Separated By a Frightfully Small Amount

Life and death. Two completely opposite things yet so well linked together. Yes, about every hour or two (I don’t really know the correct amount), someone leaves his or her body behind, I mean someone passes away. It is such a common thing yet we rarely talk about it. Or more likely, we feel uneasy when we reach that topic in our conversations. Yes, by just a swing a sword, a slip on a puddle of water, a bite from a snake, a mistake on the stirring wheel, a slip of the hand, we can lose or take a life. Why am I talking about life and death now? Well, a recent event, an accident, started me thinking of how close we are to death. And yet, by the grace of God, we are still alive now. Well, I believe that God will only take us when it is our time, so I am not saying we might drop dead any moment. It is not that, but it is just a sudden realization. Okay, so now I’m going to tell you about this particular accident. It might give you a sudden pinch or it might not, but I want to share it with you.

This incident happened on Monday, 18 of August 2009 at about 1:25 p.m. after school. This accident involved Narmadha C. ( I didn’t want to take the risk in writing her sir name, not sure of the spelling :P)

The accident seen from my point of view:

It was like any ordinary school day. Well, not so ordinary. The first day of the monthly(whew*) exams had just ended. I was thinking about my Chinese paper as I walked down the school covered walkway down the slope. I reached the school gate and spotted a group of my friends right in front of me (there was a pavement in front of the school gates just before the main road). Ah well, I will just have a little chat with them about the exams. Some of my school friends were playing a hands-recharge-shoot game (or at least that’s the best way I can describe it) and I was just having some fun with Navvin. Narmadha, Stephanie, Charanya and Hannah were talking and laughing about something I would never know. After a few minutes I was just gazing away at the bunch of them, and though I strongly felt I should cross the road and wait for my mum there, something just held me back. Maybe I just loved spending time with my friends. Then I saw some of them start to leave. After Sagaya literally dragged Abbirami across the road to board the bus, the whole bunch of friends started crossing the road for some reason. They were calling, “Narmadha, Narmadha”. Maybe just making fun. Yes, she was laughing on the divider. I was again compelled by my conscious to cross the road with them. The road was clear, and even if there were cars, they will stop for my big group of friends. But I just stood there lazily. Then, as I was deciding and about to move my right foot forward, I heard a motorcycle speeding. I shifted my gaze a bit to see the motorcyclist going at about 80 to 90km/h. he was heading towards the lane before my friends. Of course they would wait for him to pass first. But then, a usual yet crazy thought went through my mind: What if there is someone there? An accident in the making? Nah. I drove that thought out of my brain but I still flinch as the motorcycle came nearer and nearer to my friends…

3 meters from them….2 meters….1…

I blurred my eyes for a while to drive out the crazy thought but then-

CRASH.

I opened my eyes wide again and what I saw made me open them wider.

A pair of legs in the air flying towards my left to be hidden by a crowd of students, while the shoes were dropping to the ground. My heart jumped to my throat as I gasp. A tingle ran down my spine and I felt a fear that I haven’t felt for some time. Death. Thoughts were flying through my head.

Oh no. Not an accident. It can’t be. Not now. But it is. the shoes are there. But who, a Bukit Mewah student? Or a young man? Or a teacher? No way…never…

I stood there for what seemed like eternity and saw some of my friends rush about, helping and running up to the school to get help. And then finally, I felt a lurch. I quickly ran to the bus stop (that is where everyone was crowding at) and weaved my way through the crowd. A long haired girl was sitting with her two legs a little bit awkwardly bended on the side of the road. It was as though as she had been squatting and then had fallen onto her left side without moving her legs. I didn’t recognize her. Maybe a Form 3 girl. And I weaved out. Then I met a friend that a hurried look on her face.

“Did you see her?”

“Yeah, who is it?”

“Narmadha. Now you only know?”

“Narmadha? But-oh.”

I suddenly realized that the thingy that tied her hair together must have dropped out with the force of the collision. Collision? Then I remembered that there had to be two people. I walked back towards the crowd but went past them. Another friend was just about to cross the road.

“Crazy lah. The girl.”

“Oh. The motorcycle leh?”

“Don’t know. I think he ran away already lah.”

“Okay…”

So, a hit-and-run case. Then I walked back to the place I had been before the accident. Crossing the road was a thing I didn’t know at the moment. As I walked back to the spot I was standing before, some people were pointing at a pair of glasses that most probable belonged to Narmadha. So I stopped and gazed at the glasses, not daring to pick it up yet. And I was closing my eyes a couple of times just to wait for the crunching sound, meaning that the specs was broken, as several cars passed over it. It’s a miracle it was still not broken. Then, the first friend came over and pointed out the specs to me.

“That’s Narmadha’s spectacles!”

“Go pick it up lah.”

“No, you go lah.”

“Fine.”

So, seeing that the road was clear, I rushed to the pair of spectacles, picked it up and rushed back. I gave it to the friend who squeezed through the crowd and gave it to the girl. Then-

“Alvan!”

I spunned around to see my mom waving her hands franticly at me. Then, I remembered that I was supposed to cross the road. Feeling a little guilty, I was about to do that when-

“Careful ah! Car!”

I was looking right and left. Yes, there were cars but what’s so frightening about them? I guess my mother was shocked by the accident (which probably meant that she witnessed it) from the wide-eyed look on her face. Not to worry, I’m used to that. So, I safely crossed that road and walked back to the car, talking with my mother.

“Careful! And where were you? I was waiting for you to cross the road!”

“Mom, who is that Chinese man?”

“He was waiting for his son. The son is in Form 5. He didn’t know that they had exams today! I think the son forgot to tell him that today the Form 5s are taking compulsory subjects today for the trials.”

Today was the SPM trial examination. My sister is Form 5 so I was going home earlier than her. The trial exam is until 4 something in the afternoon.

I can’t write down my entire conversation with my mum but I knew that she saw the accident and saw the girl rolling on the road after the collision with the motorbike and that she was very stunned. On the way home my mom saw a motorcycle, or The Motorcycle.

“Alvan, that’s the motorcycle!”

“Where? That one ah?”

“Yes, try to see the number plate.”

I turned around in my seat and squinted my eyes for a better look.

“I think it is NBQ something”

I soon found out that this most probably wrong. But, it didn’t matter; the Chinese

man that I talked about with my mother earlier had recorded the number plate and had said that this was a matter for the police. He had particularly taken charge of the situation. A good thing alright.

The situation seen from my friends’ eyes:

Well, I got quite a mess here. I was trying to get the full, unabridged version of the accident but too bad, everyone has a different pair of eyes. You can’t blame God for that. So anyway, I will just tell you all of it.

I have quite forgotten all the witnesses I asked but I can list a few…Mathana, Hannah Pereira, Izzat, my mum and Abbirami(who got some information from Charanya). And there might be some parts you may find funny.

Apparently one of my friends (I think it is Mathana) said that Kevinarrsh and Narmadha were playing the Hands-recharge-shoot game and they betted 10 ringgit. Narmadha lost and became 10 ringgit poorer. So they were crossing the road after her (she had crossed the road earlier) and she came back to Kevinarrsh to get the money back and had paused in the middle of the lane and the motorcycle had come speeding and the next events were obvious. Well, I am not telling what happened after the collision yet, you know, save the action-packed part of the story for later. And do know that I am not making fun of the whole accident.

According to my mum, Narmadha had rolled a few times on the road and her head had several times hit the road while rolling. Ouch.

And Abbirami said that she was on the bus home and saw a speeding motorbike that is believed to have hit her. And she said that Charanya said that Narmadha had hit her head and now had a scar on her head.

And according to Navvin (I forgot to list him), the motorcyclist was a Form

4 Indian student at SMK Bukit Mewah. And for your information, the motorcycle was red and white and the motorcyclist was wearing a white t-shirt and school pants.(according to Mathana and Navvin)

And Hannah P. said that Kevinarrsh had asked Narmadha to stand in the middle of the road and someone had asked her to close her eyes and do the “walk of faith”. Narmadha had waited for a lorry to pass, seen the motorcycle, and tried to beat the motorcycle by running across the lane. Her shoe had been caught in the wheel of the motorcycle and she had been drag for a distance. I believed her story to Mathana’s because she had been in front of Narmadha when the accident happened. (Stephanie had been right in front of Narmadha, too, second from the right of Hannah)

Okay, this is what happened after the collision. Narmadha is believed to have got her foot caught in motorcycle wheel, thrown forward (her shoe and glasses came out), hit her head on the road slightly, rolled on the road after being hit by the skidding motorcycle, (the motorcyclist had fallen off the motorcycle when it had started to fall and skid) and being carried to the side of the road (the bus stop) by the Chinese man, and the motorcyclist had speeded away. And some people claimed to have seen (and I believed them though I didn’t see it) something light blue. (I cannot say what)*stifled laughter* No insults though.

For your information, now Narmadha is at home and can’t walk or walks with difficulty because she injured her hip. As I am not her best friend I can’t tell much more.

So, that’s about it and I don’t feel I should make it longer. I am say sorry to any of you who knew about the accident and my version is wrong. But telling you about the incident is not what I am writing this post for. I actually want to tell you that Narmadha could have…suffered severe injuries. More severe injuries than she has now. (sorry Narmadha if you find this insulting) Life and death are things so close yet opposites. So, be thankful you are still alive today. Praise God each day that you are still here. I learned about this from an uncle who is suffering from kidney problems. He nearly died when he went into a comma and went to hell and back to earth. He has been a Christian ever since. If you want to know more, just ask me.

And I send my "Get well real soon" Words to Narmadha. See you in school soon, I hope.