Stranded and rescued: 'I thank him every Diwali'

Yesterday a Rediff staffer shared his experience of being stranded in the middle of nowhere and being helped out by a bunch of unknown people. We invited readers to share similar stories.

Here VS Narayanan shares his this experience:

This happened when I was working as deputy manager in a bank in Delhi in 1991.

I was riding back to my flat at East Delhi from West Delhi on my Bajaj Chetak Scooter with my wife and kid of eight months. The distance to be travelled was around 40 kms on a chilly night and it was Diwali eve. On Jail Road and near Tihar Jail, the back wheel got punctured. Luckily I was able to find a mechanic (who was closing down) to set right the puncture and after taking the payment, he quickly shut shop saying that on Diwali eve no one works this late. In fact, all of Delhi goes into festival mode by the evening itself and back in those days you could hardly find anyone on Jail Road past 8.30 pm.

After riding for another kilometre, the back wheel got punctured again. This place was more desolate than the first and with my wife and daughter with me, unable to send them by auto as there were none, I stood helpless. I removed the wheel and started walking, hoping to find help nearby, but after 30 minutes of searching, I gave up. When I returned to the spot where I had left my scooter and family, I found that an elderly stranger was talking to my wife. From a distance all sorts of thoughts came to my mind and I approached them with anxiety. Fortunately the stranger was talking in English (being from Chennai our knowledge of Hindi was restricted) and he told me that he was from the army and from Kerala. He suggested that my wife and child stay for a while at his house, which was a kilometer away and he would come back and take me to a mechanic who was not very far.

It was tough decision to take. I decided to send my wife and child with him and discretely noted his scooter number. The 10 minutes he took to come back was the worst in my life with random thoughts coming and turning my stomach.

He did return though and took me to the mechanic as promised. The whole exercise took about 30 minutes after which It turned out that the previous mechanic in a hurry to finish things up had reversed the air tube in the wheel, which had resulted in the second puncture.

When we returned to his house, I was stunned -- he was a major general in the Indian army staying in a large house provided by the army complete with guards and all. My daughter was happily playing around the place!

Ashamed of my earlier thoughts and not to trouble him further I thanked him with as best I could and took his leave.

He gave me his telephone number and told me to confirm our reaching home. With no telephones around late in the night and in the house, the best I could do was to ring him up the next morning to thank him again. But I could get only an engaged tone continuously.

After trying for repeatedly over two days, I thought there might be a mistake in the number and I would thank him when I travelled there the coming week.

The third day I received a call from the major asking me whether I had reached safely. I thanked him again and told him sheepishly that I tried his number but was getting an engaged tone. He then told me that army phones ring that way and gets connected after some time. Before he could come and pick up the phone from his large house I had disconnected possibly.

I could not meet the major after that because of my job transfers, but every Diwali eve, I think of him.

Have you been stranded in the middle of nowhere and been helped out by absolutely unknown but wonderful people? Share your experiences with us. Write in to getahead@rediff.co.in (subject line: 'Stranded and rescued') along with your photograph, or a pic of those who helped you. We'll publish the most interesting stories right here.

Sudhakalyan Kauta tells us of the time when he almost missed a career-defining examination:

I am excited to share this experience that changed my life. I was appearing for EAMCET (Engineering entrance examination in Andhra Pradesh) in 1997. My exam centre was on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

The exam was on two days with Physics and Chemistry scheduled on the first day and Maths on the next.

The transport authority scheduled some special buses to the venue on the first day and it was smooth. I wrote the exam moderately well.

On the second day, there was no scheduled stop at my exam venue. So I had to walk for some distance (around half a kilometre). Since I was not familiar with the route, I missed a narrow lane, which lead to the venue. As I was walking, I realised that something was wrong with the route I took. So I asked a passerby for a lift hoping he would take me to the venue (that was the first time in my life I asked anyone for a lift!).

Unfortunately, he took me to the exit of the venue, which was 5 km away from the hall. The exam was scheduled at 10 am and it was already 9.45.

Something told me that I would still make it to the venue, not knowing how. Finally after walking some distance, I thought "Okay, one lift took me too far. Hope the next lift will take me closer," and asked another passerby for a lift. I told him my situation, and to my luck, he knew of the venue! He dropped me there just five minutes before the examinations started.

I wrote the exam and got a good rank and engineering seat too. Later I did my MTech and happily settled into the software industry. Every time I think of my career, I thank that "stranger" who made all this possible. I somehow don't think of the person who almost spoiled my day.

Rajesh Kumar writes in of his trip to The Netherlands when he had to hitch a ride on a kid's bicycle:

Earlier this year I was travelling to The Netherlands for a conference. I stayed at Katwijk a sea town that is a little cheaper than Noordwijk. The centre where the conference was being held was in the middle of the two towns.

The first three days were very busy so I didn't get the time to sightsee. Finally, on the fourth day I decided to give one lecture a pass and headed out to Noordwijk. I reached there at about 4 pm. The idea was to return to my hotel in Katwijk after spending an hour in Noordwijk.

However when I decided to leave I realised that there was no transport available to go to Katwijk. People told me that the town was a little over eight km away. A Danish man offered me a ride but I turned it down thinking it might be a good walk back to the hotel. Besides the sun was still shining.

Initially it was fun. But as the sun went down I began to get nervous. Yet I kept telling myself that I must have covered 3 km. Then by mistake I entered a park which had a circular pavement so 20 minutes later, I reached the same place from where I had started. An old man showed me the way out of the park. I was back on track but didn't know how far I was from my destination.

I reached another village and saw some schoolboys riding their bicycles. They told me that they didn't know the way but one of them offered me a ride to take me to his parents who he said would definitely know.

I was feeling very sheepish -- taking a lift from a 12-year-old boy. So I offered to ride the cycle instead. He refused saying I was a guest in their country. After riding for over 2 km he told me we would now meet his parents. But I was already feeling ashamed so I lied to him saying I remembered the way from there.

I kept walking about in a dazed manner when a lady pulled over. She asked me if I needed directions. I said I did. Thankfully she knew where the hotel was and told me she was driving in the same direction.

Finally, after four hours of walking alone on the highway in almost freezing temperatures, I reached my hotel!