A very close friend “Chaddi dost - CD”, is a resident of Hyderabad, working for an IT Major in Bangalore. We casually met on Friday night to bid goodbye and wished him a safe journey, as he was travelling from Bangalore to pick up his family in Hyderabad and return to Bangalore over the weekend. At any cost, CD had to reach his office on Monday to meet his deadlines.
Saturday morning at 0630, I heard a someone ringing door bell. Me, being very lazy, sinking myself to get more sleep on the weekend, pleaded the missus to attend to it, while I covered myself with a blanket rolling over the mattress. It was a common friend of who came from 12 kms from our house and sat next to me and mumbled, “Our Chaddi dost met with an accident”
I jumped over the bed and landed on my feet like an “Olympic pole vault athlete”. He pronounced “He is safe and sound, only the car has taken the beating. BTW, CD was trying to reach you on your mobile for close to an hour and the phone was unanswered”. I asked my wife to help look for my phone. I see 27 missed calls from CD.
I called back instantaneously and he reacted “Rey idiot, where did you stick your phone.......with obscene language. Yes, I deserve this for not answering his call while he was suffering. Have patiently taken all the confrontations and waiting for him to pause, I mellowed down and the conversation went on.
Myself : Are you hurt?
CD : No, but car went into a ditch on the road side.
Myself : Are you able to walk or have any injuries to your body.
CD : No, I’m absolutely fine.
Myself : Good. Which location is that?
CD : This happened at a hamlet called “Pamidi”, 35 km away from Anantapur, towards Hyderabad and was explaining the whole scene… (I cut short the discussion)
Myself : I’m starting now, hang in there. See if you can find any shelter (I requested him to call the customer car for towing).
I started off towards the location in my shorts, informed the missus to not to wait for me and promised to keep in touch. I grabbed my wallet, keys and zoomed off. During the travel, I was conversing with CD over the phone, trying to console him, while CD was narrating the whole act like an episode from "Final Destination". He had described a couple of landmarks to help me avoid passing the site. Back then, Google Maps, location sharing, 3G etc. were very feeble. Rather, we didn't know how to use it. I pretended to be Michael Schumacher, racing past every vehicle in sight and then spotted a guy who came sprinting raising his hand. I was puzzled as to who this guy was? After coming closer, I recognized him to be my friend. He had become tan from the scorching sun, sweating all over. I was not able to identify him from far. He was petrified & fumbling. Pulled over towards him and alighted. We hugged each other. There was a silence for brief period. We sat together under a the Mango tree, without dialogue. We were about to get emotional and break down. It was a dramatic situation. Before it got worse, I regained my senses and said “let’s walk down and inspect the vehicle.”
It took me four hours to reach the mess. CD was trying to pass a truck, which was on the extreme Left. While approaching the truck, the driver chose to take a right to avoid a slow moving tractor in front him. CD panicked and slammed the brakes and pulled the car towards the left after letting the truck pass. Due to the loose gravel on the shoulder, the car swung out and landed front facing down, presenting its back to an 8 metre deep storm water drain following the mango orchard all along the road. We required a proper hauling truck to winch it out. The nearest tow truck needed at least 4 hours to reach.
In the middle of the day, we were looking for a place to have decent snack. Upon probing the caretaker of the mango orchard, he led us to the same Pamidi village. This settlement is tucked 4 km away from the highway. On reaching the place, folks pointed us to a lady organizing a shack. CD was deprived of breakfast and the lady swiftly spread out a plantain leaf and served steaming rice, sambar trailed by rasam & curd.
After a sumptuous lunch, we still had 3 more hours for the tow truck to show up. There was Telugu flick screening in a tent opposite the shack. We assumed the best way to spend some time would be by viewing the show. We received a call from the truck driver and put the car on the truck for Hyderabad. Kurnool was the adjacent place to visit, but the work on the car would take time. We believed Hyderabad would be ideal, as it would be easy to monitor the progress of the work with known service staff at our disposal. At 2200 hours, we got an acknowledgement from truck driver. We reached CD’s home, behaving as if nothing had happened.
Act of destiny: CD was supposed to reach home for breakfast. Instead, we had supper together at his residence.
Following day, we picked up CD's family and returned to Bangalore. All through the travel, CD's wife had queries running in her mind:
What happened to our car? Why did this fellow come to Hyderabad?
It was CD's turn, to respond to his partner

.