By Yuvraaj Singh
Road trips are never fun without your pals. And lifetime memories are sometimes made when your very life is in danger. I will never forget that hair-raising night…
I had planned a trip from New Delhi to Bhutan by car with my college friends Samarth and Kartik before our external exams. We never guessed that what awaited us would be a nightmarish experience.
At about 6 in the evening, Kartik’s car broke down. There were many people walking around, and we spotted some who looked like cops. We asked them to help and they handed our car to a mechanic. It was almost 7 pm by then.
So far, so good. Then the cops offered to take us for a walk. As we approached a rather forlorn stretch, I began to smell something fishy, though my friends still looked quite cool. After some time, we said we should go get the car, and that’s when the nightmare started: the “cops” asked us to shell out money. We gave the men almost all the cash we had, which wasn’t much because all of us were carrying cards. They also took away our mobile phones.
It was 11:00 at night, and we were all sweating as the clock ticked. Irrational thoughts began to float through our minds. Samarth seemed to accept that it was probably his last day. But Kartik, who never gave up easily, had a plan. My thought was the same—if we had to die why not try before dying.
We summoned all the courage we had and decided to wait till the car got back on the track. Meanwhile, I deflated the tyres of their car. At last, one of the fake cops drove in with the repaired car and we swung into action. Luckily, Samarth had kept some offline maps and Kartik had extra keys to his car—he travels with two keys as he always forgets them inside the car.
It was 12:30 am and the cops were busy smoking. We seized the moment and sped off, hitting 110 km an hour. It was one hell of a night and till date, I get chills whenever I share this with someone.
Tips from Yuvraaj
I am a businessman & I love to go on road trips with my college mates. Everybody learns from travelling. I have learnt a lot, especially from this incident and it helped me grow as an individual. There are three things I would advise you to keep in mind:
- Carry offline maps
2. Have an extra pair of keys on your person
3. Most importantly, keep your wits about you, no matter what the situation. There is always a way out.
If you think this was nothing short of a horror story, read about this couple’s baffling experience in Europe.
