Remembering a lost friend – A case for safety belt and helmet

My heart is profusely bleeding for the last few weeks after the death of a close relative – A boy of 29, a nice sober chap working for my ex-company, Siemens Information Systems Ltd. A guy never used to speeding or rash driving or driving without a helmet, he went to his garage to receive his bike after a service, just a few stops away and just did not care to take his customary helmet. While coming back, while trying to give some space to a overtaking truck, he hit the side culvert wall, thrown off the bike and hit the wall head on before falling off the culvert. The massive head injury led to instant coma and after a few minutes, was “brought dead” in the nearest nursing home, only a kilometer away.

This led to the opening up of another deep wound of mine. Suryanu, a friend who was like a brother, went to South Africa for TCS in 1997-8. Another extremely nice guy, he was a bit adamant on a few odd things, like he never liked to wear the seat belt. In kolkata, you can still get away but in SA ? While coming back from Sun City to Jo’berg, he (was an expert driver) missed an exit and tried to swerve the car. The car was overturned several times, the windshield went off and he was thrown off the car, hit the street on the back of his head. Within a few minutes a police chopper took him away to a hospital but there was nothing to do. For 12 years now, We (my wife was also very fond of him) have carried that deep wound within ourselves, all because he did not wear a seatbelt ? There were 3 more guys on that car (including another friend of mine now in CTS) all wearing belts and nothing happened to them except the shock.

Another good friend, an employee of Airports Authority (they have unlimited medical facility, thank you), who is normally very calculative about any expense but nicely bought a high quality expensive helmet of Studds, met with an accident in his bike in which the helmet got smashed and he spent nearly 3 weeks in Apollo Gleneagles. Can you imagine what would have happened to his head if the helmet was like a mine worker’s hat that many people wear, to avoid and bypass the Police rules ?

Let’s talk about survival. Whom are we cheating when we try to bypass the rules and think everything will be okay ? The Police Commissioner will not be dead in an accident, but you will. While you care to lock up the irrelevant things that you can buy by thousands, lock your life.