Blessings of Maa Chamundi

Chamundi hill can be seen from almost anywhere in Mysore city. In fact, this hill plays a very important role in the naming of the city. According to Hindu mythology, there was a rakshasa (demon) king who used to rule what is the present Mysore. He was half human, and partial buffalo, and hence his name of Mahishasura. This rakshasa performed a lot of penance, and became very powerful. So powerful, that he eventually went to Swargalok (heaven) and removed all the Devs(gods) from there, thereafter ruling on all the 3 loks(worlds). Since the Devatas could not defeat him, they had to invoke Maa Shakti. She appeared in the avatara of Chamundi maata, also known as Kali maa. And it was she, who eventually killed Mahishasura. Any guesses where she killed him? :) He was supposedly killed on the Chamundi Hill. And now we have a temple of Maa Chamundi on this very hill. The name of city Mysore was kept after Mahishasura, its ruler. In fact, outside the Chamundi hill temple, there is a giant statue of Mahishasura. And believe me, this is a very very famous temple, all across India.

But all this was just the background. What I am about to tell you, is how Maa Chamundi blessed me, in her own way.

This happened in around June 2007. Rohit, Roshan and yours truly set out on a random bike ride. Roshan and me were driving, and Rohit was riding pillion behind Roshan. We thought why not go to Karanji lake? But unfortunately, it just closed down as we reached. Rotten luck. Anyways, since this lake is at the foot of Chamundi hill, we thought, why not go roam around on the hill. We did not have any intention of visiting the temple then. We just wanted to go to the top of the hill, watch the view, roam around a bit, and then come back. So off we went. The apex of the hill can be accessed by a motorable road. So, we drove our way to the top, and roamed around a bit. It was evening time - around 5 - 6 pm. I was moving around the temple, gaping at the fabulous, and ancient gopuram. As I was looking at the apex of the temple, I could see a lot many clouds hovering around with fabulous velocity. The sight was breathtaking - I can remember it vividly even now. Anyways, we roamed around a bit, and were set to come back. As we neared the parking lot, I asked Rohit to ride pillion on my bike. What a costly mistake it turned out to be!!! The road on Chamundi hill is (obviously) full of sharp circular turns, as the road snakes its way up and down. While coming down, my eyes fell on a crater on the side walls at one of the turns, and I remarked to Rohit, "Dude, see somebody crashed here. These fools, they can't even drive responsibly". An extremely foolish statement. After I believed all the turns were over, I suddenly encountered another one! Now, let me honestly admit, I was driving very very recklessly. At all the turns the bike was leaning at an angle of 45 degrees! And as I neared this turn, I was at a very high velocity - around 60 kmph. I heard Rohit's voice - "SLOW DOWN, SLOW DOWN". But I did not heed. I maintained the speed, and tilted the bike, at about 45 degrees. As I was turning, I got a huge shock - what initially looked like a right turn, was actually a U turn!!! What's more, it was not even circular - it was bloody oval!! There was no chance I could have taken this turn, with Rohit sitting behind me. There were 2 options - either carry on, and crash into the hill, or brake then and there, and drag along the ground. I chose the latter. Immediately I applied both the brakes. Now, I have a Pulsar, which has disc brakes in the front and drum brakes behind. Obviously, both apply with different magnitudes. As it is, I had to fall down on the brake - cause I was leaning by more than 45 degrees when I braked.

As I braked, instantly the bike fell down. Since I was taking a right turn, and was leaning on the right hand side, I fell by my right shoulder. If you have seen "Kaho Na Pyaar Hai", remember the scene where the original Rohit(?) - Hrithik Roshan dies? My bike skidded quite similarly. As I fell, my right leg was saved due to the leg guard. But my shoulder was not lucky. A majority of the impact was taken by my right shoulder. As I hit the shoulder, the inertia of my body pulled my head down as well. Let me mention an important aspect here - like a fool, I was not wearing my helmet :). Anyways, so my head was pulled with full force, and crashed onto the road. I still imagine the scene very very vividly. As my head struck the ground - at that instant I thought - I am gone - DEAD. Then, my head literally bounced off the road. All this while I was dragging along the ground, in fact all 3 of us were dragging together - the bike, Rohit and me! My head thankfully did not strike the ground again, and we came to a halt some 5 metres from where we fell! Then I realized I could still see!!! Yippee, I was still alive!! Then I turned back to check on Rohit. At that instant too, both of us were lying on the ground, "sitting" on the bike. As I turned back, I saw the angry face of Rohit. "I had TOLD you to SLOW DOWN!!" he shouted. But I was completely blank. BTW, I was pretty happy to see him alive. But my condition was very bad. This is say 5 seconds after the fall - we had dragged along the road for about 4 seconds. Immediately both of us stood up. I lit up looking at my bike - it was in pretty good condition - only the leg guard was dented, and the brake was bent. As I touched the handle I realized that my palm was bleeding badly. Rohit helped me lift up the bike. Now, Roshan was riding ahead us. As we fell down, my helmet - which was in Rohit's hands - fell down, and rolled away from us. Roshan, he later told us, heard the accident, and then saw my helmet rolling down in his rearview mirror! A horrible sight for sure :) He immediately turned and was quite relieved to see both of us alive. I, meanwhile, was coming to terms with the accident. My right hand and palms were burning, I could feel some burning on my face as well. There was some pain in the right shoulder, and very slight burning on my right legs. As I inspected myself, I saw my jeans was torn on the right side. And the pocket where I had kept my mobile, was replaced by a big hole. The mobile was gone. As I glanced on the ground, I saw the mobile had disintegrated. There were 3 pieces in fact. I was not in the mental state to do anything, and so Rohit/Roshan (don't remember who) picked it up for me, and re-assembled it. Meanwhile, I looked into the left-hand-side rearview mirror (right one had gone missing!!) to check on my face. And I was immediately shocked. A mixture of anguish, anger, frustration and sorrow descended on me. Half of my face was covered with blood. There was that thick layer of clotted blood covering the right half of my face. I immediately remembered the villian 2-Face from Batman comics(this was before TDK release). Half of my face was gone. I had turned into a monster. A young man was destroyed. All my youth gone for a toss. Which girl will ever look at me without pity? Why only girl, which human will not be disgusted by my face. I cannot describe that mental state - words fail me. It was my fault, of course. Why did I take that dangerous turn? Above all, why did I not wear a helmet?? You may not believe, but I always used to wear a helmet, especially because it was made mandatory in Mysore recently. In fact, even if I had to go to the nearby shop, which was barely 100 metres away, I would wear the helmet and go!!! That day, the wind was so cool and so soothing, that I decided not to wear the helmet. I was very very very pleased with the climate - it was like bliss. On a peaceful mountain, with fresh hair, and cool wind. I wanted to enjoy this pleasure. In fact, as luck would have it, Rohit asked me to wear the helmet, at least twice!! And he seldom wears a helmet himself!!!! There is a famous saying Vinaashkaale Vipareet Buddhi - when your end is near, the mind itself goes into destructive mode. That was the case with me.
Thankfully for me, Rohit did not suffer anything on his face. The whole impact was apparently absorbed by my shoulder, followed by my head. He got away with minor scratches on his hands and legs!
I was angry for 2 reasons - HOW did I have an accident? And what happened to my face??
One consoling factor was, that it was because of my own mistake.
Let's cut to the scene after I saw my face. Then, I was in a state of shock. My eyebrows were arched, and I was numb. My hands were shaking badly. I dunno why. And I was shivering. Maybe I was in a state of shock! Yes, I was traumatized then.
Now, to add to our woes, the bike refused to start. We tried quite a few things, but it refused to start. Luckily, we were on the hill. So, Rohit sat on the bike, and gravity drove it down. I, meanwhile, was sitting behing Roshan. Cursing myself. Thinking how it happened? I was a responsible guy. How did I commit such a foolish mistake. Why was I tilting the bike? What use was it? Where was my sanity? And above all, why today, of all days, did I not wear my helmet, when I always keep it on??? Somehow we - Rohit rather - dragged down the bike to the mechanic. Rohit acted quite bravely. Though he was hurt, he was still in good spirits. Trying to crack some jokes as well. I tried to smile, but as my cheek used to wrinkle, I used to feel the cake of blood - which used to depress me again.

I can go on and on describing each and every detail on that day. But let's cut it short:
The doctor told me that although a considerable portion of my face was affected, it would heal up very fast. However, at least the center region of the wound would turn into a scar. A permanent mark. And yes, even today that mark is very much there.
I was in severe trauma for at least one week after the accident. In fact, as I used to close my eyes for sleep, I would imagine that I am trying to ride through a turn at a very high speed. Immediately my eyes would open up. Just they way they show it in movies! For the next 2 weeks, I would go to office with half of my face covered with a bandage!!! And yes, my right hand as well as palms would be covered as well - so I looked like a mummy. A half mummy.
I think I forgot to mention this. It was when I went to the doctor that I realized that the biggest wound was at my right shoulder - which took maximum impact. Forget the skin, in fact, much of my flesh was scooped away from my shoulder!
BTW, my LG mobile phone was functioning quite well. In fact, as the nurse was dressing me, I got a call from my home. And I told my mom that I am watching TV at home!!!
I got that jeans stitched by a local tailor. And so, I have a torn jeans. People think I wear it for style, only I know better. I dunno why, I LOVE this pair of jeans the most. Had I been wearing a normal trouser - my legs would have got screwed.
I had, of course not told my parents. But when I visited them, they came to know. They were waiting for my outside the airport. And just as I arrived, my father but his index finger straight on the mark, and asked me how this happened. I tried to fool him, saying I was playing football and fell down. But he is my father, and knows me quite well. While we had not even reached home, on the way itself he was able to extract all the details. After which I had to hear a lot of music, especially from my mom.

After the accident, I kept thinking as to WHY Chamundi maa did this to me??
After a friend told me as to how I was so lucky to stay alive even after having an accident caused by my own reckless driving, on a hill and in the rainy season, only then I realized, that probably Maa Chamundi had actually saved me. The place where I got my impact, was very near my eyes, and of course my brain - one of the most delicate parts of the human body. Just a little here and there, and I would have gone. More importantly, Maa Chamundi taught me a very very important reason - drive responsibly.
Before this accident, I used to clock about 90 kmph while going to office, and 100 kmph while coming back, quite regularly. I have a Pulsar, which is very very stable at high speeds. And it is very very easy clocking 100 on it, especially if the road is empty (at night) and street lights are on!!! Of course, after this accident, I clocked 100 only once till now (very recently), and that was again, a stupid mistake. But I drive quite responsibly now.

The permanent scar on my face will serve to remind me of the blessing of Maa Chamundi. It is a lesson she has taught me for my life!!!!