God is not Dead

It was a night of Shivratri. I and a friend of mine had planned to visit the Shiva shrine at Bhimashankar. It was supposed to be a 7 to 8 hours journey and I was to leave at 7.00pm in the evening from Andheri(W) and were to reach Bhimashankar early morning on the next day. And we had to return that same day as we had to get back to office in the afternoon. We had decided to take the journey on bike.

I was very excited as I love adventure and it is a wonderful experience to travel in the night on bike. I had packed my bag and I was ready to leave. I was to meet my friend at Chembur. As I was about to leave I got a call from another friend. This call and my decision on that call gave me a new life and my faith in God became stronger. After this experience, I truly feel that God is not dead and Angels truly exist. I feel God within and around me. The importance of this call will be revealed after the end of our journey from Mumbai to Bhimashankar and back to Mumbai.

I met my friend at around 8.00pm at Chembur and commenced our journey on his bike to Bhimashankar. It was traffic as usual until we crossed Mumbai. However the clear roads ahead kept us motivated to enjoy our ride. We were enjoying the ride under the moonlight and following the road with the help of our bike’s headlight of course as there was less traffic now on the road and maybe a few wild animals around. As we moved into the hilly regions, the weather became colder. We had carried out leather jackets and hence the cold was bearable. We had to cross the Khandala ghat. We crossed the Khandala ghat with great difficulty. I problem was that I am a tall guy and was a bit overweight at that time. The bike just could not carry the weight of both of us. So at 12.00 midnight I was actually walking on the road in the ghats at some places. My friend used to ride about 50 meters and wait for me. I then had to cover that distance on foot. It was very dark and I could hardly see anything other than the headlight of the bike 50 meters ahead but I was enjoying myself as I was doing something different than what I do every day. I just hoped that the wild animals around if any don't try to do something different than what they do every day and choose to eat a human for dinner. Anyway, we managed to cross the Khandala ghat in this fashion and I had something to learn from this experience. The first one was that I need to lose weight. And the second one was that I had conquered my fear of darkness.

We were having a laugh about the whole experience on the Lonavala ghat and suddenly all we had was moonlight for company. The headlight of our bike just turned off for some reason. We were on a speed of around 70kph. It was pitch-dark. The view ahead was totally blank. Just at that time the road ahead divided into two. Our bike fell into a ditch and we were thrown onto the road. The impact was very hard as we were not even thrown in the air but were literally smashed to the ground. We rolled and landed on the opposite side of the road. Luckily for us there was no vehicle behind us. It all happened in matter of a second. We got on to our feet. I was wondering if it was the real me or my ghost. I felt my body and assured myself that it was indeed me alive and I also could not find my body around. I got up immediate and searched for my friend. He came running to me with a worried look as he thought that I may be hurt. I assured him that I was not hurt. To our amazement there was no serious injury to any of us. He just had a swelling on his wrist and I just had a few bruises on my knee and on my shoulder. However we were determined to continue our journey. I really don’t know how, but the headlight worked as soon as we started the bike.

We had just covered a few meters and it started raining. We were not prepared for the rain as it was not a rainy season. We still continued our journey and had decided that no matter what we will cross the next ghat which was supposed to be dangerous as we had to reach Mumbai the next day. However, the bruises on my knee and shoulder were burning. So we decided to halt at a roadside dhaba and apply some turmeric on the wound. We get into the dhaba and find six boys having tea. I was applying turmeric to my wounds and one of them happened to ask how I was injured. We explained the accident that we had and told them that we were on our way to Bhimashankar. They told us that they were from Pune and they were also on their way to Bhimashankar. They told us that we could accompany them for the rest of the journey as they too were on bikes. We realized how lucky we were to find them when we reached the dangerous ghat that we had decided to cross that very night. There was a lot of fog and we could not even see a thing ahead of us. Luckily one of the bikes had a fog light because of which we managed to cross the ghat. We completed the rest of the journey and reached the temple in Bhimashankar. We were delighted to reach our destination. We reached Bhimashankar at around 4.00am. We took the blessings of Lord Shiva without having to wait to the long queue with the help of the boys from Pune. We left for Mumbai at around 5.00pm and bid our friends from Pune goodbye and thanked them for their help.

All the wonderful incidents mentioned above of how we were always lucky throughout the journey would not have been so lucky if we did not God by our side. And it all started from the call one of my friend made to me as I was about to leave my house for Bhimashankar. My friend had called me as he wanted a book from me. I really don’t know why I made that decision to go to his house and give him the book though his house was out of the way and I was already running late to leave for Bhimashankar. I went to my friend’s house and gave him the book. As I was about to leave I got a call from the friends with whom I was to ride to Bhimashankar. He asked me what all I had carried with me in my bag. He also asked me if I had carried a helmet. I was least bothered about the helmet and had not even thought about it. My friend who was present in the room at that time happened to overhear our conversation and told me that he had a helmet and that I could take it along with me.

This helmet saved my life. If I did not have the helmet at the time of the accident I would have not been alive. I am amazed as to how these series of incidents took place. There was some energy of the universe that was guiding and protecting me throughout the journey. These series on incidents have left an empowering impression on me. I am now well aware that God is always there to protect and guide me. Since that day I always listen to my intuitive mind and God has guided me to the right path in many such incidents in my life. I feel God within and around me and I can confidently tell you that God is not dead.

Shardul Pacharne
shardulrulz@gmail.com