Potlucks, Pedals and Parker (Chapter 3 of 3)

This post is in direct continuation from my previous two posts Potlucks, Pedals and Parker (Chapter 1 of 3) and Potlucks, Pedals and Parker (Chapter 2 of 3). Please read these before continuing with this one.
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I encountered more and more traffic. Every glance on my phone showed patches of red and already, I knew that this return journey will not be as smooth as it was a few hours ago. There are red cycle tracks made at places and I made full use of those. They certainly were smoother as compared to the normal roads.

I needed to reach home on time because I wanted to practice making the honey chilly potatoes that I was going to bring in the potluck. 

Then came Baner-Pashan Road. It was a long stretch of a road. Given the time, it was surprisingly empty. On both the sides, there were expensive looking houses. The road was empty, and I gave in to its stillness, by speeding up my bicycle.

 

The slow motion starts here ———

• Once more the song 𝆕𝆕 Dhoom Machale 𝆕𝆕 plays in my head.
  

• I realize that due to the slope of the road, I'm going way too fast!

• I see a speed-breaker ahead and slam on the brakes.

• Too late! I hit the speed breaker with almost the same speed. 

• For a second, I am in the air.
  

• Next second, I am on the ground lying on my back with my bicycle on top of me.

• I say, “FUCK” in my head.

Slow motion ends here ———

 

All of this happened in just three seconds! I tried moving my left ankle, but it did not. This sent a chill down my spine. Somehow I wriggled out of the bicycle, and got up.

There was some pain, but the way in which the ankle moved and felt, it was clear to me that something was wrong. Fracture was the first thing that came to my mind.

If that was the case, then it is just a matter of time before the pain increases and the movement becomes more restricted. There was no time to waste. Reaching home was the only thing that mattered now.

Looking back at it now, as I type this post, I should have asked someone for help or at least should have gotten in an auto rickshaw.

I did not, though.
I just took a sip of water, got on my bicycle and started back for home. I peddled at times, but throughout most of the journey, I was using the electric mode only.
I remember only parts of my journey. Some vague flashes here in there. I don't exactly know how I came back home, which makes everything even more risky.
And yes, I repeat, I should have gotten in an auto rickshaw.

Back at home, when I removed my shoes, I noticed that my ankle is twice as big due to the swelling. The pain has also increased. All signs of a broken bone.

 

A visit to the doctor was a no-brainer and again, some flashes of me getting in a cab with my dad supporting me. And the next thing I knew, I sat in the waiting area of an orthopedic clinic.

 

The reason for these vague flashes is that the mind goes into a shock after such an accident. The bigger the accident, the more intense the shock. Of course, how a person handles this is also a factor, but it happens to most of the people.

 

At this point. I knew that the doctor will get an x-ray done, identify the broken bone, and I'll be going home with a plaster wrapped around my ankle. It’s pointless to avoid the inevitable, so I took my phone out and started browsing Reddit.

 

As I am a fan, I follow r/spiderman (the Spider-Man Subreddit) and a then recent post caught my eye.

 

What does Spider-Man mean to you? 

Now, I know that you 🫵 are too lazy to check out the post, so I will put some comments from the post here:

 

u/jereflea1024 wrote:

“He's the best of us. Spider-Man, to me, represents all that a good person should strive to become; his relentless pursuit of a better future and his ability to move past his pain with a smile on his face. He knows he's not perfect; he lets people he loves down because he's devoted to being better, to helping others even at the cost of himself. Doing his best, despite all of his wounds; getting back up every single time life kicks him down because that's what it means to carry the world on your shoulders. He could be bitter because of the things he's seen and been through, but he chooses the better path. He chooses to take the worst that the universe can give him, because that's the only way he can keep being the best version of himself; and he refuses to be anything less. Spider-Man represents the absolute good in humanity.”

 

u/Amazing-Ant-6001 wrote:

“Hope and determination. No matter what happens to him — even when he dies — he gets back up. He shows me that everything will be alright even though times are tough right now.”

u/PrinceRaditz wrote:

“An inspiration. Time and time throughout our lives we face hardships that seem impossible to overcome, but we have to learn to keep moving forward just like Spider-Man. We can relate to his pain like losing a loved one and turn it into something positive. Spider-Man is a legend in comics and truly is one of the biggest inspiration to many people.”

u/SnooEpiphanies5786 wrote:

“An example of hope and determination. No matter how hard he gets hit, no matter how hard he falls, no matter how much he wants to stop being Spider-Man, he never stops.”

 

As bad Reddit gets at times, If you join the correct subreddits, it will surely help you. I really needed to hear/read these things.

 

At this point I would like to make it clear that I DO NOT see myself IN PLACE OF Spider-Man. I have been a fan of Spider-Man from my childhood and no it's not because he is a superhero or super strong or any of such things. I relate to him on a deeper level due to a factor which is way too personal for sharing it here in this post. Perhaps some day I will.

 

Anyway, let's get back to the clinic.

After reviewing the x-ray, to my surprise, the doctor said that, I don't have a fracture!
It was a ligament injury with a lot of internal bleeding. Even though it was to be given the same time frame, as a fracture to heal, this news coupled with what I read on Reddit boosted my spirits a lot.

He gave me a crêpe bandage and medicines, but I was still happily hung up on the fact that I had no broken bones.

 

Once back at home, with some food in my belly, my leg resting on a pillow, and the medicines in my bloodstream, I was feeling lucky that I did not have an even major injury. It could have been worse. Road accidents are no joke and people end up far more hurt.

 

Just then I remember that I have some quality reading material waiting for me. The Spider-Man book in my bag that I completely forgot after reaching home in the evening. I took it out of my bag and received another teensy little shock. A gouge was there in the spine of the book which was not there when I bought it. This means when I fell on my back, the book absorbed the impact which would have been on me. It was not that big but thanks to Spidey, I did not have a sore spot on my back. This was another one of the good things of the trip.

 

The gouge in the book spine

But of course it had bad consequences also. Since I was strictly advised bed rest, I was not able to go to the potluck next Monday. I had major FOMO when my colleagues shared the pictures of the event. Folks brought mouth watering dishes.

Furthermore, I never even got the chance to open the bottles of the chilly sauces I bought for the occasion. A few months ago, around September 2024, I threw those bottles away because they reached their expiry date.

 

Over the course of few days after my injury, my ankle turned multiple shades of blue-black-purple-red. The internal bleeding was CLEARLY visible. I have not embedded the picture in this post because of its graphic nature, but if you want to take a look at it, here is the link for that. I had got special permission to work from home, until my wound healed.

Plenty of people asked me “wHy DiD yOu gO sUcH a LoNg DiStAnCe oN a BiCyClE?” I got to hear things like “wHo gOeS tO sUcH a DiStAnCe oN a BiCyClE?” In my defense, it was not the distance that led to my injury. Over-speeding was my own fault which has nothing to do with the distance of the journey.

Coming back to present day, I would not think twice before going to such a long distance again. In fact, I have been multiple times. These days I scan the road for speed breakers as far as I can see beforehand. If I sense a slope in the road, I pay extra attention to my speed and make sure I am in control. Does that eliminate the risk of an accident? No.

But it surely reduces it.

About 10 days ago, I cut my finger while doing something that I always do so what's bound to happen — will happen.

I am currently listening to “The Fellowship of the Rings” audiobook (the first book of the LOTR series) and would like to end this series of posts with a quote from Bilbo Baggins:

 

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door. You step into the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to”.