It was 08th December of the year 2009 [just wanted to sound as if I am writing a great write up ;)] nothing great happened. I woke up late just like any other weekdays. I don’t like treating weekends any special than the weekdays and to keep it even I treat the weekdays like the weekends waking up when I feel like
I had to visit the bank this day and I had to sign few documents for a process that will make me appear richer and in fact turn me indebted to the bank a little longer. I planned initially to reach office in time (which is actually 9 am) and then go to the bank from there borrowing my colleague’s bike as I had the appointment with the banker only at 10 am.
But then plans are only supposed to be in the paper and never to be executed. I had to accompany my buddy who is my room mate too that morning to the old house to detach the ceiling fans and to carry it to the new place as we recently shifted base. I can’t be at two places at the same time and so I had to change my plan to fit in. I planned to go to the bank directly from my place and this time I would borrow the vehicle from my buddy who shares everything at the moment except my innerwear and me likewise. This time I stuck to the plan and reached the bank in time, though it was 10 minutes late to the banks clock. (Why don’t all the clocks show the same time?) I waited for one Mr.Srikanth for near 15 minutes before I was directed to a table inside a big hall. After the initial pleasantries we got down to business which had much to do with the banker filling in few details like my name and details in lot of documents and me signing those like a superstar crowded by his fans for his/her autograph. Honestly these are the moments when we realize our signature worth. It gives an airy feeling when you finish the signature with a dot or a line under it making you feel jubilant giving you a taste of what it feels like to be bestowed with super stardom.
Once all the documents were signed I was given the cheque for which I was signing all that time and shook hands with the banker and left the building to start off from there to my bank where I can encash it. It wasn’t 10 minutes since I left the bank and started moving in the bike when I received a call. This was the first hurdle in the sequence of happening which otherwise was going pretty smoothly. It was the banker asking me to come back to the bank as he wanted one more of my autograph. I was wondering on my way back where I missed to sign as I double checked and made sure I signed everywhere the banker marked the document with an x. Later when I got back to the bank I realized that the sign was to acknowledge the correction the banker did when writing my name.
I had to thank him for the mistake he did and to bring me all over to the bank taking a long way back, wearing a straight face to hide my annoyance. The madras traffic aggravated my frustration further more before I reached my bank (bank 2) to deposit the cheque. To my dismay my bank was too busy with the customers thronging like the flies which mean my wait is going to be longer that left me even more deprived. I intended to check into the office before lunch so that I will not be accounted for half days leave
Once the work was done I rushed to the bike not to waste any more time to reach the office at the earliest. I kick started the vehicle changed from neutral to first and then first to second and then to the top in no matter of time. There was a public transport bus ahead of me trying to slow down at the bus stop at an intersection. Why is that the bust stop is always right before an intersection? I tried to overtake it when I found two strangers in a bike trying to come from my left heading in my direction (rather I was heading in their direction) from one of the perpendicular lanes. The site of me rushing in left the rider perplexed and his expression was like that of the heroines of the Indian horror movies before they leave out a shriek. I spotted him well in time and my attempt to bring the gear down and to decelerate was in vain as I found it to my surprise the bike speeding up. I tried to avoid the clash but ended up breaking his headlight to pieces. At the end of the scene my bike was resting safely with a broken indicator and a clutch and a bent gear stand right at the middle of the road at the inter junction. I didn’t panic and for the same reason I guess I safely got out of the bike before its fall with a slight bruise on my left leg. After a semi argument I agreed to take on the expenses to repair his bike and we parted ways with smiling faces. Hugging would have overdone the scene I guess ;)
Why did I bring this story here after all this time of not writing a post? What made me write this one? During my post accident analysis I was trying to zero in on the reason that caused the accident and also the factors that would have avoided it.
As I scanned it backwards, I found the following reasons for my rash driving which I hardly indulged in.
4) I was frustrated waiting for a long time in my bank which I felt like the longest wait of my life.
3) I was in restless riding in the traffic of madras on the way from the first bank to the other.
2) The banker, who called me back for no fault of mine to fix a mistake he did, left me red faced. I was contemplating that I wouldn’t be at the scene of the accident at that time if he never called me. But then something worse could have happened. We never know until it is happened, right.
1) I started late and didn’t stick to the initial plan of going to the office and then starting from there to the bank which urged me to reach office at the earliest.
You can choose any of the above options other than the last to conclude if you find any reason to sympathize with me ;) but I chose to blame it on myself. My tick is right against the last reason #1. I have a theory to support my reasoning too. It’s the butterfly effect
“The butterfly effect is a phrase that encapsulates the more technical notion of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory. Small variations of the initial condition of a dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system.”
So now you know where it all began and the inspiration behind this post
Does it not feel nice to see a theory unwind in your life right before your eyes and you have the realization that it’s really happening? And is it not all the more reason to rejoice when it happens to be the first freak accident of the world’s safest rider ;)? Yes it feels good and that’s what made me write this post.
Moral of the story: Start early if you don’t want to pay to fix somebody’s bike ;)
