[csentil]

Since you are writing this, I'm assuming you escaped from your ordeal. :-) Thats good news, unless you are into ghost writing !!! (pun unintended)

More important, it takes a lot of courage to accept the mistake to oneself and more so in front of others. Thats really great of you. Knowing the amount of brickbat you would get here, thats really sporting of you.

Be careful the next time around.

[zaks]

Isn't it really cute of him to leave at a cliff hanger.
The problem with people like him is that they don't heed to the dangers of rash driving when they read it in papers, TV or when told by elders - not until they become party to one. It is like experiencing is believing

[phamilyman]

Yes yes, quite a cliff hanger.

Btw, atleast on the bike, 80 in the hills at night is REALLY not a problem! esp if its the aut-kullu-manali racetrack!

and fwiw, two adults in front can STILL be tied down by a seatbelt. BTDT - else delhi cops will gift a challan!

[adityamunshi]

Hey Dolphin. that was a real crazy thing to do. Thank god you're safe.

Anyways, do continue the story.

[Samurai]

I am sure we all have such stories. My first time in a major highway almost ended in a disaster.

Check this: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...e-highway.html

The above thread was posted before smiley rule came to existence.

[Dolphin]

The left side doors (both front and rear) were jammed because of bushes and shrubs exerting pressure from outside. As there was some space on the right the right side doors could be opened. I had 2 small torches in the car, took them and was out of the car. And from the rear right doors my Uncle, Aunty and friend (girl) got out. My 2 friends sitting in the front were still in the car and one of them managed to open the left front door just a little bit and squeezed himself out onto the roof of the car (since he was thin) and reached safety.

The other fellow in the car could have come out from the door on the driver’s side, but he was too afraid to do that, so he tried to go out of the left door as my other friend did. He somehow managed to squeeze his body out of the car (He was a little fat) and that’s it, could not move any further as the poor fella got stuck in the bushes!

By this time we all had climbed onto the safety of the road above. I and my friend took some sticks lying on the roadside and climbed down to rescue our stuck friend. We somehow managed to set free that guy from the bushes and soon we all were together on the road.

It was not pitch dark, there was moonlight and we had torches which were of great help. It was 7.15 P.M. then. We were all a bit scared and thinking what to do next. Nobody was injured, not even a scratch! We had no idea what we had just survived. We would find out later.

My friend who was stuck in the bushes started complaining of itching and a weird feeling on his body. We kind of neglected that since we were all busy looking at the car below and thinking what to do next. But soon he started wailing. So, we focused the 2 torches on his body and oh boy what do we see, there are hundreds of big black ants all over him!

Now he panicked and started removing his clothes in the middle of the road and soon was standing in his underwear! Maybe, if not for the girl, he would have slid down his underwear also. In such a serious situation this was really funny and we were all laughing like hell.

We helped him get rid of the ants from his body and clothes.
Suddenly we saw headlamps and sound of a heavy vehicle coming uphill. My friend wore his clothes in a hurry and we waved it to a stop. It was a TNSRTC bus with passengers inside, going towards Mahadeshwara hills. We were relieved to see these people.

The bus driver and some people climbed out of the bus and we asked for their help to pull out the car. The bus driver gave a long and thick rope from his bus and a guy went down to the car and tied it around the chassis near the rear wheels. The other end was tied to the front of the bus. The bus driver now slowly started moving the bus in reverse gear.
The car moved a little and when the bus driver put in a little more power, the rope broke. We didn’t know what but the car was stuck to something tight.

Poor chap his rope was cut into 2 pieces but he didn’t say anything. He said he would send help as soon as he reached Mahadeshwara hills. He told us staying at the spot was dangerous because of the elephants and he also said there would be hardly any traffic at that hour.

He gave us 2 options, either all of us board the bus and go to Mahadeshwara Hills and get help OR 2-3 guys stay back, hitch a ride (if lucky) to the village downhill (about 3-4 kms) and get help from there. He said the village had a lot of tractors and tippers. We selected the 2nd option, I and 2 friends stayed back; Uncle, Aunty and the girl left in the bus.

We guys waited in the middle of the road in anticipation of a vehicle.

[devnull]

Oh man, this is getting to invigorating now. Dolhphin bhai, please continue and finish the story. It's really admirable that you are admitting your mistakes and writing all this to educate others too of the dangers of rash driving. Man, being amidst a hilly forested area in the dark with a broken car must have been one heck of an experience.

And ya, that ants incident, though must have been painful for your friend, was quite a laugh to read about now

[huntrz]

really scary..
Hilly regions, night time driving and turns above 60 kmph are the most avoidable things on a pleasure drive.. Its a miracle that you guys escaped..

[Dolphin]

Hey guys, since I have the Newbie tag, my posts take some time to comeup. Am also busy at work and am writing in my breaks.

[Dolphin]

All this time I was not able to believe what had just happened to us. So many things were going through my mind. How to pull out the car? Will we be able to continue our journey in the same car? No Chance! I thought.

After about 20 mins we saw headlights approaching from uphill. We waved and the vehicle stopped. It was a Mahindra Commander jeep. There were 3 guys in it, all middle aged. We explained our situation and they agreed to drop us at the village. One of my friends sat in the front, I and the other guy got into the rear. The seats in the rear were the type where we have to sit facing each other. The jeep started moving.

The rear was dimly lit by a cabin light. I slowly began looking at what the jeep was carrying. First of all, I got a scared by the guy who was sitting with us in the back as he had a very long and curly sinister looking moustache. Then I saw a lot of provisions like rice, oil, wheat flour, kerosene stove etc. This ignited wild and scary thoughts in my head. What if these men were Verappan's aids! Veerappan was still atlarge then.
There were a lot of rumors that he was hiding somewhere in the Malai Mahadeshwara hills. So, what if these guys kidnap us!

But nothing like that happened. Soon we approached the village and the jeep stopped, we thanked them and got out. Thank God, was I momentarily relieved!

This village had a small main road and many petty shops. We started enquiring about tractors and tippers and most significantly we needed a metal rope, the kinds used to tow bulldozers. We found out that there was a guy who owned a tipper and also had this metal rope. But he was out to work and would return soon, so we have to wait.

We waited near a cigarette/tea stall for about half an hour and word got spread about why we were there. Soon the truck guy came to us and introduced himself and we explained the situation to him. It was 8.30 P.M, I think. He took us to his truck and told us to wait. He started gathering some men, and they were all moving around gathering things they needed. Then they were ready, around 6 people with big long sickles, crowbars and of course the metal rope. It was not that thick but it was metal.
Everything was loaded into the truck, and we all set out.

We reached the spot and the driver parked the truck in such a way that its headlights illuminated the car and the surrounding area. These people started their work immediately, in a very sensible way I would say. First they cut all the bushes around the car with their sickles and one guy began inspecting to see actually what was it that was holding the car from beneath.

We learnt that it was a big rock embedded in the ground and its top was holding the car not letting it to budge. So this person started loosening the rock by digging around it with the crowbar. This was a tricky thing because he had to operate in a very awkward position and there was no room for mistakes or else he would hit the body of the car with the crow bar. But he did it in the right manner and got the rock loose.

Then they hooked one end of the metal rope to the chassis of the car. The rope had a lock system, so I was sure that it would be very firm. The other end was hooked to the front of the truck.

We were very anxious to see what would happen next.

[finneyp]

Dolphin, you are building up the suspense, keep it coming pal......!

[PatienceWins]

I cannot wait. Please keep it coming.

[akroy]

Maan Dolphin !! Your story halted at a very interesting point. Bring the remaining fast.

BTW, I must admire you for the fact that you did a mistake and accepted it. I am sure you will not repeat this in future.

Abhi

[vkochar]

Keep holding your breath guy's !!! Wait till the next break.

Are you related to Eakta Kapoor by any chance Dolphinji ?

[maddy42]

Well dolphin your experience seems scary. Good to know that nopthing happened to any of you. Waiting for the next episode break ke baad