That horrid night! I am yet to come out of the shock. The fear of death so close-by, a fear almost shrunk my heart. Anything could have happened, that ...dreadful night. I shall pray it doesn’t occur to anyone anymore ever again. This is a true story to be told, to be shared so that we are careful ...yet the trust, the hope in us is restored.
I started at 6:00 PM from Bangalore with my wife and sis in Verna, we started off towards a journey back home with a heavy heart; for leaving our loved ones behind & the times which were spent cheerfully & merrily together. Through Google map, we were able to locate NH7, the Highway which connected the route from Bangalore to Hyderabad. I was driving and my wife sat beside, while my sis dozed off behind. It was 10.15 PM, & we had passed quite a few kilometres. There was pitch black darkness ahead of me and I saw only too late that a Truck was almost stationary in front of me and i crashed into it. After I realize that I crashed into a truck which had absolute no break lights or any lights whatsoever to indicate me of his presence.
I completely distraught. A fraction of second maybe while we were sorting out things, the windshield crashed slowly into pieces. My sis said “come on, let’s get away from this high-way quickly...it’s dangerous” and I replied to that, “The car cannot move an inch further, the engine is totally crashed.” “ A speeding truck almost dashed into our car”...I rushed out & examined how badly it was crushed...we almost escaped death. It was disastrous, however ONLY by God’s grace, we were saved. Just minor scratches here ‘n there but otherwise not injured. My wife and sis tried to remain composed, as they did not want me to panic more; seeing there sorry state.
That was not the end. It was national highway with trucks speeding away and we were stuck there with no help, nothing almost. On either ways there were open fields and nothing visible at all. We were 15-20 kms away from Ananthpur. Surely with two females at this juncture, everything seemed bleak and we could imagine all the worst things. We frantically called every helpline numbers that we possibly could but nothing turned fruitful. We could not inform anyone at home for obvious reasons, we did not want to frighten them. Just when we were fretting and worrying, two men dressed in white clothes riding on a bike, stopped by. One appeared petite and slightly sullen whereas; the other quite lean and tall. Though there was moonlight, the faces were not distinct. Looking at them, I told my wife and sis to pulled up the windows and locked the car inside. I stood outside, & they approached me. They were returning from some party and were slightly drunk. Extremely petrified we all were, as ANYTHING could have happened if we were ill-fated. They saw that we were in trouble, almost inspected the car roundabout, and offered to help us. We had no choice but to look forward to that. No matter how much assurance they gave, “you are in safe hands”, “we will help you out” somehow, there was still a cloud of doubt. He apparently informed that he was a central government employee, and the other companion a political guy. For more than hour or so they tried to contact their peers who could immediately arrange vehicles that can tow the damaged car and also help us reach our destination safely. Those guys reiterated that it was simply God’s will that they passed by that route otherwise they had some other plans.
It was past midnight, a couple of hours later two cabs arrived with a group of men. Our anxiety only multiplied. We started, still unsure and sceptical who these people were, and on arriving what next is in store for us. Leaving everything to destiny we took a chance. Almost an hour later we reached the nearby town. On our way, my wife called one of her cousins to inform about the mishap & coincidentally he too was on his way to Hyderabad and was 70 kms behind our current location. On hearing, he drove at the maximum speed to catch up with us. We waited for him to arrive at the spot, that’s when we could see a pinch of hope. Those two men turned out to be God Sent...angels in disguise. By now their intentions were clear; all they wanted was to get us out of the trouble. To help us selflessly. Am sure, nothing can ever pay back such a gesture, but our well-wishes and prayers for them and their family shall always be. (Thank you Verna and the strangers)
Our cousin arrived and I sighed a sense of relief as now there was someone reliable with whom they could get back to Hyderabad while I decided to be in the car that was to be towed back, which would move very slowly and take extra hours to reach. We had no other option.
7.00 AM next morning my wife and sis reached safe. Almost awake the whole night with unnerving tensions mounting each moment. I reached much later in the evening almost shaken to the core around 6.00PM. Yes, I was thankful but probably very frightened ...only if the course of events took a devastating turn...I could have never forgiven himself...
I say, after all it was the car that got damaged which can be repaired, if it were human lives...I doubt!
GUYS PLEASE DRIVE SAFE.. |