It had been an exhausting time at work, with most of my days, nights and weekends spent on one task, working along with a few super-passionate and dedicated colleagues. I had travelled to the head office on a red-eye flight, and was scheduled to head back on another red-eye. I was feeling physically and mentally exhausted.
The deliverable the team was working on wasn't in the best of shape, and there was anxiety about the quality and outcome of all our efforts. Finger-pointing is not a desirable aspect of corporate culture, but as we all know, it can and does happen!
As the icing on the cake, I had just been rapped on the knuckles by the boss, for spending too much time on this task and thereby dropping the ball on some others.
I was on a self-pity trip as the cab driver navigated onto the elevated road near Electronic City. This is normally a high-speed, free-flowing road. But this was the day when everything seemed to be against me! We drove straight into a traffic jam - the wave of vehicles ahead was crawling, not flowing.
"Breakdown, or accident" I said to the cab driver, and we both grimaced in irritation. I looked ahead to see if any of the lanes ahead of us were moving slowly - if the blockage was in our lane, we could maybe save time by edging into another lane.
I noticed that there was no traffic coming from the opposite direction. This was strange - why should traffic on both sides be affected if there was a barrier in between, and no crossing points? The cab edged forward and suddenly, a grisly scene came into view on the other side of the barrier. I could make out two cars, both bearing marks of deep impact, one crushed motorbike and an obscured view of a human shape lying on the road with a lifeless arm outstretched. It must have happened just a few minutes ago. There were no police or ambulances on the spot as yet.
All traffic in the oncoming lanes had stopped and the people nearest to the accident were standing around, in a state of shock.
Who knows which of the vehicles or drivers had caused the accident. Maybe it was a cascading set of miscalculations by multiple drivers. Maybe it was just one person behaving rashly. Maybe it was a catastrophic mechanical failure on one of the vehicles. But whatever be the cause, a fellow human being's life had been snuffed out in an instant, on that cool morning in Bangalore.
The shockwaves from this incident would probably change the trajectory of the family and friends of the deceased. All those who witnessed the accident and survived would be scarred mentally.
And why was the traffic on our side of the road crawling, if the accident had taken place on the other side? Because in India, people just have to stop and take a good look at a tragedy, don't they!
As soon as we passed the spot, all the vehicles picked up speed.
I reached the office and was at my desk within ten minutes. Back to work!
But somehow, I wasn't pitying myself any longer...
