Discovering K G Satram and Humanity

Days rolling upto Chariji's birthday, i felt this intense longing to be part of the celebration at Thiruvallur. So, i looked for accommodation at a short notice and also thought of renting a car. After much lurking around the web, decided to stay in the ashram and reach there using my own car. took off from my work on 23rd and 24th.

On 23rd, decided to complete some work in the morning and left the house at 12 after lunch. Plan was to attend the evening satsang (touch and go given the departure time). As soon as I shut the door behind me, realized I had not taken the car key and that I didn't have my house key. Thankfully, my mind suggested that I could get house keys from Pari atte's house. Walked to and fro to get my key. This added 25 mins extra to my departure time. After coming down to UB, realized that I had left my SRCM badge upstairs thereby delaying my departure by additional 10 mins.

I started at 12:45 from Brigade Gateway. My entertainment was Master's speech. Journey was smooth inspite of overtaking lot of trucks etc. Around 3:30, after I passed K G Satram village, I decided to overtake a car in front me. Half through the process, suddenly, 4 vehicles with XUV as the leader came charging in the opposite direction. My gut told me to veer towards right on to the mud pathway and I obeyed. IN spite of hitting brakes hard, i went forward few meters and stopped after banging into the mud heap and a stone. First thought "i'm going to miss the evening satsang". Then I got out of the car to inspect the happening. My mind was still hoping to salvage this quickly and make it to ashram. 

All those 4 cars stopped and came by to see what had happened. XUV driver seemed more scared than I was. 

The curious passerby inspecting my vehicle told me that radiator is gone and that I should not attempt to start my vehicle to save it from further damage. Quick conversation with Jay resulted in a roadside assistance number from the internet. Maruti assistance was very helpful and immediately arranged for a nearby service station to call me. The service station person sent his senior mechanical advisor over. 

Meanwhile, crowd gathered out of curiosity. I ignored many to keep the situation under control. My calm demeanor didn’t give them much to pry on. Had a KA license plate vehicle check to see if they could help. I tried to spend some time inside the car but could not do so beyond few mins. I decided to take reading material and have a conversation with the tea shop folks.

Tea shop folks were quite friendly in spite of not knowing Kannada. We conversed in Hindi as the lady was Bengali married to a Telugu guy. The old head and the man of the shop were appreciative of my calm demeanor and applauded the courage shown.

The Chittor service station head communicated twice saying that the advisor was on his way. Turnsout that he is from Bangalore. Advisor showed up around 4:45, inspected the vehicle and said it had to be taken to the body shop. 

Nearby body shops were Tirupathi or Vellore (35kms). I called Maruti again. Maruti was not of great help this time around. They would not ensure if body shop would be open. They would arrange for tow vehicle. Towing the vehicle back to Bangalore was a costly affair (15K). The body shop mechanic helped arrange towing vehicle from Vellore along with ensuring that the body shop owner being available at the time. Costed 3500 rountrip for towing the vehicle.

Again, waited in the tea shop and had dinner. Nice chit chat with the crowd there. Got to know that there was another accident on Sunday at the same time (3:30).

Towing vehicle showed up around 7:15. He was a Kannada speaking guy. Helped get the vehicle to body shop. I checked with him on Thiruvallur bus from Vellore. He made few inquiries and also tried to get a cab. He assured to help me in one way or the other.

By the time we got to Body shop, it was 8:45. The owner came by after calling. He inspected and provide the necessary statement. The towing guy gave me a ride to the bus station and checked on Thiruvallur bus. Answer was to go to Perumbudur and make a change. Since it was late at night, I decided against that keeping safety in mind. I decided to head back to Bangalore. The Bangalore bus was slated to leave at 11. So, the towing guy told me that he would check on private bus. After seeing the private bus station, I decided to take the KSRTC. The waiting area was scary. He suggested that I get some food before boarding the bus.

Got the bus ticket, tipped off for being such a great help. Husband was waiting at Majestic bus stand at 3am. Reached home safely.

I am writing this down to remind myself of the fact that human beings behave according to situations, that there still nice people, above all Master’s blessings are always there.

In the entire incident, I noticed that all things were conducive

-       gut feeling to move to the right side

-       the incident happening at a place where a tea shop, eatery and petrol bunk was present

-       Had good cell phone signal with data so I could search and call right guys

-       Helping hands especially the Chittor Maruthi dealer and the towing guy

All in all, I would like to thank my stars (which is the master)