The boy was jubilant to travel with his parents after a long time. His board exams were a major hurdle he had to transcend before experiencing the much needed respite. So immediately after his exams, the family planned an out and out extravaganza for the boy. Hence a plan was devised to circumnavigate India . They headed towards the north first.
The car was moving swiftly and glibly. They left Haryana to visit historical places in the National Capital Territory . It was estimated that in about two hours the trip to Delhi would be complete. To make traveling pleasant en route to the destination, the family also sang songs in the car. Their next target was Delhi ; and from Delhi they would take a fight down to the South .
Everything was planned and they even trod through the Sequitir (to follow) routes they had discussed before. The boy was singing and having the best days of his life. “Joie de verve” which means joy of living he kept repeating to himself. He wanted to experience the ecstasy after suffering the abnegations before his exams.
The family was playing cards in the car. The boy had spilled the beans for his victory this time. And as per plan he was about to receive the crown of the winner. But just as when the boy was about to celebrate his triumphant victory over his parents, a truck with an approximate speed of 90 km/hr approached them and hit their vehicle head-on. The impact was so devastating that to even think about the security of the passengers would be very abstruse. The car came to a grinding halt after being shifted by the truck half a kilometer in the opposite direction. After hearing the crash, some members of the public came running toward the blemish while the truck driver responsible for the accident quietly fled away. The wreckage was such that it was difficult to identify the families' mode of transport. The vehicle was drastically distorted leaving behind absolutely nothing of the automobile.
“Are they alive,” one of the onlookers made a dubious remark. Simultaneously, one saw something moving inside the car. Shocked at the site of the accident some more people started hovering around the car. And then some more from a bus nearby came and addressed the plight of the victims.
In the meantime, the boy's mom fell unconscious inside the wretched car. In order to escape from being smothered by suffocation and they then tried to open the car door. But their efforts were in vain. Either they had to concede or fight to get out of the car. The pressure due to the accident jammed the doors of the car. Subsequently the doors refused to budge. In an effort to revive his mom, without any trepidation the boy then broke open the car window with his fist. The breaking of the door by the young hapless boy was enough to motivate the bystanders to rescue the family through the window. One by one they were all pulled out of the disfigured car.
Fortunately, a police van that was passing by halted at the spot. The officer was so polite that he not only showed his concerns but also took them to the hospital in his van. The boy's mom was immediately rushed to the ICU and offered treatment appropriately. She survived a major surgery culminating a deep cut right from her head till her eyebrows; thus saving her ocular vision by an inch. When she regained consciousness one thing reverberated in her mind: Whatever happens happens for the good .
The boy's father who normally takes the front seat sat at the back that day. And the wheat sacks that they had brought from Haryana were kept on the front seat. Incidentally it was the wheat sacks that saved his life that day. After the collision, the front seat along with the wheat sacks got totally crushed. His father's dilemma was reduced to a little fracture in the vertebrae while the boy suffered some fractures in his knuckles.
It was a close encounter with death witnessed by the family that day. The family who survived the accident is fine now. The boy's sister who wasn't there when the misfortune occurred believes that her family lived through renaissance.
They rightfully say Alls well that ends well.
