This blog relates to the experience I had on the night of 6th Jan. It is a short saga of faith,missed opportunities,u-turns and self-motivation.
After finishing my assignment at Amity Business School in Sect125 in Noida, I started for home in Patpatganj at about 11.15p.m. My house is very close to the Akshardham crossing.
I came out of the Amity gate and could not find the road. It was as if one was amongst the clouds. I could not see the left edge of my car's bonnet. The diffused light from the head-lamps showed that it was there. But beyond that one could not see anything. I nearly decided to camp for the night in Amity.
Then I remembered that my mother had mentioned that she had prepared fish curry for me. O! one can cross a hundred mountains for that. So what is a few kilometres of dense fog!! I crawled forward at 2kmph, going upto 5 in spurts of visibility. I imagined the steaming plate of rice with the wafting scent of the curry as the fog enveloped me. I could not see even 5 meters. But all my senses were on a high alert. Months of driving on the UP Link road came handy. Actually it was a perfect case of one blind leading the other. I followed the tail lights of an Indica for quite some distance. And then that vehicle just sped off. For the next couple of kms, I was leading with atleast 4 vehicles behind me.I can only guess that those drivers thanked me. I stuck my head out of the window,aligned my right wheel with the road-divider and drove on. Brr..it was cold.
I reached Akshardham crossing by 12.30a.m. Boy what a relief!! I am just a kilometer from my house. Hot and spicy fish curry and rice at last. And then the my mother put some more steaming rice into my plate and the steam overwhelmed me.A wave of fog came and I could not see anything. I missed the next turning. In fact just as I was going past it, I thought I saw an opening in the mist, but I crossed it and went over the bridge. An opportunity was missed.
I went on for what seemed like i was driving till the end of the terra firma when I noticed a gap in the divider. Thank God! He has given me an opportunity to make a u-turn. I did that. And out of the mist appeared another vehicle which put me on NH-24. And then I was home. Time taken since I had started from Amity campus- 2hours,47 minutes. Distance covered -10kms. But then I was home and enjoyed the meal.
Lessons learnt from this episode-
- Life is about taking chances. You have to take your chances if you want to get somewhere.
- Taking chances is about faith. Faith in yourself and faith in God.
- You have to be alert about fleeting opportunities and grab them.
- If you've missed once, you have to have patience. God allows u-turns.
- And there's no place like home.
