It was a Friday evening, work had been real tight. After a whole 9 hours of having to bend over backwards I was weary and felt the strain of the last 1 week . The lift was excruciatingly slow as people got onto it from the 2nd floor to reach the ground floor! I know I'm lazy but that's taking it way too far! After silently muttering at them under my breath, I walked off towards my bike.
There she stood all silent and cold, she seemed pissed off having to wait out on the sun the whole day. Slid in the key and tried starting her. She was in one of her moods today and refused to turn over. I coaxed her by wiping some dust of the speedometer and made feverish promises of treating her to some extra premium the next time I filled petrol. It seemed to work, the familiar and reassuring beat of her engine filled my ears.
Helmet on, throttle blip and off I was to home sweet home. It would have been around 8, completely dark and as I could not use my high end Xenon lamp as it was too bright for city use I was riding blind. I was taking it easy weaving in and out of traffic at a slow pace. I was almost in front of Taj Coromandel when I noticed this couple crossing the road. Guy and girl, I noticed the girl was pretty cute. Probably this saved her life as I spotted her early enough!
Let me run you through the turn of events, I'm doing around 40 km/hr and there is this couple crossing the road 30 meters in front of me. I notice them ( the girl in detail) early and my hands shifts from the throttle to the brake lever in anticipation of a braking manoeuvre. The guy notices me and stops, I assume the girl will too and shift my fingers back from the brake lever to the throttle. But no! She looks at the opposite direction and calmly crosses the road oblivious to me hurtling towards her at 40 km/hr.
Lets pause here, I have covered 10 meters in this time frame, my hand is not on the brake lever anymore and I have a girl right in front of me!Right around this point of time, I feel something fall inside the pits of my stomach as my heart jumps into my mouth and my adrenaline glands pump a gazillion liters of adrenaline in a bid to super-sensitize my muscles to avert this collision.
I flick my fingers back to the brake cable and threw down the anchor. Brake lever injects brake fluid pulls /pushes brake pads meet brake disc / brake drum (I'm an automotive research analyst) as I experience the all too familiar sense of deceleration. I vaguely note the sound of screeching tires, as the guy realizes the danger his girl friend / sister/ wife is in and shouts out to her.
By now I'm 10 meters from the girl clinging on for dear life (mine and hers). The rear throws me a hint of stepping out and I dab the rear brakes a little harder. The girl begins turning around to see whats the matter, obviously unaware to whats happening all this while. It was like one of those synchronized competitions in the Olympics. As she turned around, I noticed her face twist in shock. She dint budge a centimeter as I closed the remaining 10 m and ground to a grand finale halt right in front of her high heels (I noticed).
That's when I realized the girl was catching her heart and screaming out to mankind. The boyfriend / Brother / Husband rushed to her and pulled her aside and profusely thanked me for saving her life!! I just shook my head and said "Oh My God!". My hands shivered and my breath came back to me in short gasps as I pulled away from the scene thank full that my bike had saved my life yet again.
On the way back home I stopped at a petrol bunk and topped her up on 12 Liters of Extra Premium. Have to change that headlight next.....
2 comments:
oh ma! real story? nicely written - you have talent, and potential!! :)
Does your client know about your noticing pretty faces, high heels etc etc?
most of it is:) lets get into which part is and which is not:)
As for the client, they are not aware of these things! I cant work all the time on a consult! I need some respite;)
P.S - I'm so dead if my client reads this :D
Post a Comment