My Moment of Truth

It's been a month since I witnessed my Moment of Truth. We were headed to Bombay in the early morning (to avoid any congestion). It had been raining heavily for the past one week or so but we were blessed - not a single raindrop until we left the outskirts of Pune. Albeit, we experienced heavy downpour as South-West Monsoons had made an onset on the Western Ghats. & If you have been to Lonavala or even seen it in movies, you must be knowing that the intensity of rain is extreme, as you start approaching the windward side of Ghats.

 

Reports of Maharashtra Monsoon fury which lead to 300 + deaths had made my Paapa apprehensive about our trip by car. Being away from us (Posted in J&K), when he got to know that we were thinking of driving to Bombay, instead of travelling by train, he attempted many times to persuade us to not travel by car as we worried about the harsh weather.

 

7:08 a.m, July 30, 2021, Lonavala - we met with an accident. Long story short - if you would have even seen the condition of the car - you would be dumbfounded to even see me living - let alone walking!

 

All of us have heard people saying - "My life flashed before me" - Yes, this was that moment. In my first blog, I had mentioned my "Period of randomness". That was the phase in which questions like - What is life? What's its purpose? - were surfacing inside my head. After the accident - I found all the answers as I began the journey of "Life 2.0". In my "period of randomness", I was very concerned about my future & was in this belief that if I didn’t make it BIG (having delusional versions of BIG back then), then my life is a waste.

 

I am sure most people (especially in India) have gone through this phase. We live in a society where our intelligence is measured by how much Pressure can we handle which translates to how many exams are we competing for? How many people sit for that exam? What is the success ratio? How many tutions do you take? It's pretty amazing to realise that in such a "Diverse country" - these are the "concerns" of most.

 

I remember going for JEE (Mains) exam & equating my life to it in my head. If I failed this exam, then I would fail in life. My life won’t be worth living. However, in LIFE 2.0, I realised that "Jaan hai toh Jahaan hai".

 

ALIVE 

 

I closed my eyes when the car went out of control. I remember nothing after until someone evacuated me from the toppled car. In that dark phase - I only prayed that "God, please save my mom". My mom was on complete bed rest for 1 year in 2005 due to Spinal cord issue. Although she recovered it long back, I was worried if it could exacerbate. I am glad that I didn’t think about my future when I closed my eyes. I am happy that the only thing that flashed before me in my moment of truth was my "Desire to Live" more. & we came out ALIVE!

 

Fear of Failure 

 

My life 2.0 started with me getting rid of my fear of failure. I have realised that it doesn't matter how many times we fail, we always have the opportunity to stand up & fight another day. I have realised that as long as we live - we shouldn't be afraid of failure. Now, whenever I find myself in a predicament - I ask myself what is the worst that could happen? Our minds usually create "fake fears" due to overthinking. And when we literally put our fear at point-blank & question it - it doesn't come up with any substantial answer. & fear is gone before you go into self-doubt.

 

Yes, I was afraid of failure. But now I ain't. God has pulled me out of a Deathtrap, & gave me Life 2.0 - & this time I am choosing to make my days count, rather than counting my days.

 

Looking out for each other  

 

When the car stopped, my mom was shouting mine & my brother's name. No one was found to be injured except me - glass pieces had pierced into my head. And like any other mom, my mom too went into SHOCK & couldn't stop crying after seeing my blood spread all over the place - road, car, airbag - everywhere. She was feeling guilty that how could she say "Yes" to me & my brother's wish to go by car despite paapa's caution. I knew at that moment that if I could somehow make my mom feel that I am absolutely ok - things would go a little smoother then. & I am proud of myself that I achieved it. Instead of worrying about myself, I started relieving her stress & getting her guilt out. In those moments, all that matters is someone just comes to you & say "Sab theek ho jayega, Don't worry". I am glad that I was there for mom. It was later that I realised that if I didn't stop bleeding then I might faint (which my mom was telling me since the beginning). I took out my shirt & put it on my head until the ambulance came.

 

How Gratitude changed EVERYTHING? 

 

We get good at things we do repetitively. So if we continue to complain all our life, then we will have nothing but sorrow. However this same principle works other way also - the more we practise gratitude, the more we are bound to feel happy even in the worst of situations.

 

So what could have been the worst day of my life - became the "luckiest day" of my life. I realised that Happiness is a decision. On a day where we could have asked questions to God like - Why did this happen to us? Why are monsoons so harsh in Maharashtra? Why did the glass pieces get into my head? Or saying that Every trouble makes its way to our family only - we just couldn't stop thinking of all the "good" that happened.

 

When the car stopped in a toppled state, many people were ready to take us out of the vehicle. It was as if God had not just saved us, but also placed his angels around the car to evacuate us.

 

Among those people, one called the Ambulance. Another called towing van. Others were helping us with our luggage that was thrown over the road. The ambulance came & the paramedic did my dressing - removed the glass pieces & advised me to visit the nearest hospital.

 

These all people didn't even let us feel that we had gone through a tragic accident. We didn't have to make a single call to anyone. In fact, when I & mom were in the towing van - we were just recalling how gratitude & positive energy saved us! So basically we got enough dose of "good" on our so-called "bad" day. 

 

Humanity is there 

If you believe good people exist, they do! That strong is the game of belief. Belief makes people climb summits - swim channels - win Olympic medals. They aren't extraordinary - their belief is.

 

My domestic help (Anita didi) - who barely earns enough to feed her family- brought Apples (a fruit which even the middle class thinks twice before buying due to its high retail price) for us when she got to know about our episode. You could either be happy about these things or be sad that why didn't that guy with loads of money gave me something big?

 

My brother-in-law (Gaurav jija ji) has been an elder brother to me. He was there with us the entire day. He had already done the paperwork at the Car service centre, took out for lunch, drove us to the hospital (which is literally the other side of town - 25 Kms far) & then dropped us home securely. He made it easier for us to tell about the incident to paapa on phone. Thank you Jija ji for being with us through our thick & thin.

 

My cousin (Appu didi), whose home I was heading to, was ready to come, leaving everything, all the way from Thane to Pune to take care of us - as if it's not Thane to Pune but Thane to Ghatkopar.

 

My friend (Abhijeet), whom I woke up at 7:45 in the morning to know about Insurance paperwork. Instead of telling me that I will call you later or just hurriedly explaining details as he had just woken up, he cleared all my doubts & gave me the relief - "Kuch hoga toh batana"

 

Greater happiness is not in getting what you like but in liking what you get. ~HV Goenka

 

Moment of Truth

It's the moment when you get answers to questions - What matters to you? Who matters to you? Are you living your life or is life just passing by?

It isn't necessary that the moment has to be as tragic as a car accident. It can be your marriage or your child's birth. Each of us witnesses our moment of truth when we get to know what truly matters? When you get to know that it isn't the car you have been dying to buy or that new iPhone on the outlet that you can't get your eyes off, or the house you have been slogging for.

It doesn't matter what is your moment of truth, but what you do with the moment of truth is what matters.

Malala Yousufzai isn't known by the gunshot at her head by a Talibani gunman but by her "One Book, One Child" campaign.

 

After my incident, many people naturally share their experiences or their close one's experiences. & I have nothing but gratitude that I got to live another life!