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.
Unspeakably well expressed and neatly written...:)Good Going..BTW When did it actually happen?
ReplyDeleteThanks,
ReplyDeleteThis happened couple of weeks ago. A storm in the middle of summer. It made no sense at all.
scared because of the kind of people(More responsibility) surrounding you :)
ReplyDeleteAmith, exactly. I probably wouldn't have worried much if I were with friends.
ReplyDeleteBut one thing is for Sure. When nature is angry then remember you are a dead man.. :P
ReplyDeleteIt was Visually interpretative (kalaku kattinatu rasav bawa).
ReplyDeleteAvunu Pradeep..anthe kada mari..
ReplyDeleteThanks Chaitu...
It was a fantastic experience though scary, more than that I liked the way you expressed. You are a good Writer. I felt I was there with you that moment.
ReplyDeleteNenu kooda rayataniki inspire ayyanu, bear with me... :-)
sounds more scarier through this blog ra.....seems you took time to reiterate the exact situation ha....
ReplyDeleteNaveen, yes i have :)
ReplyDeleteand thanks for reading and commenting.
-Vik
Liked the wish List Vikram and reading the scariest 40 mins I was very tensed to know what happened next and I read the last Part and then the middle part of the incident
ReplyDeleteThanks Akka :)
ReplyDeleteWell written - I can understand about the turmoil and emotions running through the mind. I do agree that emotions like these like Fear, courage, etc are very contagious.
ReplyDelete"Nothing can be taken for granted"..so true and even after having the knowledge of it, we continue to do so :). Very well written!
ReplyDeleteSowmya, you are right. Thats another topic to write about, and thanks for reading.
Delete