Do you believe in guardian angels? I always thought angels and demons were all part of the cliches created by the society to create faith and fear. But this one episode in my life changed my perception about life and faith as a whole.
I love rain but only when I am at home with my loved ones and enjoying the rain from my balcony. It becomes altogether a different feeling when you are alone and stuck in heavy traffic late in the night drenched in rain. No,I did not love rain that night!!!! My city has always been infamous for the chaos during rain and that night was no different. I was praying to the rain god to have some mercy on my city that night, but the rain god continued to increase his wrath instead. I was stuck in the middle of nowhere alone and miles away from home and in a city like Delhi it was a worst situation for a girl to be in. I tried connecting with my folks at home but I guess mobile phones have some kind off evil curse to them causing all sort of network issues and what not when their service is needed the most.
So to sum it up, I was stuck badly!! My cab had got stuck in some drain in a scary dark underpass as there was heavy water logging in that area and the nearest metro station was more than 2 kms way. The situation was getting rather messy and the only option I was left with was to walk for 2 kms crossing the deadly underpass and for a person like me who is phobic to darkness, crossing the underpass was going to be a big challenge.
I love my city, but that night I cursed our efficient government for the amazing infrastructure my city had (Pun intended). Kudos to corruption and beuracracy, the capital of the country did not even have proper drainage system.
Enough if government bashing, now coming back to my situation, the underpass was about half a km long and there were barely any lights and the thought of unexpected pot holes made me go back and sit in my cab again. "The cab would have to move anyways" I told myself. "It wont take all night" I calmed myself. But i was wrong, another half an hour passed and the cab had not moved an inch and by now the cab driver had started giving me "get out of here" looks.
And again let me repeat it, I love my city but its unsafe, very very unsafe. Unsafe for girls at day let alone night. And I could sense that staying in the cab any longer was not going to be a wise idea.So, I closed my eyes for a second, said my prayers and braved out of the cab this time with a rock solid will to cross the deadly underpass on foot and face whatever comes by like a warrior. As I started walking I could notice that the rain had only increased manifolds but it as no time to become a weather reporter. I had to cross this underpass and then suddenly a more dreadful thought struck me like lightning. "This underpass was only half a km. What about rest of the 2 km that I had to walk to reach the metro station". I tried setting aside these thoughts and braved towards my destination. The top priority at this moment was crossing the mission underpass. Now I started braving all my thoughts and moving, soaked and drenched in rain like a mouse and suddenly my somewhat brave spirits were dampened further as I could see the lights diming and the water flowing madly in and out of the pot holes and to top it all at this very moment all my mind could think about was the dreadful stories told by my mom about snakes and scorpions coming out of such pot holes!! That very moment I promised myself that I would never tell my kids such horrible stories if I reached home alive tonight after all this adventure.
I guess this is how crossing the worst nightmare feels like. As I was braving all this to reach my destination unknown, something happened, something which at that point of time seemed ordinary but now as I go back to the whole scene, it leaves me with goosebumps. I could see a bike coming from the opposite direction inside the underpass and this biker came straight to me and stopping by my side, asked me if he could drop me somewhere. To set the record straight I am not a pretty princess that some knight in shining armour could fall head over heal in love at first sight, and yeah it was not a Yash Chopra movie scene. It was rather of a ram gopal verma movie situation. I gave a blank expression to him and frankly I am a suspicious soul and taking a ride from someone is the last thing that I would do, but this night and this situation was different and may be my fear or the situation or the thought of crossing a scary dark path alone, I instantly agreed and sat on the bike and immediately cursed myself for this impulsive move. But I guess fear brings out the deepest vulnerability of any person and this very moment I was under a heavy spell of fear and all I wanted to do was to get out this hell hole and darkness. It was matter of minutes and he dropped me straight in front of the metro station, which some moments ago had seemed like a mission impossible to me. As I got down from the bike and started thanking him he suddenly said he had come looking for his sister who was also stuck somewhere in the rain and as he saw me walking through that underpass he could picture his sister. I was overwhelmed with gratitude of highest degree and an instant connect for him and kept thanking him with all my heart and soul. He finally gave me a smile and kick started his bike. That smile, oh! That smile, it still haunts me. Because that smile is the last image I have of this man, because it was as if a nano second later there was no bike and no man. Goosebumps. Yup! I still get goosebumps at the thought of that night, that man, his smile and his bike. What still haunts me is that just a flash second later there was no sign of bike, no sign of anyone. It all vanished in the air and I was left standing in front of the metro station wondering what had happened. As I journeyed back home that night, wondering about this mirage moment that had taken place in my life, I suddenly realized that may be this is what guardian angel means. I had read about guardian angels being around you all the time and protecting you from evil but today I had been fortunate enough to witness it. I still cannot think of an alternate solution to that night if that man had not driven me to the metro station in his bike, but all I know is that this man was no random guy giving lift to a random girl. His smile and those words about him searching for his sister and picturing me as his sister still give me high voltage goosebumps.
It's been 3 years since that night and ever since I have been narraing this incident to my friends and family folks, but they all tell me that it was a random act of goodness. But somehow that night changed my perspective about life and faith in many ways. I was always a believer but sometimes had my set of questions regarding god and his existence. This one incidence changed me completely. Now I believe in god, I believe in prayers and most of all I believe in existence of a power above us guarding us from all our fears and evil.