The Scariest 40 Minutes of my life
It was a pleasant morning in Vijayawada. I woke up at my uncle's house and before the morning newspaper was delivered, I flicked through Google for any important news and checked the weather on my smartphone. The maximum temperature was going to be 27 degrees with light showers.
A perfect day for a long drive...or so I thought.
We started back from Vijayawada (approximately 250kms) to Hyderabad at 8:00AM. After visiting Vedadri at 3:00PM, we were driving back on the small road which connects Vedadri to the Highway. One look in the rear view mirror told me that we were in for a big storm. The landscape looked beautiful on one side, and on the other, big dark clouds painted the sky gray.
We were just 4Kms from the Highway and I prayed, "God, please wait till I get onto the highway". I had no intention of getting stuck in a small village with a kutcha road.3Kms... and the winds caught up with us. The trees on either side swayed dangerously...Branches started falling. 2Kms...it started as a drizzle,1km... the wipers were in full action.
Finally, I got onto the highway..Relieved that God listened to my prayer, I accelerated when something threw a bucketful of water on the windshield. My first thought was, some mad lorry driver must have gone past me. Splash!! Splash!! Splash!! whats going on?
I will never forget the next 30 minutes. I've only ever heard of the line "Rain coming down in torrents". Now, I was experiencing it.
Within minutes, the entire scene changed. Cars braked suddenly coming to a halt on the highway with the headlights on and the parking lights flashing. It was like someone put a white sheet in front of us. The sun was just a hazy ball hardly visible between all the rain. The winds shook the car. I took shelter next to a big lorry.
Ramya(my wife), sat in the passenger seat telling me how strong the winds were, I could see that she was worried. Mom in the back seat was praying silently, Dad was his usual anxious self, looking around trying to see what was happening around us..Srika(my 4 year old niece) sat singing happily in the back seat, oblivious to what was happening. I was little annoyed by the rain, since it was going to affect the driving time. And although things looked a bit dangerous, I was confident that my family was safe inside.
After about 10 Minutes, Srika said "Mama, naku bayam vestundi" (translated - Mama, I am scared). Thats when I panicked. I dont know why, I was confident till that point, sure that nothing bad could happen, me and my family will get through this safely. But, after that, I panicked. I was supposed to be the brave one, I was supposed to re-assure my wife and parents that everything was going to be fine.
Doubts started setting in, all sorts of thoughts passed my mind, was this a flood prone area? did we cross any rivers that were full? After 15 anxious and fear filled minutes, the storm passed. I was never so happy to see the Sun shine again.
Looking back, I realized that events like these make you realize that nothing can be taken for granted. Especially nature. And when Natures angry, there is nothing you can do. And I also thought back, why did fear set in only after I heard my niece say that she was afraid? Did she and her song give me courage?
A dialogue came to my mind.
Gandalf - Why Bilbo Baggins? I don't know. Perhaps because I am afraid, and he gives me courage.
It was a pleasant morning in Vijayawada. I woke up at my uncle's house and before the morning newspaper was delivered, I flicked through Google for any important news and checked the weather on my smartphone. The maximum temperature was going to be 27 degrees with light showers.
A perfect day for a long drive...or so I thought.
We started back from Vijayawada (approximately 250kms) to Hyderabad at 8:00AM. After visiting Vedadri at 3:00PM, we were driving back on the small road which connects Vedadri to the Highway. One look in the rear view mirror told me that we were in for a big storm. The landscape looked beautiful on one side, and on the other, big dark clouds painted the sky gray.
We were just 4Kms from the Highway and I prayed, "God, please wait till I get onto the highway". I had no intention of getting stuck in a small village with a kutcha road.3Kms... and the winds caught up with us. The trees on either side swayed dangerously...Branches started falling. 2Kms...it started as a drizzle,1km... the wipers were in full action.
Finally, I got onto the highway..Relieved that God listened to my prayer, I accelerated when something threw a bucketful of water on the windshield. My first thought was, some mad lorry driver must have gone past me. Splash!! Splash!! Splash!! whats going on?
I will never forget the next 30 minutes. I've only ever heard of the line "Rain coming down in torrents". Now, I was experiencing it.
Within minutes, the entire scene changed. Cars braked suddenly coming to a halt on the highway with the headlights on and the parking lights flashing. It was like someone put a white sheet in front of us. The sun was just a hazy ball hardly visible between all the rain. The winds shook the car. I took shelter next to a big lorry.
Ramya(my wife), sat in the passenger seat telling me how strong the winds were, I could see that she was worried. Mom in the back seat was praying silently, Dad was his usual anxious self, looking around trying to see what was happening around us..Srika(my 4 year old niece) sat singing happily in the back seat, oblivious to what was happening. I was little annoyed by the rain, since it was going to affect the driving time. And although things looked a bit dangerous, I was confident that my family was safe inside.
After about 10 Minutes, Srika said "Mama, naku bayam vestundi" (translated - Mama, I am scared). Thats when I panicked. I dont know why, I was confident till that point, sure that nothing bad could happen, me and my family will get through this safely. But, after that, I panicked. I was supposed to be the brave one, I was supposed to re-assure my wife and parents that everything was going to be fine.
Doubts started setting in, all sorts of thoughts passed my mind, was this a flood prone area? did we cross any rivers that were full? After 15 anxious and fear filled minutes, the storm passed. I was never so happy to see the Sun shine again.
Looking back, I realized that events like these make you realize that nothing can be taken for granted. Especially nature. And when Natures angry, there is nothing you can do. And I also thought back, why did fear set in only after I heard my niece say that she was afraid? Did she and her song give me courage?
A dialogue came to my mind.
Gandalf - Why Bilbo Baggins? I don't know. Perhaps because I am afraid, and he gives me courage.
