For once in his lifetime, if a motorist could only stop and think about how life has been for most of the cyclists out there, he would (and probably should) give a big salute to everyone. For his contributions to the society, a cyclist is very modest in his needs. All he requires is a 1ft x 6ft piece of road on the leftmost edge, for which he has to put up a brave front against threatening vehicles many times the size of his bike and not to mention the ridicule and the foul-mouthing. He bears all the insult and moves on believing that one day the world will not look down upon him anymore. His hopes of finding a fairer world might be a dream but it is a good thing that he hopes, because this hope is the only thing that will get him back to his bicycle everyday. And as long as he keeps doing that, there is One Less Car or One Less Motorbike on the road :)
My terrible experience came at a cost (or should I say "It cost me a lot of things...things that were important"), and I was surprised at myself for not never having cursed that gentleman. That is so unlike the temperamental and ever defensive ME. I wondered what had changed me in these years? And I couldn't think of any answer other than my obsessive hobby of the two wheels. Cycling , I realized, has taught me to be more practical and more balanced towards a situation , because we have been treated so much more worse than others. I realized that if not for that gentleman I would not have had a chance to experience the hospitality of Apollo Hospitals and the feeling of spending the new years eve with my family after 3 long years. If not for him I would never have felt my pseudo pain-thresholds, that I broke many a times and the constant reassurances of my buddies on the road & at work that "its all right man... you'll pull through".
I started cycling a few months back, and yes I think it has changed me also.
ReplyDeleteIf it was me, I don't know what I would have done... cursed the gentleman or stayed calm.. and I wish I don't have to find it out ... ever!!
And despite you trying to make it sound like fun(apollo's hospitality, new yr with family, et al), I hope you don't get into a similar incident again.
Hope to see you on the road soon.. :-)
hey how are you doing?
ReplyDeletehave you fixed anybody for your physiotherapy in B'lore.
Dr satyajit