He Saved my Life

One often wonders; if the Master is watching over us all the time and if he is monitoring each and every second that is passing by in our life? I used to ponder over the same until a series of events made me believe that, YES, I am being watched over and being guided and protected by unseen forces.

I am a vivid biker and car enthusiast. I love travelling alone on my bike and car, since the revving engines make me feel connected to Mother Nature and bring out the better in me. As I pen down these words, my mind goes back to the incident that happened on the National Highway 7 (NH7). I had decided to travel from Hyderabad to Kanyakumari (2 different cities in Southern India) and made sure all the systems of my bike were in order. I started at midnight from Hyderabad. I travelled comfortably without any trouble for around 2.5 hours. At an average speed of 110-130 KMPH, I had reached Kurnool which is at a distance of 200 KM from Hyderabad. I stopped to inspect the machine on the highway and as everything seemed normal, I again pulled it over to the highway and started zooming at 151 KMPH.

Roughly ten minutes later, I saw a pair of lights coming at full speed and on high beams. Repeated signalling to lower them was futile and they still were continuing in the same manner. It came to me as a shock when I realised they were in my lane. It was too late to brake hard, since, the brakes would definitely cause my tyre to lose traction and skid off. Far from a distance, I could make out that there was a Tonner truck travelling at a slow pace. I thought hard, let out a silent prayer and jumped from the right lane to the left lane banking almost till my stands touched the ground. I now had to brake cautiously, since, any mistake would be fatal. I still was at 140Kms/hr+ speed. In that short time, I started applying the front brake first and then the rear brakes. In a fraction of a second, I felt the pistons of the brakes applying their maximum pressure on the brake discs. At the same time, I geared down hard from 5th gear to 4th gear and let go off the clutch. The engine roared due to the surge in the air intake from the air filter and the jets of the carburettor siphoned off petrol from the tank to keep up with the petrol to air ratio. The radiator was pumping in the fully synthetic oil that was being routed through the sump to prevent the piston from abruptly jamming midway at 11,000 RPM. This caused a sudden decrease in speed from 140 to 90 KMPH. I still had to get it down to 30 KMPH before I could avoid a collision. I applied more pressure onto the brakes and this time, lowered the gear from 4th to 3rd and subsequently to 2nd. The engine was well over the RPM and was being redlined (the limit that an engine has to a particular RPM). I didn’t bother, and with the piston knocking high, the handle struggling for control and the tyres, almost on the verge of losing traction, I managed to halt it just 4 feet away from the trailer.

A major accident was thus averted. I immediately switched on the parking lights and pulled over to a service road and stopped. The surge of adrenalin was so immense that I hardly felt the weight of my bike which is more than 165 kilos. I got down, and started thinking that I could have never ever managed to get out of a situation so sticky. It was as if I was not there while the incident happened. No matter how ace a rider I am, I simply would have failed in stopping my bike from ramming into the trailer. It was nothing but a miracle that I had managed to brake from 140 to 20 KMPH in less than a distance of 100 feet without skidding.
I am writing this today because I am alive by the Grace of my Guru. Love you dear Guruji, those angels that you sent that day saved me from being dead!!

Jai Gurudeva
Abhijit Murthy