards the platform. The train had just crossed an Under bridge and stopped. The bridge was about 60-70 meters long. As i started to walk on the bridge with my heavy travel bag on my left shoulder, i was taking one step at a time. It was dark and the rail bridges do not have anything except a small thin metal strip in the centre of the rail track which i was cat walking on. When i reached almost the middle of the bridge i could see vehicles moving on the road going under this bridge that i was walking on. Since it was early morning there was not the regular traffic and the vehicles were passing the bridge at a fairly good speed.

All this time till i reached the middle of the bridge i was listening to some honks coming out of nowhere and i really did not pay much attention to it. I was really excited about visiting family and moreover i was thinking of what all I'll do there in Delhi. My brain and senses were really clouded with all those thoughts... About the honks i did look almost in all directions and didn't see anything and kept walking. I was walking really slow cos my travel bag was heavy and i was walking on a railway bridge... if u do a mistake u'll pass through the bridge and onto the road... he he he

So i took another step and i somehow noticed that the honks are getting louder and louder... so i stopped and looked in all directions again and did not see anything... just when i took another step... something got into me and i looked back... i really don't know y i looked back... When i looked back i see a huge yellow X coming towards me...(that's how the rear end of the train is marked) I also saw the same old couple hanging out of the train door yelling at me to move out of the track... That's when i realized that i was on the same track on which the train was coming... This was the same train i got down from... I looked on the either side of the track and i just see the road going under the bridge. The bridge was almost 20-30ft high from the road, for a moment i thought of jumping and then i pulled back saying to myself what if a speeding vehicle comes and crushes me... and even if a vehicle does not come and crush me... i was sure if i jump from that high i would have landed in hospital with multiple fractures... so the only way to get off the track was to cross the remaining part of the bridge and jump off the track when the bridge is over.... for a moment i thought of throwing my bag there and running but then i thought if I'm hit and if i die this bag will at least be my identity as i had some office papers in the bag, even though my wallet in my pocket which could have helped my identity but i was sure who ever will see my body will first rob me of my valuables and my wallet was one. Also, i did not want to die a death of an unidentified person... All these thought came to me in a fraction of a second and the train must have been just about 10 meters away from me and i started to run towards the platform. I'm not a good athlete but that moment i could have beaten an Olympic gold medalist. he he he...

From the point i started to run, the bridge was still a good 30-35 meters long... With an operated knee i ran the best i could... and just when i crossed the bridge i jumped off the track... and that was the time when the train boogie brushed the right sleeve of my Jacket. Had i been a second late and i would have not been alive to write this.

Now i just wanted to get out of the railway station...
I could not stop myself thanking the almighty for a brand New Life!

At that moment i realized the value of life... if you don't have life what is all the money for... we keep fighting all our lives just to get a better living... a few more thousand bucks... and are never satisfied with what we have... even though we are better off than thousands of people....

Life and good health is everything... if u don't have it... you have nothing...

while on the flight to Delhi i dosed off and i see the same rear end of the train with a huge yellow X mark coming towards me and i suddenly woke up and found myself sweating... It was just a dream... thank god.
I was flying Kingfisher airlines that time and just when i opened my eyes and looked on my right one of their beautiful air hostess asked me what meal would i like to have veg or non-veg... she saw me sweating and i told her I'm not feeling well... and then the Kingfisher girls took good care of me :P he he he... guys will be guys...

Later in the day when i arrived in New Delhi i was still in a shocked state... while i was waiting to collect my luggage I thought to myself how foolish i was to do such an act. what if i was hit by the train... what would be the fate of my family / friends.... they would have been devastated... and i would have become a ghost haunting the Bangalore railway station... he he he

I'm really thankful to almighty for everything. Had it not been his grace that day i would have not lived to see the good things in life that came my way after that and had it not been his grace and of course the blessing from my elders and my late grand mother which has been shielding me every time - i would have not been celebrating my Birthday today. Its my second birthday in the new life and i wish myself with many more.... My Birthday is actually on 15th April. Today is my Birthday according to the Hindu calendar.

Happy Birthday to myself!
God Bless Me!