The Original Bicycle Diaries

Long time ago I ventured into the unknown. The land far far away. Despite all the warnings, the arguments and after a lot of thinking I finally decided to go and face the world down under... Well lets cut the crap. I went to Chennai for my summer internship at IIT Madras during my college days. The campus was huge and hence I got myself a bicycle(read bike). Well I did know 'one' soul in the city, a friend from college who was interning close by at IIMSC which was about 2 Kms away from the IIT hostel gate. So here is what happened...

One fine day he was nice enough to call me to go out with him and his friends. He knew I was pretty much alone so won't even give it a second thought. The movie was 'ok' but the people's reaction to Rajinikanth's 'Shivaji' was a lot of fun. Beach after that was nice too and then we got back to his dorm. Now it was past 1 AM and I couldn't see anyone on the streets well that's how it is over there. I expressed some concern about getting back in one piece and his friends offered me to stay back in the dorm but he 'suggested' I should head to IIT. His last words were "Don't worry man."

The anger and annoyance made me 'kick-start' my bike and there I left for a life altering experience. I decided to take the 2 Km shortcut which was like the narrows as there was no way that I'd ride for 8 Kms to reach my room. As soon as I entered the haunted road a couple of dogs started barking at me. I told myself that the protocol dictates that I should stay calm, So I did but I thought the smarter thing would be to act calm but paddle faster. They kept chasing me nonetheless. Then there was another left cut. As soon as I turned I realized they've got some reinforcements. Five or six dogs after my life on a dark narrow road. Now there was no time for games. I was riding a fast as I could and asking myself why the hell did I buy a second hand one as paying 5 times more for a new one is definitely worth it if it saves my life right? Then I started cursing Menaka Gandhi, Changi(The Friend) and swore to take their lives if I could save mine.

Then, right then it struck me, I watched this program on discovery channel where this scientist goes to a jungle with the objective of scaring away a tiger. He stretched his arms and roared and It Worked. The idea is if you can prove to the animal that you're stronger than him then they'll leave. So I tried to do the same but the roar somehow came out like a scream(i guess) and the dogs became wilder. Now I thought there's no way I'm reaching IIT but somehow managed to gather enough courage to 'roar' again and guess what they came to an immediate halt. I hailed in triumph telling myself "who's the man!". I finally looked forward as the dogs had stopped chasing me and I realized I'm on the extreme right of the narrow road and there was an SUV right in front of me. Well it was parked but I was traveling at the speed of light. It was too late to apply brakes. The only thought that came to my mind was

Man I can't believe my luck.

I crashed with half of me on the bonnet.

I got back on my feet I was feeling no pain so I assumed I'm not that badly hurt. The dogs seemed confused too, now staring from some distance. I tried to pick up my bike and start moving again but something was not right. The front bar connecting the front wheel to the body of the bike had turned 90 degrees. So there I was stuck in the middle of nowhere. I decided to do something before the dogs run out of patience so I jumped into the house i had crashed in front of. I tried calling Changi but he didn't answer to save the incoming charges while roaming. Now I started remembering how I noticed that every house on this road seemed to have a pet. Finally I heard a voice, an auto driver who lived next door and was woken up due the noise, took me back to IIT with my bike and refused to take money. True Story.

P.S. For a funnier version of the same story please checkout http://dynamicquality.blogspot.com/2007/06/bicycle-diaries-part-i.html