A Miracle at Krishnagiri

Do you believe in miracles? Or the power of prayer? I do. I also believe in good vibrations and thoughts and positive thinking which wards off ill effects even though we might not be able to vanquish them entirely. Before you think this is going to be a treatise on “how to live your life”, let me tell you a small story to illustrate my belief…

My husband is a bridge enthusiast, and playing bridge at Gymkhana Club is a passion with him. Every year he garners other bridge buddies and goes on a short trip to Coonoor where bridge tournaments are held. This year it was no different. My husband along with Major Lakshman also a Gym Club member and three other friends decided to hit the road early morning.  Call it intuition, or what, my husband was bugged with my questions. Who will drive the car?  Is he a good driver? Is he used to hill driving? Call me from time to time! Thinking it was rather unusual of me to ply him with queries, he just brushed them  aside with his usual broad smile and the men set out on the journey like excited school boys. I kept praying off and on that they should be safe as I could not dispense with the strange uneasiness that I usually did not feel.

The Krishnagiri route is usually very good, with the dual carriageway and a scenic beauty of its own. You look at the hills in the distance and the ambundance of verdant greenery on the side that we always took this route to Bangalore and enjoyed the drive. Very typical of our civil engineers, the route on that fateful day was speckled with diversions and dug up at various places, and sand and stones were  everywhere on the road.  The Scorpio at a particular juncturent skidded on a patch of sand, and the Major lost control of the car, which nose dived in slow motion into a 8 ½ foot deep trench, and turned turtle. The seat was hurled forward and my husband’s hand got embedded underneath  it. Help came in the form of many young men who broke open the glass to extricate the passengers. By God’s grace, no one was greviously hurt and got off with small bruises, except my hero who broke his forearm and suffered  huge blackish bruises on his shoulder and back and some on his face.

The ambulance arrived in 3 minutes flat and all who could leave were taken to Krishnagiri for first aid, and my husband was sent in the same ambulance to Chennai where he got admitted to the hospital in Porur. He had his surgery after a few days of checking all the vital parameters. We had to cool our heels for five full days before the surgery was undertaken. As I write this he is safely at home looking over my shoulder!

 On hindsight, why couldn’t this road be blocked as it was so dangerous for driving? Why didn’t the passengers fasten their seat belts? It is not enough if the front seat passengers have their seat belts on. If only the belts were used in the rear seat as well, the injuries would have been minimal. It was horrific to see the picture of the car…which was reduced to metal scrap the roof and the sides dented, and the mess was lifted by crane. People who looked at the car wondered how there were survivors….I was told that the car took the impact and saved the passengers.This then is the blessing of a higher power and the protection given…otherwise I cannot think of any logical reason. It was a real miracle. The gift of life is the best gift I could hope for this Deepavalli, we don’t need anything more.

People were quick to point out that it would not have happened this way in a foreign country. No one would have been allowed to use the road.. I do remember on our last visit to the US, my friend implored me not to trip over and fall as I have an uncanny knack of doing this. “ You could sue me for a huge amount if you fell in my house,” she said with a chuckle. I was imagining, given the present situation,  suing the corporation for negligence, not posting enough warnings and plus  suing them for a large amount for the mental trauma caused, and for hospital expenses which cost us a pretty packet. Alas, as true blooded Indians we “accept” and call it our karma and inevitably thank God for small mercies. The younger generation is more belligerent and believe in fighting for their rights and oppose the scant concern for human life. A good thing if I may say so and, without doubt we need more Kejriwals!