Stranded & rescued: 'He came out of nowhere!'

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.

H Chakrapani tells us how he was helped during his ill-fated road trip to Shimoga

It was December 2006 and my cousin was getting married in Shimoga (a town in Karnataka), which is about 280kms from Bangalore. Since my wife had just delivered a baby, we thought of leaving her behind. But my in-laws wanted to be part of the celebrations.

Initially, I was planning to take a train or bus to Shimoga. However a week before our journey, I secretly decided to drive down spring the surprise my wife and in-laws on the day we were to leave.

The idea was to ensure they have a comfortable journey. Before I left, I got the necessary checks done on the vehicle. We were supposed to leave at 3.00pm, but I got delayed at work and we left at half past five and was hoping to reach Shimoga at 11.30 pm.

When I told them about the idea of driving down my father-in-law was dead against it. He even suggested we take the next bus to Shimoga. Finally they relented.

At about 6.45 I began to realise my folly. I was not aware of the road or traffic conditions. But I was too proud to admit it.

However, as soon as I crossed the outer limits of Bangalore, the drive was very pleasant. Though it was getting a bit colder. I was on NH 4 clocking 90-100 kmph with my windows rolled down. We reached Tumkur at around 8pm.

I asked a traffic cop for directions here and was told to take the route via Gubbi, Tiptur, Arasikere, Kadur, Birur, Bhadravati and finally Shimoga.

I re-calculated the estimated time of arrival and thought we should get there at about 12.30 an hour behind our original scheduled time.

Soon, we were out of Tumkur town and were on NH 206. We finally reached Tiptur town by 9.15pm and decided to break for dinner.

We stopped at a roadside hotel point. I ate light since I was driving and we headed out.

An hour later while we were driving through what looked like a dense forest the front tyre punctured. It was past 11 pm and with no lights around I could barely see. No one was stopping to help. So I started removing the wheel. As I was struggling a Maruti Van stopped and about five guys asked me what was wrong. I was suspicious. They said they could point their car in my directions so I had enough light to change the tyre.

Minutes later, I was back on the road. They told me there was a puncture store at a little distance. Sure enough, I encountered it but was told that the tube was beyond repair.

I continued driving and was more scared than ever and feeling a little guilty about putting my in-laws through all this.

It was half past midnight now and we were still about 20 km away from the nearest habitable location (Kadur) when the same tyre got punctured.

I called up my cousin, explained the situation to him and requested him to send us a car. With some difficulty I managed to tell him our location. I continued driving. By now the tyre was in a really bad shape already but there was nothing I could do. A man driving from the opposite direction came from nowhere and offered to help. He suggested he could offer my father-in-law a ride and could somehow fix the spare tyre so we could at least reach Kadur.

It took about half an hour to fix the puncture and replace the wheel by when my cousin had traced us. I drove down till Kadur where I requested a petrol pump attendant to leave my car there till the next day. It was 3.30 am when we finally reached Shimoga. The wedding was at 6.30 am. It went well but I was feeling terrible for making my in-laws go through all the trouble.

After the wedding I hired a driver to drive us back to Bangalore, picked up two new tyres and tubes, reached Kadur and got the tyres replaced. From there it was a smooth drive.

We reached Bangalore by 9.30pm and narrated the whole incident to my wife. The usual verbiage ensued, but I could successfully calm her nerves.

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.

Richard Chang tells of his monsoon nightmare.

This happened to me 10 years ago. I live in Kolkata and people living here know how it is when it rains heavily.

I live in Tangra and was in office, which is in Southern Avenue, about 12 km away, when it started raining heavily.

I stayed back in office and was waiting for the rain to stop but decided to leave after a point.

I took out my scooter and started for home. Even though the traffic was heavy and it was still raining, I managed to reach Park Circus, a good 5 km away from home. The scene there was chaotic, water everywhere, only a portion of the road in the middle was still visible.

In this melee, my scooter started to act funny. It was not starting. As usual, wherever there are people stranded, there are other people who come forward to help, or at least ask what has happened. One such guy, a helper in a mechanic shop, spotted me and said he could start the scooter, to which, I readily agreed. He could somehow manage to get it started and I paid him the Rs 50 that he asked for.

My problems were over or so I thought. But after going for a few meters, it wouldn't start again. Fortunately, by now, the rain had stopped. But I was still a good 5 km from home and I still had to cross a flyover.

Somehow, from nowhere, a guy came on his bike and asked me if I wanted a push. I didn't have any idea how he was going to do it.

What he did completely astonished me.

All the scooters have a side leg rest where the person sitting behind can rest his feet. He opened it and put his right leg, which is used for braking, behind it and started pushing from behind. As his bike was moving, so was my scooter. After a point where he had top go ahead and I had to take a left, he left. I just couldn't get a chance to thank him.

Even though I have lost memory of the all the details, I still remember this nice gesture. If not for him, I would have been pushing my scooter for a good 4-5 km. If I ever get to meet him again, I want to thank him for what he had done. But alas, I don't remember his face.