Walking With Krishna

CHAPTER ONE        May 20th, 2007- A Night to Remember
    It was a Sunday night. Everything seemed too good to be true. I found myself in the middle of all my students who were from ages six to ten years old. They were all dressed up in their dance costumes; the costumes looked pretty bright and shiny as they were supposed to be all dressed up to be in the spotlight - it was their end of the year dance recital. We were on the stage left side line of the dance floor hall at the State Theater in New Brunswick, New Jersey. This was the Paramus NJ, small group, one of the two groups I taught part-time with Arya Dance Academy. I kneeled down and said, “Guys, guys, hey hey, gather around put your hands in, come on, look, you already know this dance inside and out, now you gotta show everyone else ok, just do one thing for me and when you dance, just remember to have the biggest smile on your face and be happy, can you guys do that for me, k, Arya on three, one…two…three….ARYA!”The lights dimmed down, and the announcer said the next dance number that was about to begin. I walked onto the stage to place the kids in their proper positions, and went back to stage left looking on. The lights came back on and the music had started. As much as was already going on in my life, drama, family ordeals, college struggles, and relationships, seeing those kids dance away with the brightest costumes shimmering in the spotlight, dance relieved everything away as always. All my pain was gone instantly. I cheered and clapped on like a crazed fan from the side, they were my students, and I wanted to encourage them on.  
 “Good bye Rupal Aunty.”
Later Dipal, oooo before you go, pictures pictures. -Rupal
All right all right.
I need to get my butt home before mom starts yelling and getting mad at why I’m out so late especially now that I was home on the weekends. Man, living under her roof is like lock down, you got to always tell her who your with, where you’re going, does she know them, do you have any money, when will you be back, and pick up your damn phone whenever she calls, even if it’s in the middle of a dance recital and she’s right there in the second row watching on. Ugh… Indian parents, chill back. Surprisingly, there weren’t that many police officers on the roads and highways on my way back home from New Brunswick. But still, I lived an hour and half away. I couldn’t risk it; I could still hear my father’s voices in my head…. “Go slow betta, dhere ja.” It’s like Dad, chill back, I got this, I aint no rookie you know. I was 19 years old, been driving for nearly two years now, when I sped, I speeded, it was Jersey, the limit saying 65mph really meant going 80mph. I left the diner around midnight and took the Century Road exit to cut the cross street Fairview avenue where my house street gets off from. The speed limit there was 35mph, and in a residential zone so I never took chances, especially when there were hardly that many people on the road on at this hour. I was nearing three to four blocks away from my house street, Haase Ave. I was going straight on the two lane street, when on the opposite side of me another car was making a right turn onto a street, and a car behind it jumped the gun and came on to my lane.
OH SHIT! Made a quick ass sharp right turn, and hit the top curb of the street block as I was now going down the hill of the church street, literally the block before my street. WHAT THE FUCK??My brakes, wouldn’t budge, what the hell was up with that shit? I looked down, and from the back a packaged water bottle of Poland Spring got caught underneath my brake. This must have happened as I hit the curb as I made the hard right to avoid a head on collision with the other car, UGH, stupid woman drivers.MOVE BITCH, MOVEEE!The bottle wouldn’t budge at all. Ok, let me take off this stupid seatbelt, and so I did, and bent forward and down to reach the bottle. Never mind that since I am actually going downhill, I am actually picking up speed and accelerating now, to speeds nearing 50mph. I GOTCHU YOU LITTLE PIECE OF FUCKK!!As I was lifting the water bottle, my car hit with full force head on an island curb in the middle of the church parking lot. The steering wheel was only inches from my face as I was bent down to pick up the bottle. The last thing I remember was the rapid flush of the airbag popping out. It was so fast that it jerked my head back against the back head rest of my driver’s seat with such force. I dropped the water bottle which rolled back underneath my seat, and my head kept hitting back and forth against back seat and airbag. I was completely knocked out. I was unconscious at the scene of the car accident when the Paramus police officers and paramedics arrived. It seemed strange to them as they all were intrigued to find out the cause of the situation. They were unable to interrogate or interview me as I was still unconscious at the scene when they arrived. They put me on the stretcher and in a neck cast. The New Jersey Police Crash Investigation Report, stated in their 135 Crash Description:
{Veh #1 entered the parking lot of 234 Farview Ave. and struck a curbed median. Front airbags deployed. The driver was unresponsive, thus officers were unable to interview him. Treated at scene by EMS #1 and ALS #401 and transported to HUMC.}
Date of the crash was May 21st 2007, as it happened a half hour to an hour after midnight. During the ambulance ride to HUMC (Hackensack University Medical Center) was when I first regained my consciousness, and was that an experience. They opened up my eyelids and flashed a strong LED light close to my eyes snapping me wide awake. I could move little as I was strapped onto a stretcher and had a cast around my neck and head. The paramedics started asking questions.
Hey buddy, hey hey, look at me, can you tell me what happened? (The paramedic officer asked)
Huh, what? What’s going on? – I was clueless…
Hey hey, you tell us that, you got into a car incident, what happened?
My head, oh ow, my head, my head my head my head!
Dude, did you strap on the brace to tight I think? – EMS Officer 1 said to the other
I thought it was alright, lemme recheck it. – EMS Officer 2
Hey listen, are you ok? Do we need to take you to the hospital? – EMS1
Hospital? Where am I now?
Call HUMC, make sure their expecting another one tonight, hey can you tell me your name?- EMS1
Name? My name? No, I don’t know name
This kid better not be pulling something from House MD on me –EMS1
Dude, I think he hit his head rather hard then we thought, check for swells or bruises – EMS2
There’s nothing –EMS1
We gotta get him in, it could be internal. –EMS2
Ow my head, my head.
Alright, strap him down, hey can you tell me what year it is? – EMS1
His license is 1987 issued, makes him what 19 right now. – EMS2
Yeah, kids can’t drive these days, can they not see a freaking curb before they hit into it, such a       waste of time man. – EMS1
1987?
K, he’s a bit messed up, we’re taking him in. –EMS2

I had no idea what happened. I didn’t know where I was… hell? I didn’t know who I was or what I even looked like. Was I that messed up to be in a stretcher strapped in? Was I really involved in a car accident? What was name? Did I have a name? What was year? What was year 1987? Why was this thing I was strapped into moving? Why do I hear such strange noises that sound so irritating? So many questions had kept on coming from all different angles into my mind. My head was pounding, like someone was drilling an iron into it. From hindsight I know that it was the sirens creating the noises, it was really the year 2007, and my name was, is and will be Dipal… or so they told me at that time.