Near Death Accidents change you forever. To write about them is painful and relieving at the same time. And the memories are always so vivid that you can feel them when you think about them even after a long gap of 13 years. Thank you @jerrybanfield for giving this opportunity for sharing the story with fellow Steemians.
"The dots of life connect backwards" - Steve Jobs, Harvard Graduation Speech (2005)
Like every other Indian guy growing up in the Nineties, television was our great source of Inspiration. Unlike today, back in the day we didn't have stupid soap operas and family dramas to spoil us. Shows on Armed Forces were one of the greatest crowd pullers of Nineties. So much so that half of my class (in 6th Standard) wanted to join the Armed Forces and serve our country. Though 6th Standard is too early to decide what you want to be in your life but the thought stayed with me. So much so that despite being good in studies, I still wanted to be a part of Armed Forces and because ours was not a 'video game' or 'smartphone' generation, we were equally good in outdoor sports.
To cut the long story short, by the time I left my high school I had appeared for an Indian Armed Forces selection process (which lasts 7 days) and I was waiting for my result. Surprisingly I made it to the final list and there I was: ready to join the Armed Forces and on my way to join the Academy.
As luck would have it, the Universe was working on a different plan altogether. I missed my first bus and rather than choosing the usual route, I chose another route on that fateful day. My choice of seat in a bus has always been the last seat but instead of doing that, I sat right in the front because I just thought of talking to the driver.
By 1345 Hours, I was sleeping (though sleeping on the front seat is strictly prohibited in India and that seat is usually meant for the bus conductor) and before I could realize it, our bus was airborne. The driver couldn't negotiate the sharp turn and the bus fell down into a 200 feet ditch.
The moment bus went airborne, I opened my eyes and saw the driver jump out of the window. And then I opened my eyes after 2 long hours.
I sensed a bright light pierce through my eyes. The whole episode of boarding the bus and talking to driver flashed in my mind. I could hear cries of people in my mind and all the promises that I had made to my friends before leaving started resonating in my ears. I saw a beautiful lady smiling at me while she boarded the bus. I felt raindrops falling on my head. As if I was floating in the air, I could feel a strange power bringing me down and at the same time another power lifting me in the air. All this while, I could feel people whispering in my ears and I couldn't understand what they were saying. The noises in my head became so loud and unclear that I woke up sweating profusely.
And then it dawned upon me. I could see dead bodies lying around me. That very lady who smiled at me in my head was lying dead besides me. She had boarded the bus (which I was later told by her family in the hospital) just a few hundred meters before the accident spot and I am sure I was sleeping when she got in.
16 dead, 13 injured. I had three fractures in my left leg, a minor backbone compression and a minor head injury
I spent the next *100 days lying on the bed and I kept thinking about the direction of my life. All of it made no sense to me: why did it happen? how did I get so unlucky? who was that lady who I did not see yet I saw her?
Though I survived those 100 days. I cleared my Engineering exams and went on to join one of the prestigious Engineering Colleges of India. I trek across the high mountains with my broken leg and I ride 100--200kilometers on my bicycle with the same fractured leg. I wouldn't have had the opportunity to do this if I joined the Armed Forces. Our parents have 5 kids and all of them live far away from our hometown. Because I could not join the forces and because I got a decent job back-home, I am the only one staying with my ageing parents. Probably that was the Universe's plan to keep me back home close to my parents and rekindle my passion in mountains.
Today, 13 years later when I look back, I feel that noises were my earthly relations bringing me back to life. The accident left 16 people dead, and most of them died of shock. I was sitting in the front seat and the bus went vertically downwards with the front of the bus bearing the most impact. Even then I survived. And I survived not because I wasn't strong but I survived because my dear ones brought me back. The noises that brought me back to life were the prayers sent my way by my friends and family when they got to know about this accident.
My leg still hurts and my back gives me troubles when I am walking across the high mountain passes and deep valleys in bone chilling cold. But with such friends and family, the pain is worth it.
I manage to do this with my broken leg these days :)
They have made a temple at the spot where this accident happened. I keep visiting the temple every once in a while to remember all of them who died on that fateful day. I visit to say thanks to the Universe for allowing me to stay back and see this beautiful world.
The bus fell down exactly from the spot where the temple stands
This is a unique and inspirational initiative Supernatural Writing Contest(SWC) by @jerrybanfield and I request you to be a part of it (if you ever had such an experience in life)