Lunatics on killing Spree
Friday, April 20, 2007

Hi Everybody! This blog is not dead, neither did I stop traveling. Everything in life has a purpose and I was convinced that the purpose of this blog is over. I wasn't sure if I'd ever return to add another entry. I hoped this was not an end, a mere burn out, a hiatus. A couple of days back a bizarre thing happened and then another incident in the subsequent week and it made me write one more time.

These two tragic events were different in nature and proportion; the common thread in both of them however is that they were both driven by a lunatic. The madness of one guy resulted in the death of many innocents. I usually try to keep things light-hearted on the blog, but this deserves serious attention.

I decided to go for a quick trip during the 1^st weekend of April with a friend. We arrived at a decision to explore the lakes of Kumaon because of its proximity to Delhi. It was a memorable trip and I had a great time clicking pictures, trekking, watching people rowing the boat etc. Like all my trips, this too was unplanned and therefore there was no reservation. After spending two splendid days at Sattal, Bhimtal and Naukuchiatal, we decided to head back to Delhi. On my return, there were no tickets for Delhi from Nainital. We decided to go to Haldwani and catch a bus from there. Luck still dint favor us as there were no buses that night and we decided to take a shared car till Moradabad and catch the late night bus from there to Delhi.

We boarded a Pilibhit depot bus for Delhi at 1:20 pm. Never did I realize that it was going to be the last journey for some people. I had to sit behind the third row near the aisle as the bus was full. As the bus started, I realized the driver was driving exceptionally fast. I looked at him for a while and then started talking to the guy next to me. The bus was an ordinary bus with very little legroom. So I had to stretch my legs in aisle area. The people around were in deep sleep and my thought process was broken by a sudden and sharp turn made by the bus. Something wasn't right. Going by his maneuvering and swirling, I was wondering either this is an overconfident driver who drives exceptionally well or he is running late. Could he be under the effect of alcohol? My mind shuddered at the thought and then the bus screeched past a sugarcane trolley leaving the sugarcanes slashed and flying in air. I was terrified and extra alert. I looked around – everything was dark and everybody sleeping. I looked at signboards – Delhiwas still 76 kms away. I wanted to walk up to the conductor and tell him to slow down the bus; but he was in semi sleep. I couldn't have walked to the driver and broken his attention at 100 km/hr on a highway. I never felt so helpless in life and was quite restless. Yesterday when I saw this picture of students huddled next to Norris Hall listening to the killer go 'pop, pop' killing 30 people at Virgina Tech, I can understand how helpless they'd felt. They were not in control.

I wanted to get down right at that instant but I thought this too shall pass. I had been to a deadly accident once where my car went turtle and I had to come out breaking the windowpanes and I didn't want anything like that to happen again. I prayed to God to let there not be another accident. I looked out – Delhi was still 67 kms away. It was 3:37 in the morning. Then I saw a lime color mini truck coming from the other side with two young guys sitting in the front and it came too close. I was wondering – can he still swirl this time. Something inside me said, he couldn’t. My body voluntarily flung to the aisle as a reflex. There was a loud impact and everything went black. I experienced glass flying, metal sounds, sound of iron hammering and a few second later, as the metal sounds subsided, I heard loud human sounds screaming for help. This was an accident and I was still alive. I got up thinking I am hurt, I wasn't. I located the exit door and flung it open. As I opened it, I saw a body under my feet. People behind me shoved me out of the door. I immediately thought about my friend. People on the back seats were relatively less injured and they were jumping out. My friend was in the back seat. I started shouting his name hoping he's all right and would respond. He did not, almost all people who were alive, were out. He was inside turning people lying under my seat thinking I am one of the bodies lying on floor. Then he heard me shouting and jumped out. His cheek was bleeding and he had a few bruises but he was in one piece. I asked him to sit in a corner and offered him my handkerchief. I got a few cuts too and bruises in my hands but by and large I was fine. I went inside the bus again. The engine was still revving. The last thing I wanted was the petrol tank to burst. As I went inside, I saw five bodies lying in the front area. With two other guys, I started to pull people out. What I was to see next could be summed as the most terrifying sight of my life. As I tried to pull a body, his hand came off, the skin slipped and bones were visible. We had to drag people holding their clothes. It was a ghastly sight with people reduced to a conglomeration of meat, glass, mud and jelly; it was painful to touch them, leave alone pulling them out. Once we pulled the bodies out, I found my luggage entangled between debris of steel and glass. I opened my bag hoping my camera would be dead, luckily it wasn't. I went to the other side of the bus and tried to take a snap fearing people would beat me that I am taking snaps in this hour of tragedy. My hands were red with blood and shaking as I pressed the shutter. I didn't have the heart to take more. There was no help even after 1 hour of the accident. Nobody would stop his car or bus. It was dark and I had no clue what to do with all this mayhem around me. Fortunately, a bus stopped and we loaded some injured people onto it. When I finally decided to move, there were three bodies lying in such bad state that I had no clue what to do with them. I was sure they wouldn't survive.

At the end of it all, I realized this could well have been avoided. I wish the driver hadn't taken alcohol and lived to see another day. It is a weird feeling to know that the guy you're talking to wouldn't be alive in the next hour. He didn't make it. While Virginia Tech hit all the newspapers and became international news, this will go down as just another stray accident, where a couple of lives were lost.

posted by Vj @ Friday, April 20, 2007,

18 Comments:

At April 20, 2007 10:57 PM, Pooja Aggarwal said...: Vj,

Glad you escaped unscathed atleast physically. Emotionally it will take time I guess.

Rest and be close to your family.

Take care,
Pooja
At April 21, 2007 4:07 AM, Maverick said...: u r back is the only good thing admist all these tragedies. My mood is also black.hope we'll get back to our good old days (can't believe im saying it)
At April 21, 2007 8:47 AM, Mridula said...: I am so sorry to hear this. I know what you are talking about, the over-speeding diver part. And so glad that you are back. I think this is the same trip where you were at Google talk?
At April 21, 2007 7:21 PM, Cuckoo said...: That was so sad. Glad that you are safe.

Take care.
At April 21, 2007 11:12 PM, Priyank said...: dude, we are (atleast I was) used to reading such news on TV and feel "this can't happen to me". But I'm glad to know you are safe. Safety is a gamble really, because most of the times its dependent on factors beyond your control...
At April 23, 2007 2:23 AM, Anonymous said...: Good to know that you chose to share your story...
At May 02, 2007 10:16 PM, chandan said...: Its sad! Experience death slip off by your side surely moves all the strings attached to your system...And most of us dont realize how our negativity transaltes to others as well... Wish everyone in this world had the positive spirit to live and let others live...It will take some time to come out of it, but I think you will come back.. :-)
At May 25, 2007 12:15 PM, Liat said...: That's one thing I fear the most in life...killing someone on the road.
At May 31, 2007 2:06 AM, Smita said...: Everything has a purpose - sometimes its just difficult to see it.
At June 18, 2007 10:02 AM, Nandan Jha said...: this must be first time I would have read a first-hand account of such a thing. have been to a similar thing but was more then lucky to be safe.

God bless. it would take a while to get over. (nandanjha AT gmail DOT com)
At June 19, 2007 11:39 AM, pr!tz said...: VJ, dont know what to write, out here, but i want to say something.
Cant realy pin down what it is, though.
*tight hug*
At August 16, 2007 8:48 AM, adarsh said...: No words :(

u r lucky to be alive.. but what abt others :(

Was it their mistake to have faith in the drivers, who have least care for the passengers and their lives??

Can't something be done for this?
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At October 12, 2007 12:50 PM, Sachin Bharadwaj said...: I have mixed feelings. Glad to know that you are safe, at the same time sad to know the helpless state of those in the bus.
At February 27, 2008 7:13 AM, Travel Insurance said...: it's a quite a story! what's about start writing a 'proper book'?:)
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At July 25, 2008 2:36 AM, Deependra said...: It is first time when I have read such type of post. Seeing the photograph of accident I can fell how bad the accident was. Its glad that you came safe buy feels very bad about the driver. If these types of drivers are there it can happen to anyone in future also. May God give such type of persons some sense.