The Collision

I had known Hari for the past seven years. Last Sunday, I saw him doing something which I had least expected from him. 

It was dawn when the sky was still black and there was dense fog all around, obscuring visibility. I had a good night's sleep and as usual, I woke up refreshed and left for a stroll. I waved a hand at my fellow mates in the park and commenced with my stroll with the headphones on, playing some soothing classical music. The fog settled and the golden sun rose, painting the black sky into a bright blue. I quickly left as I had to begin with my household chores. On my way back, vivid memories started appearing in my head. The ones of me and my best friend, Hari. We had lost touch and now I began to feel as if he had forgotten me. Suddenly, my attention was drawn to the heavy crowd that had gathered along the roadside. 

I made my way through the crowd and could see two people arguing and an old woman lying on the side, bleeding and unconscious. I could at once make out what had happened. Two cars had collided when the driver in one of the cars was trying to swivel away from jamming a pedestrian and ended up meeting an oncoming car in the middle of the road. This probably ensured that the lady, who would otherwise have succumbed to the injuries inflicted by a locomotive going full speed, was only grievously injured. But the condition of the poor victim drooling and bleeding out on the asphalt seemed less important to the two motorists than assigning responsibility at the moment.

I was amazed at how the two drivers were busy quarreling amongst themselves that who should drive the old woman to the hospital. I went to stop the two from wasting any more time pawning the whole thing off on each other and carry the victim in their car. There, I happened to notice a familiar face, and to my utter shock, it was Hari. I couldn't believe my eyes. However, this was not the time to catch up with old pals. I asked him to start his car and volunteered to sit with the victim in the backseat.

After a long one hour of getting to the hospital, completing the paperwork, and being told that the woman was out of the danger zone, we were finally able to steal a personal moment in the hospital cafeteria.

I had least expected such a thing from him. He was ashamed to even look up to me, but I was so very vexed at him that he had to. "We haven't met for years. You haven't bothered to call. What's the matter?" Hari started sobbing, saying, "I have been in a cloud of bad luck and so I'm very disturbed. I've been losing job after job and have lost all contacts. I wanted to talk to you, but couldn't."

I tried to explain to him that, although life has a lot to offer it is not a bed of roses. One doesn't always get all the desires fulfilled, but getting disheartened and upset over such things could be fatal. Hari fully understood all he had done and all he had to do now. It seemed to me as if he needed a little support from a friend and someone who could hear him out.