A Date with Speed

Day-1: During one of my journeys Delhi was in my way and i thought of meeting my best friend who lived there. When i met my friend, we both had a lot of catching up to do with the events in our life. The chat continued till night and we decided to take a break at around 3 am, but not by hitting bed. He suggested we go out for a ride on his bike at that unearthly hour, and nodding was the fastest thing i did. We returned back after a couple of hours and slept off.

Day-2: All horrible action was to take place on this day of my stay in Delhi. After some hours of sleep we got up and thought of having our lunch at a Dhaba nearby. As I and my best friend were talking in the early evening, another friend joined us. His nature was unpredictable, in the sense that he would be so very loving and sometimes quite mercurial too. This new entrant wanted us to chat for long and promised to drop me to the railway station in his bike. I would realise later how big a mistake i did by accepting his offer.

The train in which i had my reservation was at 9.30pm and i started from rajokri (Delhi) with the mercurial friend in his bike at 8.45pm. I was sure the train is going to be missed. My friend rode the bike fast and furious, quite recklessly i should say. For everytime i said him to slowdown, he only increased the speed of the bike and the rashness in driving. My heart was in my mouth many a times and i had atleast 3 near death experiences before we reached the destination.

When i reached the railwaystation it was 9.25pm. I started running without even talking to my friend, though he followed. When i was above the foot over bridge, i could see my train already moving on the platform. Like a man possessed i ran with my suitcase down the stairs. Though now i was on the platform, the train was quite fast. I started running alongside the train to match its speed. When a gut feeling said that i could try hopping in, i jumped with all my strength.

I found myself inside the train without any harm. I felt like a fool for firstly catching the train in this fashion, and also for not starting early from rajokri. Secondly i felt like an idiot for having trusted this friend, when there wasnt time in hand. It took a long time for me to forgive myself.
Some 3 yrs back i got to know that the friend who dropped me to station many years back had succumbed to Lung Cancer after a long period in hospital.