Escape from Death

As stated in the previous one, this post is regarding my encounter with THE death during Khandala excursion, which was eventually postponed, so that I can write about it now :P We were not as lucky as Vijay Dinanath Chauhan to know about the appointment with 'IT' in advance and could proudly say, "Subah aath baje maut ke saath apna appantment hai" :P:P:P

Well when we started off our journey, we didn't have any freaking idea that while we were on our way to whet our appetite, the destiny might have some other plans for us. My maiden extravaganza could have been my final journey to the ultimate truth.

When we get down at Khandala station, we decided to follow our plan. The plan was to go along the railway tracks on foot and explore some nature in its raw, untouched and original form. The first happening thing that we find, once we are off the platform, was this tunnel of 890 meters.

We did some clicking near the entrance and then there was a short discussion whether to cross this, nearly one long km tunnel or not. Finally we decided to add a pinch of adventure to this journey and entered the tunnel with butterflies in our stomach. Apart from this adventure thing, we were also unable to resist the temptation of clicking a train inside a tunnel, if our fortune favors to get this rare opportunity. The tunnel seems to be totally deprived of any illuminating object and we know that we were too. But thankfully the lightning source of our cellphones was their battery and that too independent of the weak signal strength in the tunnel. Together with the crumbling light and our pupils expanded to their fullest extent, we started to test our eyesight, while traversing the cimmerian tunnel. Just when we were around the middle of the tunnel, our luck hit the jackpot and we heard a train approaching towards us.

There were two tracks inside the tunnel and after some very serious calculations we came to know that one must be for the trains going from Pune to Mumbai and another for the return. The train was coming from Pune and going by the previous train's record we adjudged the train will be coming on which track. There was a turn just before us from where the train was coming. That was a perfect spot to shoot an incoming train. We all took our positions on the other track and get ready with our devices to shoot the train. The train's whistle was signaling that it was approaching us and we were just excited with the thought of clicking it. Then we saw the engine's light and as the train emerged from the turn, we realized that we were on the same track!!! For a moment, I was aghast. In that very moment, I thought that this is the lynch from the almighty for all my deeds. But just then, I came into my senses when Pritesh, standing behind me, shouted rigorously at me to get off the track. I realized that still the almighty is not that adamant to call me and appoint to some post in the Hell. I came in to the space between the two tracks and escaped from the death from a mere 2 or 3 seconds and was feeling the luckiest guy on this planet.

Even after this, we keep on advancing more along the track. But thereafter, whenever we heard any train's Chhuk Chhuk, we just used to shift ourselves in between the tracks and nothing else. Because I was in no mood to feel lucky another time :P

The incident is still ruminating in my mind while typing this and again I am feeling lucky that I still have the preference to explore more off this life.