Defying Death, time and again..

People die every day in the world. People die of ailment, accident, murder, suicide and many other reasons. Ever since when I was a kid, I used to think where these people go after they die. I have asked this question to my parents, my grandma, other elderly people and the answer I used to get was the same which almost all the other kids might have got from their parents.

“They go to Heaven if they have lived a good life and have done good deeds; otherwise they go to Hell as a punishment for their sins.”

I had always wondered as a kid, where these Heavens and Hells are; how the dead go there; how long they stay there; where do they go from there if they do not stay there forever; if they stay there forever how the almighty manage such huge number of people there, must be zillions of folks till date. Anyways, I do not want to go much in detail of “life after death” as it in itself is a separate topic to discuss. :-)

I have faced near death experiences many times in my life so far. :-) Some of them I will never forget in my life. Some in reality, so in my dreams :-)

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The festival of “Makara Sankranti” is one of the major festivals in India. One of the most popular festivals in my native land of Gujarat. It is called Uttarayana (Celebrated on 14th an d 15th of January every year) and we fly kites on our terraces. Actually, many kite flying enthusiasts like me start flying kites days before the actual festival days. I remember those days when I was a kid, some 7-8 years old. Every evening, after returning from school at 5 PM, me, my brother and my sis used to have quick snacks and rush to our terrace to fly/catch kites, just to get more time as it gets dark early during winter. Our house was in a nook of a crowded old town area where houses were very closely attached, most of them sharing common walls and having iron roof covering which are slanted both sides to let rain water fall down. We had almost mastered the art of jumping roofs to catch kites which are cut by other kite flyers.

One fine day, I returned from my school, finished chores hurriedly and went upstairs to enjoy kite flying and catching :-). The latter was the more fun for most of the kids and I was one of them. We used to run on the roofs behind the kite which is cut by somebody. It usually has a string hanging with it which passes besides you, when it is above your head. We used to run behind those kites to hold the hanging string. Sometimes more than one brat, running after kite, on slanted iron roofs, eyeing the kite in the sky without the knowledge of where the roof ends. It was dusk, we (2-3 guys) saw a 'cut kite' flying our way from a distance and we all positioned ourselves on a nook of a steeply slanted roof to catch the string of the kite, without the knowledge of each other being present there. We all grouped together at the very end of the steep roof. We almost banged each other and 2 of us lost balance. I was searching for something to hold but I didn’t find anything except a sleeve of one of the guys. He also lost his balance this time as my whole weight was on him. I didn’t understand what to do. I just held whatever I was holding, dark narrow lane beneath me. I tried standing up but was fearing of making the other guys loose their balance. Many thoughts went through my mind that time, which I will never ever forget in my life.

I thought what will happen if I fall down. I feared death. How my mom will react to this. I was my mom’s favorite of us three. And I love my mom very much. I prayed God to save me. My mind went totally blank. I didn’t understand what is going to happen next. Suddenly, my fist became a little sweaty and I was losing my grip. I started crying and shouting for help. Till this time I was not even crying or shouting. None of us did actually. I do not understand why, but none of us shouted for help for so long. It was too dark now. Most of the people had gone down in their homes.

I found my wrist gripped and my body moving upwards. I knew someone is trying to save me. I was trying to hold the roof with one of my hanging legs and I knew, once I hold the roof with one of my legs I can easily climb up. We had mastered that art. I somehow managed to hold the roof with leg and with the help of one of the guys. We managed to save ourselves. We were so frightened with such a hell of an experience that we were fearing going home with torn clothes. We feared of getting scolding from our parents. More than scolding we feared the “prohibition” of coming to terrace to fly/catch kites. :-)

Every year many kids and young guys die in Gujarat by falling from roofs. I read such news every year in newspapers and my memories get refreshed time and again every year.

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Another incident is pretty recent one. This happened on the very night of dusserah of year 2005. I am fond of Navaratri, just like any other gujarati youth. I was missing it quite a lot and had not even gone to watch it. Not a single time during all nine nights. Was working for IBM those days and used to have considerable workload. Dusserah was last night and it was Saturday, so we guys in my PG decided to go to Palace grounds to watch Navratri. Four of us started on two bikes in the night for Mekhri circle. I was riding my bike with Indranil (one of my roommates) seated in the back seat. I sped my bike. It was raining lightly and roads were wet. We didn’t know the exact place after mekhri circle. On the right hand side we saw a huge scaffolding and illuminated tent. I knew this is the place. I was so excited to go inside. Right ahead was an underpass and two roads for crossing either side. I decided to go by the side road as I vaguely saw the other two guys heading towards that road. But I didn’t follow them well because of rain and other speeding vehicles. We were going at around 60-70 KMPH. I slowed down the bike to take the side way to turn for the entrance, totally unaware of other vehicles behind me at the same or more speed. All of a sudden, Indranil shouted to turn the bike as a Qualis was rushing towards us from behind. It crossed us just kissing my sleeve. Force of Qualis made me loose control on bike. I braked hard. And we fell down. Had I not turned the bike on the shout of indranil that day, I would not be writing this blog :-).

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