The unfogettable 29th MARCH !

It was a beautiful Saturday, 29-MAR-2003, the day when i was supposed to go to work to meet my project deadlines...but did not know that this day will become an unforgettable day in my life! With lot of scolding to my PM in my mind, i went to my workplace at 1100hrs; to find some of my friends (colleagues) already there...obviously they too were scolding my PM for having them come to work on a Saturday! :-) One of my friends present was Mr. Vinod Jetty, a Telugu speaking, 26-year old young chap....we had been very close friends as our stay in China proceeded... On June 10th 2002, i went to my office in China...my first day in the China office, as i had landed in this country on June 8th 2002, a Saturday! This guy, Vinod, somehow came to know that i knew java/j2ee and hence called me for some java-related fixtures on his comp...this was our first meet and from there on, it took no time for our friendship to strengthen and soon, within a week, I can say we became very close friends... Cut 29-MAR-2003, in the office, I started my work and everything went fine until 1850hrs... I brought things under logical closure for the day and told my friend, Vinod, that i would be leaving for the day (his seat was 2 seats next to mine)...Vinod was busy with his work but he told me to wait for 10 more mins before he could wrap his things up and start with me to home...So, I waited for 10 mins in front of my comp...time now being 1900hrs...it was 1905hrs when I again remanded Vinod saying that am getting late and leaving for the day (In those days, I was commuting to work by the BMTC bus)...for which a reply came saying that "no babu...why hurry...will start in another 5 mins..." (He had a bike for commuting to work)...he brought up a plan saying that we will go together to Jayanagar 4th Block (his house was in that area), have something to eat and then i can proceed to my home by bus/auto...i thought for a minute and agreed with him for this plan...little did i knew that jayanagar 4th block will remain as a dream to my friend Vinod, forever.... In the mean time, one of my other friends called me saying that he will drop me near my area (in the car!)...But Vinod intervened saying that "babu will come with me only...", for which i too agreed and my other friend went away...next in line was another friend of mine who offered the same (to drop me near my house) but again Vinod gave him the same answer...I could later correlate these events and see how god chose me to play this role and tell to Vinod, 'Vinod babu, he will be the last person on this earth you will speak to..." Time now was 1915hrs and I was getting irritated at my friend for having me put 'on-hold' for past 20-25 mins...again I got up and told that I will be moving...at that time, Vinod was busy taking some J2EE printouts...he told me that there were around 50 more pages left, after which we can leave for the day.... so, I kept myself waiting and told that 1930hrs will be the max time I will wait for this fellow... Finally, at around 1925hrs, Vinod told me that we can leave and hence we started off saying bye to some more friends over there...God might be now smiling at Vinod saying that "buddy, this will be your last bye for your life"...if this could be read by me, i would have stopped him from going out and could spend my day over there itself, taking care of my close friend...but, nobody can see what god has in store for us, for every new second that enters our life... We now went to the parking lot and he took his bike...he had a helmet for protecting his head...which later did not do its job...I started with him, in the pillion rider seat and began our off-project talks...he was telling about his no. Of years of experience, about other people from my project...then he came to his thoughts of buying a car...i still remember that I was kidding him saying that "jetty babu...buy a car soon so that u can provide a pick-and-drop service to me, a favor for ur friend...", for which he replied in his usual style..."fund me the money and I will be very happy to be at ur service..." he was bit stingy in spending money and always would be saying "babu...no money babu...my bank accounts are going dry....give me some money", but in reality he had an account that ran in thousands or even in lacs !! The time was now around 1932hrs, when we were struck in a traffic jam.... after being silent for 2 mins, i asked him about his marriage plans...i knew that he had a girl-friend, but of other caste...for which his mom and his bro (his dad had passed away while he was young) were opposing this marriage...but, when i asked him, he said that within the next 3-6 months, his marriage should take place...by this time, the time was 1940hrs and we had reached a free left turn on our road...this left turn leads us to a Inner Ring Road, one of the busiest roads in Bangalore, where u need to wait for minimum 5 mins to cross the road...He had stopped speaking and i too did not want to disturb him while driving...so, he continued to drive until....until a point when the bike took a sudden right turn towards the road divider....as we were driving in the left part of the stretch, for a moment i thought that he might be pulling towards right for overtaking...but my thoughts took a U-turn when the bike slammed the road divider and we both were thrown out, into the divider area... I, totally from the shock of this fall, got up on my feet...i had lot of bruises on both of my hands, my trouser torn in the left-knee portion...my mobile nowhere to be found but to be seen lying almost on the edge of the other side of the road...my mobile pouch was totally open...just like when u cut open a rectangle box, the sides of which lay flat on all 4 sides... Before I could recollect what happened, I saw Vinod lying on the divider stretch.... on the muddy portion...his back facing me.... helmet still on his face...but bit moved up due to the impact...I could see the J2EE printouts strewn upon the divider and the road...I went up to him in a hurry and began shouting his name...People nearby began to come around and started helping me...I slowly removed his helmet and turned him to face me...in that light, I could not clearly see whether he was bleeding or not...but I knew that he was unconscious and no water could help him and i have to immediately rush him to the hospital...I requested some people out there to help me in taking him to hospital...somebody went there in the road to stop some car / auto but as human instinct goes, lot of people hesitated to stop...finally the guy managed to get hold of an auto...I parked his vehicle on the other side of the road and collected his printouts packet, his helmet, his chappals...and got into the auto... It was around 1955hrs that all this stuff happened and finally there I was, entering the gates of Manipal hospital...the auto took me down to Emergency entrance and I yelled at that person to bring the gurney soon so that I could save my friend.... save him from pain...getting back from his unconsciousness...but little did i know that he was taking his last breath while he was in my hands!! Doctors soon attended to him and then started supporting him thru life-supporting devices...It was around 2010hrs when a doctor came out and took the details of the accident and finally told me that his survival chances are very remote as his respiratory process is going down every second...they could not tell me the exact details why this happened but.... the only thing they told me is to face his death, death of my dear friend who was speaking to me half-an-hour back...who was so lively that everybody loved him...who had become so close to me...who had dreams of buying a car...who had dreams of getting married to his girl friend in the next 3-6 months time...who had dreams of taking care of his mother in Bangalore...everything got shattered in a matter of 2 mins...the dream of a mother, dream of a girl friend, dream of his friends...everything went to smoke....i sat down and i could feel blood, not tears coming out of my eyes... Finally, like every good thing should have an end, Vinod's final moment came at 2016hrs when doctor pronounced him dead...an end to everything in life my friend had visioned...an end for his immediate family members... The next day, doctors performed Post-Mortem of my friend's body and found that there are 2 major incidents involved before his death... 1. He had a minor Cardiac Arrest while driving (before the vehicle took a sharp right turn towards divider) that lead to the loss of control over the vehicle. 2. While we both lay on the divider, fortunately i fell directly on the muddy area of the divider but for my friend, Vinod, first his chest hit the divider edge because of which there was internal laceration of lungs (which led to his respiratory disorder) and his helmet did not protect his head, due to which he had multiple major abrasions on his head which then lead to bleeding... Wow, i still wonder why god chose my friend for his type of death...i know death has to occur to everybody...but not this way, where my friend lay in my arms, not in his mother's arms, who was in his home waiting for her son to return.... As time moves on and does not wait for anyone...today its been 2 long long years my dearest friend, Vinod Jetty babu passed away, leaving me here to remember of his memories...leaving me here to remember the time we spent...to remember that friendship never dies.... never... luv u vinod babu... luv u... May god let his soul Rest In Peace and give courage and support to his immediate family members..