Rendezvous with death
I'm back after a long absence because a lot of interesting things have happened in my life that I won't discuss here. In this case, the title of a blog appears to be very intriguing. Actually, rendezvous is one of the few French words I am familiar with. When Mr. Kennedy and his wife visited France for the first time, they coined the phrase. Okies!! Let's get back to the point of this blog. This was the first time I felt like I'd died, and it was a truly hellish experience.
It was early morning in Hyderabad, and I needed to get up early to catch my cab from Sikanderabad to Vijaywada. As usual, I awoke 30 minutes late. I needed to get there as soon as possible, so I decided to take the metro instead of the car. I boarded the 4.39 a.m. train from Nampally station. My compartment had about 10 to 12 people in it. Three men boarded at the next station, Lakdi ka Pool. All three men appeared to be inebriated, even unable to walk properly. They sat three rows ahead of me. One girl, about 20 years old, sat one row ahead of them. Unfortunately, the girl was lonely and felt completely threatened by them. They began making crude remarks and were using bad words. After passing the next station, a man switched next to her and began physically assaulting her. When they surrounded her and began pinching her here and there, it was disgusting and ridiculous. There were at least 10 to 12 people there, and they were mostly spectators. People were present, but I was only one of them. In my opinion, I was a stranger in the city and was traveling alone.
When they began to get up from her chair, the situation grew worse. Two of the guys in the same row who were seated during this scene switched places. I found myself becoming more enraged as things got worse. As a typical Marathi man would, I stood up and pleaded with the other men to intervene and tell them to stop. There was not a single man in the compartment who responded.
II told those guys to stop. They continued to ignore me. I make two or three requests. That girl's resistance had also ended. She was powerless. I finally decided to solve the problem after receiving no response from the public. I dash there, full of energy, and grab one of the beasts. The skinny guy was the first one I chose. I could easily remove him. I throw a couple of punches and move on to the next guy. This guy was at least 4 to 5 inches taller than me and had a good build. I tried to pull him out but couldn't, so I kicked him up. Even kick was nothing more than a push for him. He returns to me and attacks me. Meanwhile, I freed that girl from the third guy and covered her. Before I could tell her to leave the compartment, a big guy attacked me and punched me in the jaw, my first blow. Despite the fact that it was huge blow to me, I still covered that girl. I did my best to repay what he had given to me. They were, however, brief efforts. With rings in my fingers, I took 5 to 6 savage blows to the face and chest from that guy. Still standing and resisting them. The situation deteriorated when two of them began to hit me simultaneously and the third began to drag that poor lady. It was a three-on-one WWE match with no mercy. Finally, after exerting considerable effort to repel them and protect that girl. I kicked that tall guy right on target with all of my strength (I nee I'm not sure, but I believe this was motivated by a spiritual belief in Bajarangbally. That tall man collapsed on the back chair. Then, with fighter confidence, I turned to the youngest of these beasts and knocked him out with a couple of punches with bleeding hands. When I turned to the third one, he had closed his hands and was pleading for mercy. With his pant looks, I caught that guy. This entire scene lasted only three minutes. But during these three minutes, I am in excruciating pain. All of the blows were massive, and I worried that I wouldn't be able to withstand them. But the worst part was that even after knocking down three guys, no one was willing to assist me with my bleeding face & no one was willing to help me with my bleeding body.. Finally, I arrived in Secunderabad with that girl and one of those guys. The girl was terrified and mute. I led her to the nearest stall and offered her a glass of water. Then we went to the police station, and even the cops were uncooperative in the legal process. I missed two guys who were later apprehended by police. After seeing a doctor, we discovered that everything was fine except for the pain in the jaw and facial wounds.
After all, the strange part was yet to come: a girl for whom I fought said only a few words, a formal thanks, and my name.....nothing much, and then she left. When I got off the train, my mind was racing with ideas. I felt terrible for the timid men who were traveling in that compartment. I was feeling proud of myself and my father's great lessons about not giving up in the face of injustice. I demonstrated that I am descended from Maratha warriors. It was the first time in my life that I had a real encounter with death, and it was for a good reason. I'd like to share a few lines from Alan Seeger's poetry.
May be he shall take my hand
And lead me into his dark land
And close my eyes and quench my breath
It may be I shall pass him still.
I have a rendezvous with Death.
It was early morning in Hyderabad, and I needed to get up early to catch my cab from Sikanderabad to Vijaywada. As usual, I awoke 30 minutes late. I needed to get there as soon as possible, so I decided to take the metro instead of the car. I boarded the 4.39 a.m. train from Nampally station. My compartment had about 10 to 12 people in it. Three men boarded at the next station, Lakdi ka Pool. All three men appeared to be inebriated, even unable to walk properly. They sat three rows ahead of me. One girl, about 20 years old, sat one row ahead of them. Unfortunately, the girl was lonely and felt completely threatened by them. They began making crude remarks and were using bad words. After passing the next station, a man switched next to her and began physically assaulting her. When they surrounded her and began pinching her here and there, it was disgusting and ridiculous. There were at least 10 to 12 people there, and they were mostly spectators. People were present, but I was only one of them. In my opinion, I was a stranger in the city and was traveling alone.
When they began to get up from her chair, the situation grew worse. Two of the guys in the same row who were seated during this scene switched places. I found myself becoming more enraged as things got worse. As a typical Marathi man would, I stood up and pleaded with the other men to intervene and tell them to stop. There was not a single man in the compartment who responded.
II told those guys to stop. They continued to ignore me. I make two or three requests. That girl's resistance had also ended. She was powerless. I finally decided to solve the problem after receiving no response from the public. I dash there, full of energy, and grab one of the beasts. The skinny guy was the first one I chose. I could easily remove him. I throw a couple of punches and move on to the next guy. This guy was at least 4 to 5 inches taller than me and had a good build. I tried to pull him out but couldn't, so I kicked him up. Even kick was nothing more than a push for him. He returns to me and attacks me. Meanwhile, I freed that girl from the third guy and covered her. Before I could tell her to leave the compartment, a big guy attacked me and punched me in the jaw, my first blow. Despite the fact that it was huge blow to me, I still covered that girl. I did my best to repay what he had given to me. They were, however, brief efforts. With rings in my fingers, I took 5 to 6 savage blows to the face and chest from that guy. Still standing and resisting them. The situation deteriorated when two of them began to hit me simultaneously and the third began to drag that poor lady. It was a three-on-one WWE match with no mercy. Finally, after exerting considerable effort to repel them and protect that girl. I kicked that tall guy right on target with all of my strength (I nee I'm not sure, but I believe this was motivated by a spiritual belief in Bajarangbally. That tall man collapsed on the back chair. Then, with fighter confidence, I turned to the youngest of these beasts and knocked him out with a couple of punches with bleeding hands. When I turned to the third one, he had closed his hands and was pleading for mercy. With his pant looks, I caught that guy. This entire scene lasted only three minutes. But during these three minutes, I am in excruciating pain. All of the blows were massive, and I worried that I wouldn't be able to withstand them. But the worst part was that even after knocking down three guys, no one was willing to assist me with my bleeding face & no one was willing to help me with my bleeding body.. Finally, I arrived in Secunderabad with that girl and one of those guys. The girl was terrified and mute. I led her to the nearest stall and offered her a glass of water. Then we went to the police station, and even the cops were uncooperative in the legal process. I missed two guys who were later apprehended by police. After seeing a doctor, we discovered that everything was fine except for the pain in the jaw and facial wounds.
After all, the strange part was yet to come: a girl for whom I fought said only a few words, a formal thanks, and my name.....nothing much, and then she left. When I got off the train, my mind was racing with ideas. I felt terrible for the timid men who were traveling in that compartment. I was feeling proud of myself and my father's great lessons about not giving up in the face of injustice. I demonstrated that I am descended from Maratha warriors. It was the first time in my life that I had a real encounter with death, and it was for a good reason. I'd like to share a few lines from Alan Seeger's poetry.
May be he shall take my hand
And lead me into his dark land
And close my eyes and quench my breath
It may be I shall pass him still.
I have a rendezvous with Death.
posted by Amit @ 4:48 AM
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