It Happened To Me

It was the longest night of my life. As I lay there, I had a feeling that more and more time was passing than I realized. I couldn't remember what time of the day it was. Must be past mid-night, I remember thinking, it is all jet black. It didn't feel like my hostel or home bed. It was so stiff and so hard. It didn't feel like the confined spaces of a room either. I couldn't feel my blanket or my pillows, just the raw, hard earth. I wrecked my brains. It definitly sounded like voices, and I could clearly hear the siren of the police-car, the ambulance and the continuous 'beep' of the walkie-talkie. It was black for a long time before I heard them calling. "Ma'am....can you hear me....ma'am?" I didn't recognise the voice. I thought about answering, but I couldn't. I didn't know if I was awake or asleep, conscious or unconscious, alive or dead. I was dazed, and it took me a long time to come to the conclusion that I should answer. But I was lost in an unthinking stupor. I searched for my mind, trying to think how to answer, but in vain. 'Just let me sleep', I thought. Sometime later, the voices woke me up again. This time I had sence enough to figure out that I was in a vehicle. The speed and the siren bothered me a little, but I didn't pay much heed. I could hear someone talking on the phone, "...bada accident ho gaya hai....haan PGI le ja rahe hain. Bachenge nahi lagta hai....". The tone was a matter-of-fact one. 'Why can't they just shut up and let me sleep?' I thought indignantly to myself. It was when I woke up again that I saw the light. It grew brighter and brighter, illuminating a large space with a lot of commotion. I could feel people holding me. I turned my head. I saw a policeman. I turned in the other direction, another policeman. Like a mad person, I turned my head in every other direction, just to see more and more of policemen. It was then that I freaked out. I don't know why I started screaming and howling at that time, and however much I try to re-live that scene now, I still can't point to a valid explanation for my behaviour then. I completely forgot my sence of social sensibility at that time. I kept screaming "Oh my God....wats happening? Where am I?", but I still couldn't get a proper answer from anyone. I knew I was creating a scene, but that wasn't important any more to me. I couldn't understand anything. I couldn't comprehend my identity, or my purpose of landing up there, and nobody was answering my question. Everybody just stared. Some even came especially to the room to see whats going on. That infuriated me even more. I heard them saying 'its an accident case, they can't be admitted like this'. I was asked whether I know the person whom I was with at the time of the accident, but I didn't know. I couldn't recognise him. It felt like I had only a body with an unconscious brain, like suddenly I am woken up from my 1000 years of slumber and ordered to recognise people whom I didn't know. I was confused at the word 'accident'. Why is everybody talking about accident right now? It amused me at how the whole place was only interested in me and how everyone was only talking about accident and relating that to me. Why everybody's only concern was me and that other boy at that moment, I couldn't figure out. Why is everybody acting like I am dying? Nothing was making sense at that moment, and I realised I was losing my head. A dream, I concluded. It must be one of those dreams where you have absolutely no idea who you are or where you are headed, but you still struggle on to reach to the end of it all without losing your survival. Just then my cell phone rang. I searched frantically in my pockets to take out my phone. It flashed "Zombie Calling". Zombie? That struck a chord. I tried to pay more attention to answering the call. That call mattered, if nothing else did. "Zombie! Tu jaldi aaja....main police station mein hoon....I am injured...its paining a lot...mera phone ka charger le aa". Whatever I said to my roommate didn't make sense. I didn't know I was in the Hospital. Seeing the policemen, i thought maybe I was in the police station. How I remembered my room-mate at that time, I still don't know. She kept telling me on the phone that the pain would go away and that I need not worry. My behaviour seemed childish, but I just nodded my head and believed what she said, and that helped me relax a little bit. I don't know how much time passed since then, and I blame my non--functioning brain again for this, but the next thing I remember was seeing Akshit dodging the crowd and runnind towards me, his mom following him, both of them looking very worried and very anxious. They were the most blessed sight I had seen in a long time. His mom ran towards the other stretcher, and he ran towards me. Finally, i felt relieved. That was one face I could recognise. Then I saw my parents running towards me. Everybody looked worried, but that didn't bother me. I felt like running up to my dad and telling him to take me away from all this. I felt like hugging my mom and making her tell me that this nightmare would pass. But I had to control my usual childish instincts, because I couldn't make my brain work again to do that. I was made to lie down on another stretcher, and that was when I felt the excruciating pain. Every part of me pained. It was unbearable. I wondered if I had broken both my arms and legs, but the commotion wouldn't let me think much about it. A confusing swirl of faces moved over me. Someone checked my pulse-rate, someone checked my heart-beat, someone clipped my finger and started checking the monitor. "How did you meet with the accident?" Someone asked me. I knew the words meant something, and that they were addressed to me, but I could only stare, bewildered, not sure what I was supposed to do. I also kept wondering on the fact as to why I wasnt awake enough to do what I am told to do. It was during those thought processes that an image suddenly flashed before me, reminding me of something worth noting at that point. Out of my mind that I was, I suddenly shouted "The debate! I was home for the Parliamentary Debate! What happened to that?" They appraised me for a second, and then starting talking amongst themsleves, "take her for the CT scan". In that process I closed my eyes, trying to re-think that string of thought which had entered my head and had made some sense. So, I was in Chandigarh for the Mohali debate, I thought. I could recollect the first three days of the debate. It had gone well, except for some injustice in some of the decisions. But most of the judges had favoured us, and we had had a nice time. Little incidences flashed before me, like we preparing for the Proposition favouring the motion of allowing bigamy, and then at the dinner table where I was flaunting my ability to my friends of making any guy starting to flirt with me. I experimented with the IIT guy and proved them...it was hilarious. Slowly, the memories were coming back to me. Then that following day....what happened the following day?  I tried hard to remember. Zombie, Tanvi, Sarojini, Shreya, Yatharth and I had gone to The Subway for lunch, then we went to sector 17 to meet Sambhav. He hadn't turned up, loser that he is! I showed them 17. We clicked a lot of pictures. Then we met Akshit and went to Mocha. We had a nice time there. Then I recalled planning that we would spend the night partying at the place my team-mates were staying at, and early morning we would go to Sukna Lake and Rock Garden and all. But what happened after that? Did we go to the Lake? I couldn't remember. They were pushing my stretcher and taking me somewhere. With the crowd walking alongside, it felt like a parade. I tried to focus on what I was thinking, but I couldn't. I was drifting in and out of alertness. They had apparently found a clot in my head and so I was taken back to the CT scan room. This time they tries to scan my head by making me stand. I kept falling, and people were holding me. I couldn't figure out why I was so helpless, and what has happened suddenly to my life. They laid me back on the stretcher and we started moving again. I could hear my parents talking. My dad's phone was ringing most of the time. Finally, they took me to a private ward. When I reached the ward, wierd appliances were put on my body. Having already lost - as I had previously mentioned - my sense of social sensibility, I didn't hesitate in screaming at every act of the doctors that hurt me, right from the injection, to the drip, to the blood pressure-checking instrument that sqeezed my arms. Then they put some wire through my nose which went up to god knows where. I felt a pain somewhere down my chest, but that didn't surprise me. By then, I was used to all wierd things happening to me and my poor body, and I knew I couldn't object. The next thing I remember them doing to me was putting something on my mouth through which a lot of air gushed in with a wierd noise. I thought that would help me breathe properly, but that only made me more breathless. I became restless and started to free myself, but they were already holding my hand. I wanted someone to calm me down, because I myself couldn't do it. They heard my mind I think, because they then injected something through my drip that started steeling away from me whatever little consciousness I had that night. The dim lights in the room were more bearable. The last thing I remember was quickly scanning the room to check if there were people there still. I couldn't see anyone, just the clock hanging on the wall, which showed 4:30 AM. My body relaxed, and the silence helped me sleep. I didn't wake up much after that. I remember quite a few people trying to wake me up the next morning to make me have breakfast, but I didn't wake up. They succeeded in the afternoon when I got up for 10 minuutes. My mom quickly fed me then, and I slept off again. It was late evening when I finally woke up. I didn't like the fact that I could hardly move my feet at that time, and that I had to be put on the wheelchair to move and that needed someone to accompany me to the loo everytime. I tried remembering the confusing previous night. It was all a blurr. I could recall hazy scenes from the night (which I have penned down here already, before I lose what I remember of that disasterously memorable night) and was glad that I could finally feel my mind and my brain working, atleast logically, if not perfectly. I remember us having the house party. We were also cribbing that we had nothing to eat or drink. Yatharth suggested that he could go to the shops and buy stuff and come back. "Tum akele nahi jaoge...agar jaana hi hai toh main bhi saath chalungi", I remember telling him that. He agreed to take me. I had never done anything of this sort - of going out at night on his bike - and that excited me. We got patrol for his bike, he also used the ATM. We bought all the eateries, and started on our way back. He was riding at a normal speed and was chatting to me. Suddenly, I saw a car behind us on his rearview mirror. He saw it too I suppose, because he quickly increased his speed. The police, we thought. The last thing we wanted was the police to question us on what are we doing outside at 1 'o' clock in the night. The bike's speed reached about 140, but that didn't scare me. I was used to him riding like that most of the time. Generally what I did during his speeding times was to bury my face on his back and to only look up again when he stopped his bike. I don't know why I didn't do that that day. I kept looking. Maybe I was tensed about the police (that wasnt a police it turned out, just another car inclined on racing with us). We were about to reach the lights. It was the area where two perpendicular roads intersect each other and you have the lights to control the traffic. There was no traffic at that time, just our bike racing across the road. And then it happened. I saw a bus (yes you heard me right, it was a bus) coming from the right side of the road perpendicular to ours. That means we would have to criss-cross each other. That was very normal, I thought. I looked at yatharth. He must have seen the bus. I held him to prepare myself for the jerk that we would get on him pushing the brakes to let the bus pass. He didn't slow down. The bus was at a very high speed (dont go by my slow description. It all happened in a fraction of a second, but I remember each mili-second of it like it was an hour), surely Yatharth would have to stop now. It was coming closer. I looked at Yatharth frantically. I saw him glancing at the rear-view mirror on his left to see the car following us (wish he had used his right rear-view mirror, that would have saved a second and that might have prevented it all).  Done with looking, he started moving his head to look ahead. But during the time he was in the process of looking ahead, I shot a look at the speeding bus. Oh God, there was no time...he wouldn't look on time to see the bus approaching us. Now, let me tell you, when its about the two of us, I never direct Yatharth for anything. He is the more matured and more sensible one and he knows very well what to do and what not to do. I never tell him anything when it is concerning 'us' (be it our safety, our enjoyment, our health, or whatever), I only listen to and do what he says. Especially not during driving. Ofcourse, he has a better road sense. But then I guess thats what accidents are all about. They are a part of your detiny. They strike when you least expect it. That day was perhaps the first time I shouted at him and directed him, when I thought that he must be very wrong somewhere. One part of me believed that he would save us, but the other part - the selfish part - was more interested in that one precious word called "life", the part that we are taught about in Biology to create a 'fight or flight' situation in us when faced with an imminent danger. That part was perhaps what made me realise that I must intervene now, and thats when I screamed "Yatharth BUS...BUS ARAHI HAI". Since then, till the present time, I keep giving my memory another shot in trying to remember what happened next, but to no effect. I want to know what happened to us after that. Where and how exactly were we hit. How and where did we fall. Till when were we lying on the streets before the police reached us. Was Yatharth still in his senses when we were hit. Did he see me fall and lie on the ground unconscious, and did that make him realise that the reason I died was due to his over-speeding. Did the bus driver think that we are dead. And did that make him realise that the reason we died was due to his drunk driving. What really happened? I still dont know. Even now every night, when I go to bed, that night comes back to my memory and that scene keeps on haunting me. Maybe thats the reason I cant sleep at night. I sleep only when it is morning and I know that nothing can go wrong now. And yes, about the consequences, yes, being hit by a bus does leave its marks. I have a fractured right arm, swollen right thighs, wounded feet, and a head clot that is being treated by medication. I had to stay in the hospital for three days, and when I was discharged, I was discharged only from the Hospital, not from the curious eyes of the world. Everybody was trying to be sensible about my problems. 'How much are you hurt' lost its priority and 'why did u go out' became the new charm. People questioned me, my motives, and my principles. My belief in myself and God helped me fight the world. I knew what I am, I knew my motive was clean, and I knew my principles were the highest that any girl has today. My parents knew that too, that was why they discarded my act as 'a reckless and naughty' one, and helped me on times when I was fed up of my life and urged to quit it. My friends helped me too. Immensely. Infact, had it not been for them, I would have long taken all the blame on myself and punished myself for that. I still have little problems, like I am scared of the road now. I am restless throughout the journey on the road and keep dictating whoever is driving about the approaching cars. I still have the fractured hand, i still have the other injuries and wounds, and I still can't remember a lot of things. My brain has still not got back to its original functioning that has always made me score fabulously and be in the toppers in my academics. They say, the road to revovery is not a good one. Sure it is not. However, these all little problems have lost their importance now. These all things are nothing compared to what we might have lost that day - the life. This word holds more meaning now than anytime before. I was, am and will always be thankful to God for showing mercy on our lives. I one day googled about serious road accidents when people get hit by buses and trucks and all. Couldn't find even one single case where the victims survived. If there is a survey done on the issue, then we might be the first people who are still alive after being hit by a bus. This is no less than a miracle. I must say, Destiny always takes me as its child. It teaches me lessons in astonishing ways, and when it is sure that I have learned, it puts me back on to the field to play my life. This incident taught me a lot. It taught me to make the best use of the time, opportunities and the people that have a meaning in my life. It taught me the importance of life. I used to think very highly of myself. I walked like I owned the world, and for me, 'life' was to have fun, to enjoy and to do what I feel like without giving it a second thought. Now, it holds a different meaning. 'Life' means to have a beating heart, a working mind, a healthy body, and the mix of loved ones and ambitions to supplement it with. So, lets raise a toast to Life. Lets celebrate Life. Heres to Life....that I am fortunate enough to still own. :)

The NLU Grand Intra Moot Court Competition

I still can't figure out why I Didn't take part in the moot court competition in my first year. Maybe I was lazy. Or just plainly uninterested. For the unaware, moot court competition is a competition involving mock court cases fought by the law students. I would make an understatement if I say that they are the most important activity of a law school. Certainly an understatement. Moot Courts are the glamour of a law school, especially of a National Law University which is the residence of the best legal eagles of the Indian future. An NLU student is judged by his 'mooting ability'. The best mooter is like the Amitabh Bachan and Shahrukh Khan of a law school. Everybody looks up to him (her), everybody knows him and everybody wants to be like him. Yes, thats what mooting is all about. So, yeah, I still regret the fact that I didn't take part the last year. I might say that yes, being a normal arrogant teenager from Chandigarh who just passed out of school, I was kinda overawed by the enthusiasm of the students for the moots. I cudn't take the fact that people actualy skipped their sleep for days in a row just to finish the memorial. People even took naps on their books in the library. People crowded in front of the library from 5 AM just to get in first when it opens and grab the good books before anyone else. I was amazed by the environment of a National Law School. Guess I just wanted to be in an acclaimed college that the Central government has made, like the IITs and IIMs and NIFD and AIIMS and all...the wish to be in best college had made me forget the amount of pressure that comes in with thses colleges. Hence, I was taken aback. Alas ! Not a good start. But, I might just add, destiny always plays around with me. Guess I am its favourite child. It tricks me, teaches me, rewards me, shows me. In other words, whatever I plan or think, I am always surprised at what destiny does with me. It always gifts me with an unexpected experience and amuses the other people at how specially I am treated by Destiny. I can safely say that when I am old and I sit down one day to write a book on my life, I would certainly have a lot of things to put in their an make the world wonder. That might be a bestseller in the making. :) (will write more about it)