Yesterday I witnessed an accident.
I was walking back to home along with another colleague. It was an after-office rush on the road and the road had become in bad condition after the rains. Suddenly we heard a huge sound of a crash. A motorbike rider had fallen and he scratched on the road along with his bike for about 70-80 feet. Behind him we also saw another young boy fallen on the ground along with his bicycle. It seemed the motorbike had accidentally collided with the bicycle moving in the same direction and both had lost balance. The motorbike rider had suffered a lot, so people rushed to see him.
The place was very near to a tea stall where a lot of boys and grownups also kept hanging on for smoking. At that time a group of layabout guys were hanging on there – and naturally they came into action. I will call these guys as tapori guys – because this is their best description in Mumbai :) These tapori guys picked up the motorbike wallah and made the bike stand. The guy seemed to be ok, as he stood up on his own. He was around 28, well educated and from a good family. His bike was the powerful Pulsar. By this time people had picked up the young boy and took him to the footpath. The boy was of around 12, good looking and chubby :) Now this boy had not suffered any visible injury as such. (May be this is because young children fall a lot but are flexible enough not to sustain serious injuries) But by that time the crowd had reached the size of around 50-60, and everyone was worried for this boy’s safety, and hence he looked nervous. He sat down on the footpath while people worryingly crowded around him with worries. Someone asked to check his head for any injuries, while someone asked him to lie down. Some ladies stopped walking and reached out to see him. Now something strange and very touching happened.
The bike rider came to this side of the road, walked through the crowd to reach the young boy and checked his wellbeing. When he got confirmed that the boy was alright, he turned back to go to the other side of the road where his bike was standing. I watched in horror – his jeans had tore off at his left knee - and his knee and the jeans around it were wet. I realised it should be blood… By this time he felt pain each time he raised his left leg in order to walk…. Everyone was busy with the young boy and almost no one was looking at this guy… He walked to the other side of the road. Then he realised that he was in pain and couldn’t ride his bike to the hospital. He waived for some auto-wallah to stop but there were none. Then a tapori guy who was very worried for him realised that time was critical. He started the bike and asked him to get on as the pillion rider. Then the guy and the tapori guy left on his bike for a hospital…
Now when I look at the incident, what do I remember? The public had stopped their work to see them, while people believe Mumbai never stops. Then the guys whom I call tapori guys in fun, and we most often ignore them as good-for-nothings – they were the ones who helped both the guys. And the most touching part was when the guy with injured leg walked up to reach to see the wellbeing of the young boy… He should be a very nice person…
If I think about it then the biker rider was without his helmet. Imagine something more serious could have happened than his injured leg. Then we also realise how unsafe it is to ride a bicycle in Mumbai. And the worst part is the condition of the roads. Barring some particular localities, roads in Mumbai are worse than many other smaller towns and cities.
Many a time we come to know of a person’s real character at the time of crisis. By this incident I came to know about three people and their true characters – the sensible and caring biker rider, the concerned and helping taporis, and the simple and kind Mumaikars…
People are good…
(Rahul)
I was walking back to home along with another colleague. It was an after-office rush on the road and the road had become in bad condition after the rains. Suddenly we heard a huge sound of a crash. A motorbike rider had fallen and he scratched on the road along with his bike for about 70-80 feet. Behind him we also saw another young boy fallen on the ground along with his bicycle. It seemed the motorbike had accidentally collided with the bicycle moving in the same direction and both had lost balance. The motorbike rider had suffered a lot, so people rushed to see him.
The place was very near to a tea stall where a lot of boys and grownups also kept hanging on for smoking. At that time a group of layabout guys were hanging on there – and naturally they came into action. I will call these guys as tapori guys – because this is their best description in Mumbai :) These tapori guys picked up the motorbike wallah and made the bike stand. The guy seemed to be ok, as he stood up on his own. He was around 28, well educated and from a good family. His bike was the powerful Pulsar. By this time people had picked up the young boy and took him to the footpath. The boy was of around 12, good looking and chubby :) Now this boy had not suffered any visible injury as such. (May be this is because young children fall a lot but are flexible enough not to sustain serious injuries) But by that time the crowd had reached the size of around 50-60, and everyone was worried for this boy’s safety, and hence he looked nervous. He sat down on the footpath while people worryingly crowded around him with worries. Someone asked to check his head for any injuries, while someone asked him to lie down. Some ladies stopped walking and reached out to see him. Now something strange and very touching happened.
The bike rider came to this side of the road, walked through the crowd to reach the young boy and checked his wellbeing. When he got confirmed that the boy was alright, he turned back to go to the other side of the road where his bike was standing. I watched in horror – his jeans had tore off at his left knee - and his knee and the jeans around it were wet. I realised it should be blood… By this time he felt pain each time he raised his left leg in order to walk…. Everyone was busy with the young boy and almost no one was looking at this guy… He walked to the other side of the road. Then he realised that he was in pain and couldn’t ride his bike to the hospital. He waived for some auto-wallah to stop but there were none. Then a tapori guy who was very worried for him realised that time was critical. He started the bike and asked him to get on as the pillion rider. Then the guy and the tapori guy left on his bike for a hospital…
Now when I look at the incident, what do I remember? The public had stopped their work to see them, while people believe Mumbai never stops. Then the guys whom I call tapori guys in fun, and we most often ignore them as good-for-nothings – they were the ones who helped both the guys. And the most touching part was when the guy with injured leg walked up to reach to see the wellbeing of the young boy… He should be a very nice person…
If I think about it then the biker rider was without his helmet. Imagine something more serious could have happened than his injured leg. Then we also realise how unsafe it is to ride a bicycle in Mumbai. And the worst part is the condition of the roads. Barring some particular localities, roads in Mumbai are worse than many other smaller towns and cities.
Many a time we come to know of a person’s real character at the time of crisis. By this incident I came to know about three people and their true characters – the sensible and caring biker rider, the concerned and helping taporis, and the simple and kind Mumaikars…
People are good…
(Rahul)
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