Resilience

Sometimes one can learn great thing from small incidences in life.
Today, I met a lecturer from Shimoga, and we were going along a road in IISc, discussing languages (computer languages, I mean) when suddenly we say some yelping sound.

 As we looked ahead, there was a car, some meters ahead of us dragging along a canine, under its wheels, and we could hear the cries of the dog which, was trying to avoid coming under the tyres of the small car, but, it seemed as though the car driver was hell-bent on running the car over the dog/bitch.

 At that point, apart from being aghast at the insensitivity of the car-driver, we both thought that we are going to see a distressing (reade bloody!) sight right in front of us, but, what we saw a few seconds later was quite incredible.

 After getting mowed down by the car, the god got up, and to our amazement, sprinted towards our side of the road, and leaped over the fence into the lawns by the roadside.

 Now, none of us had expected that to happen, after what we had seen a few seconds ago.
But, that spotted brown canine's resilience amazed us, and taught us a lesson for life.

 No matter how bad the situation might be,

a) you must try to minimize the damages during the hardship,\
and then 
b) Stand up yet again and start running towards your goal, as if nothing had happened before.

Did anybody say Osama?

 Osama bin Laden seems to be the talk of the town lately, with the news of the US military operation which resulted in the death of the 'most wanted terrorist of the world' in Abbotabad, roughly 50 km away from the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad.

 The operation was planned meticulously, and carried out stealthily, so much so, that, it is claimed that even the Pakistani Army, whose Military Academy was barely at a kilometer's distance didn't know much about.

The seals terminated the man perceived as the numero uno threat to their country, in less than 40 minutes, but, it took them about 10 years to dig him out, after the 9/11 attacks on the twin-towers.

 The question is why? 

 It is claimed that he used his wife as a human shield and was hiding behind her, before he died, but who was responsible for shielding him for 10 years?

 # Although the reports coming in now contradict this theory: 

(Osama bin Laden 'was not armed and did not use wife as human shield')

 And where are the witnesses? If they managed to save the people who were living with him, why aren't they being covered by the media?

 They say, that the man was responsible for creating a global terror-network, but they fail to ascribe the reasons that led to the creation of Al-Quaida in the first place.

 

 Although, they condemn the acts of terrorism acted out by the terrorists, but nobody condemns the multi-billion dollar arms industry that fuels acts of violence across the globe; rather, many a times, these head-of-nations meet each other, just to negotiate these multi-billion dollar arms deals, which would be unnecessary, if they could sit together and work out a mutual-disarmament treaty.

   

 Although, we are led to believe that this symbolizes the victory over terrorism, the waves of which were felt the hardest by the western nations some 10 years ago, I believe much more  needs to be done, if are to realize even partially, the goal of harmonious and peaceful co-existence.

Good-Samaritan, bad-Samaritan

We all must have heard it, at some point or the other, that the people in the metropolitan are too busy to even look at their neighbors, let alone feel for them, and it might be true in many instances.

 But, what we forget, while presenting such a picture of the city, is the other side of the coin.
Although we may be correct in stating that whenever there's an incident in the city, very few people actually come forward and help, and most of them just stand there as mere spectators; but still, there are a few who do come forward and lend a helping hand.

 Yesterday evening I met with such an incident that inspired me to write this post.

I was going towards Lodhi road for a discussion in IIC on Nuclear Waste, and as soon as I crossed the Kotla flyover, and was heading towards Defense Colony on the BRT stretch, which was divided into two lanes by a raised divider in the middle of the road. (acting as a lane separator).

 As I was going down that corridor, a bit preoccupied by my thoughts, I felt a sudden jerk on my right side, and I saw a white small car's side rubbing past my shoulders and before I could realize it, the motorbike got unbalanced and skidded on the road for a few meters before coming to a stop. All I could see was the white car zipping ahead in speed, not caring to stop and see what had happened behind.

 Thankfully, my bike's leg guard and the helmet were in good condition, and saved me some injuries, which could've proved serious otherwise. And the fact that the motorcycle skidded in its lane, not wavering on to the divider or on either sides, which again could've proved deadly.

 I was lying dazed along with my motorcycle on the middle of the road, as some people who were coming behind, stopped their vehicles  and helped me get off the road, on to the side-lane.

 One guy inquired about my condition, and the injuries, while the other lifted my bike and dragged it off the road on to the side-lane.

 Somebody then offered me water, and others asked me if there was anyone whom I could call.
As I was in a lot of pain at that time, and feeling dizzy, I took out my mobile and dialed my father's no. and handed it over to him, who then told him about the incident and that they were taking me to the hospital.

  One of the persons who had stopped there, asked me if I needed some water, and a car-owner agreed to take me to the hospital. I took the motorcycle keys, or probably somebody handed them to me, and sat in the car, while the car-owner (who later turned out to be an advocate in the Delhi High court, Mr. Mohit Jolly)
took my helmet and bag and placed them on the rear-seat.

 After some driving, we reached Moolchand Hospital and Mr. Mohit asked for a wheel-chair right-away, and escorted me to the emergency ward.

 I removed my torn and dirtied clothes, and lied down on a stretcher, and was attended by the the attendants, and Dr. Salman Durrani, who asked the attendants to clean the wounds, after the inspection.

 Mr. Mohit then gave his card (from where I came to know of his name) and said he was leaving as my parents were arriving shortly.

 After that, my mother arrived at the ward along with my brother, and after their arrival, I was administered a ATS, and a Voveron (painkiller) injection.

 After one more inspection, I was prescribed three X-rays, which thankfully didn't reveal any fractures, and  two stitches on the elbow, as the bone had got exposed due to the abrasion.

 The rest of the injuries were not too serious, and they got away with Iodine tincture scrub, and then I was discharged.

 Before I came home, I wrote a letter to the police that I don't want any action against the unidentified accused, as there was very slim chance of nabbing him, in the absence of any identification (Nobody could note down the registration number of the car.) and I was reminded of the lengthy procedures of the judiciary, and the pitiful stories of people who did file a case, and are still being tormented for their mistake. (Along with the predicament about the bike's insurance).


 However, there are a few things that I learned from this incident:

 1. Always be prepared for the worst, as one never know when things may go wrong for you.
 2. While you are driving, always be on your guard against reckless drivers.
 3. You find all sorts of people in the city; as I found several good ones, along with a despicable one

I'm writing this with a bandaged arm, thanks to the good Samaritans, and the hospital staff I found on the road yesterday, and hopefully life would return back to normalcy in the a matter of two weeks.

 However, I still wonder, if we keep on withdrawing cases, or not filing them at all, due to our fear of facing the hassles of the judicial system, and letting the guilty escape Scot-free, where would our society be, in the coming years?

 And further, how many times do we see a man in need on the streets, and how many of us really stop by and help him? Moreover, how  many of us would be willing to part with our own belongings, in order to help the needy?