Friday Night!

Have narrated my horrible (but worth really) experience on a Friday night…

Day Friday December 02 2005
Unaware of the heavy rain outside I was coolly checking my mails on Friday evening around 8 pm (as usual). After emptying my inbox I came out of my cabin sipping a cup of coffee with the week end plan in my mind, a special one because I had my b’day that Sunday.

I came out of my office it was raining like anything I could hardly see the road outside. I waited …n waited …. till 9 pm, the down pour was tiring a bit so I started to walk towards Guindy railway station sorry I literaly swum to the station. No luck for me in the station too for the next 30 minutes there wasn't any train. Finally I got something to smile, as I could see a train coming but it didn’t last so far. No signal…..I waited…waited…..and finally at 10:45
That train got cancelled J

Scene 1:
I know that it was a bad day to me since I started the day meeting my boss (manchikkunago boss). Its 11 pm it was high time to take a decision whether to stay in office or risking reaching my Hi-tech home town (Madipakkam). But I don’t want to swim back to my office so I planned to reach my home anyway.
With hundreds of people getting out from the train I had to really do something to catch an auto. I ran hard… I could see only 2 autos in the stand but 100’s of people running behind me. Luckily I got an auto but already 5 people were there inside including one femaleJ. No problem for me…then.
Auto was almost sailing in the road and I was really happy then thinking I might reach home with out any problem. My misfortune strikes, it was raining like hell getting hard to find the direction in the dark. Engine got stuck and we were left clueless in the dark.

Scene 2:
Having drenched in the rain fully we were pulling the auto for almost one kilometer. We stopped the auto near a mechanical shed and the mechanic tried to start the engine. In the mean time I was chatting with the female inside the auto. J

She: Thanks for pulling the auto for so long time. Thank you very much!!! (She was inside the auto when I was pulling it)
Myself: It’s ok no problem.
She: You should be having a very good stamina man!
(I was pumped up then)
Myself: You know I go to gym regularly.
She: Really! So what do you do?
Myself: Peter … peter (Interview ku prepare panninathellam eduthu vitten)
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She: By the way meet my husband?
Myself: (Dumeel!!) Husband aaa?
Adappaavi unnayum sethu thallittu vanthena so sad….
Myself: Bye sister.
Her : Bye!!!

Still the mechanic was trying to start the auto but all in vain. It was already 11:30 then. I was in the midway so I planned to reach my home by walk. As I moved a little I say a van passing by I tried to stop it but couldn’t it was already full with around 20 people inside. When I was feeling really sad for missing the van this happened …

Scene 3:
The van got toppled in front of me with all the people inside. I was hardly standing 100 feet behind the spot where the van got toppled. I was speechless because I should have been inside the van if it had stopped for a moment earlier. I gathered some courage and ran to that place and before I could reach there few kind people gathered around trying to rescue the victims. Most of them were children and females. They were wounded severely almost many children lost their consciousness.
Fortunately a police van which came for rounds took the injured people to the hospital. But there was only enough space to carry the children still many people were lying around. I don’t know whether to help these people or continue my journey because it was already 12 then. I had decided to help them. I tried to get the numbers of the relatives from the victims and communicated with them. Also stopped a taxi which was passing by and asked the driver to carry the injured people to the near by hospital. I started from there with a very pleased heart and the time was 12:30 then.
I need to walk another 4 km to reach my home. Now it started raining even better the power was off fully, the roads looked like a river. I was left clueless with hardly one to two people moving here and there.
Scene 4:
I was walking (swimming) slowly thinking about the accident. It was very dark with heavy downpour I could hardly sight anything beyond 10 feet. Suddenly I was surprised to hear a child crying in that dark as I drew close to it I saw a woman with 2 kids in her hands, pathetic! The kids were almost drenching in rain. I couldn’t know whether to feel pity for the woman or to scold her for letting her kids in rain. I scolded her for coming so late that too in heavy rain. She started crying and said that she was returning from a hospital were her husband was admitted for some reason she don’t even have money to catch an auto and more than that she lost her way to home completely.
Uppf very sad. I asked her that she might have stayed in the hospital itself. But she replied that the hospital people didn’t let her stay there. Very arrogant people! I carried one of her kid. We walked for around one kilometer and reached a petrol bunk. No one was there except one auto and a mechanic trying to start the auto as he could reach his home. I asked the auto wala to help this woman to reach her place. He refused initially but looking at her kids he accepted. I paid for the auto and gave some 20 rupees to that female. She caught my hands and thanked me as if I was a god. I was very happy then for helping a poor woman. Still I had to walk another 3 km to reach my home.
Did I reach?
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Scene 6:
The rain was not ready to slow down rather it was gaining momentum. It was dark every where. I had to reach Madipakkam main road but all the roads were blocked. So I had to take a different way than my usual route. You wont believe as it was dark like hell I lost my way completely. For around 30 minutes I was walking in water around my knee cap height and with out any clue about the direction. My legs were cramping, I could hardly move my shoes as it was fully soaked in water. For the first time I was frightened I doubt whether I could reach my home with rain not bothering to slow down and the water level increasing steadily.
Fortunately I saw one shop keeper trying to come out of his shop which was filled with around 2 feet’s of water inside. I approached him for the route to Madipakkam main road. To god’s grace even he was waiting for someone else to go with. As he knows the way to main road we both swum J together and reached the main road.

Scene 7:
I got to walk another 2 km. The main road was even worse. If the streets were like canals the main road was like a river with water every where that too flowing with a huge current. At one place we saw a guy struggling with his bike which was carried away by the water current. We helped that guy and rescued his bike. One more added to our gang. We walked together as that guy couldn’t start his bike. When there was hardly ½ a km to reach my home an auto came and the auto wala asked me to get inside the auto as it was still raining. I got inside the auto telling a big bye to the guys who gave me a company. Even their houses were somewhere around that spot.

Now I started chatting with the auto driver

He said : “Vandi varum pothu off ayiduchi sir. Paaavum rendu peer thaan fulla thallittu vanthanga”
(Auto got off when I was coming here, only 2 men pulled the auto for 1 km)
“Ippothaan start aachu. Avanga enna anangalo theriyella”
(Only now it got started and I don’t know what happened to them?)

Adappavi!!!. This was the auto which I was pulling all the way in water. But I didn’t tell the driver that it was none but me. I reached my home at 2 o clock with my father and mother anxiously waiting for me. Still I could not forget that night.

First Night! :) that thought me lots of lesson apart from my daily routine.

Bye
Senthil