‘If you ain’t livin’ on the edge, you be wastin’ space, baby.’
Today, I suffered a brain fart 30m ago in the Tavsal Ghat in Dabhol where, at 120kmph and leaning left and right into the twisties, I looked down at my instrument panel momentarily (why? Search me) and got hypnotised or something to a degree where I forgot to look back up, even as my mind floated away to an unknown place.
It was thus that I approached a very sharp, very steep downhill left without leaning or even attempting to turn, physically forcing myself to look up just in time to brake hard, with tyres screeching and leaving a 20-meter-long black rubber burn mark so straight that you could’ve drawn it with a scale, as I went into the bush and stopped literally inches away from the barrier which was hidden in the tall grass.
If I had not managed to bring the bike to a complete and clean halt, the chances that the machine’s forward motion would have been arrested by the metal bars, but I would have gone hurtling into the void over the edge of the hill were almost certain.
Somehow, I controlled the motorcycle but was stuck in the thicket and quite helpless when Prasad Mohod and Yashovardhan Jibhkate arrived (they were trailing me by a few seconds) and helped me pull back.
Once out, I hit the starter, the bike roared back to life, and I continued my journey down the ghat without any reduction in speed, as if nothing had happened, leave alone a near-death experience.
That’s over half an hour ago now. However, that incident is still playing on my mind. What exactly happened? Why was I so completely helpless to control my own mind and body? Even when I knew I should have done something, why did I not, or could I not? And how could I avoid it from happening again? I still haven’t figured out what really transpired. Any ideas?
P.S.: I am now on the ferry crossing the creek to Jaigarh port, and I can’t help but wonder why I am not feeling shaken up or scared, but simply disturbed at what happened. In fact, as I stood with my motorcycle in the tall grass, just having managed to save my life by a whisker, all I could think of was how silly I looked. And I was laughing like a maniac.
