Shankar Saves His Friends from Drowning.

Shankar, Sai, and I are inseparable friends from school, and we share a bond. We studied at the convent school in our town and graduated from the town government college. Sai and I appeared for State Public Service Commission exams, were selected for group II services, and posted as officers in different departments in the district headquarters. Shankar was interested in setting up an industry with the help of three financiers. They frequently visited the city for permission from the government.

 Unfortunately, three years back, Shankar and his financier friends met with an accident on a bridge in between when they were returning from the state capital and died on the spot. Whenever we travel near the bridge, we remember Shankar.

Sai and I were to meet our department heads on a particular day at the state capital. The multi-story building complex in the city’s central area houses all departments. We went on this trip together in my car. I asked the driver to report by 6.00 am. The capital city is 150 km from our district headquarters. It is about a four-hour journey, with a stop for breakfast at an intermediate town hotel.   As one enters the city outskirts, there will be traffic of cyclists, scooters, motorbikes, and cars; local buses will transport people to offices and shops, and auto rickshaws and material transporting auto trolleys to various business concerns. People will be in a hurry to reach their destination. With all these, it took time to get to the office complex. Driving with care is necessary, as everyone will be in a hurry.

We reached the office complex by 10:45 am. Our secretarial offices are on different floors with one department per floor. We were to meet our concerned department heads. By the time we reached the office complex, all the staff were entering the office. The staff and visitors had to show their identity at the entry gate. The gate police personnel had information about our meetings, and we were permitted inside without any questions. However, we were to record our identity in a register.  

As I entered my office, the meeting had not yet started, but officers from other districts were already in their seats. 

It was a similar situation to Sai. Our meetings concluded at 5:00 pm, with lunch for the members in between.

After the meeting, we were eager to meet our state heads for clarifications. I had to wait for my turn, along with other district officers, and it took one hour. Finally, Sai and I met on the ground floor at 6.30 pm. Though the rainy season started a few days back, the daytime was sunny. We could not feel the temperature in the air-conditioned meeting hall, but once we came out, we felt the temperature.

Sai wanted to meet his brother, and I wanted to purchase a saree for my wife from the state capital for her birthday. Her birthday is after a fortnight. Women can’t wear a saree directly from the shop. The saree requires a fall to be attached and the stitching of a matching blouse. On the way, he dropped me off at a shopping complex and then went to his brother. It took about two hours for my purchases. By that time, Sai had returned; it was 9.00 pm. We had dinner at the best hotel and started to return to our town by 10.00 pm.

City traffic was heavy as usual, and it took an hour to reach the city’s outskirts. The driver had experience driving at night in the city and was driving carefully. 

The atmosphere was cloudy at this time. It started drizzling on the way. Our discussion centred around today’s meetings and the opinions of other district officers. We travelled for about two hours and were two km away from the bridge on the river. Our discussion turned to Shankar, who met with the accident on this bridge. The bridge constructed in the 1960s had stone masonry pillars laid with reinforced concrete beams, a slab top, and railings on either side.

Shankar and others were travelling after finishing their work in the city. They started late at night, about 2:00 am, from the city. It was the last day of the black fortnight, and hence it was dark. By the time they reached the bridge, it was 4:30 am. Shankar was in the driving seat.

Early morning hours are the right time for transporting sand lorries to the city for sale. The sand-filled lorries are kept at essential places in the city so the required persons come, bargain, and take the truck to their construction site. Sand is necessary in constructing buildings, flyovers, bridges, etc.

In the evenings, the workers load the trucks with sand at the riverside of the villages. After loading, the drivers park the lorry near their houses in the village. They get up early and take the truck to the city by 5 am. The construction owners come by 6 am to purchase and take the lorry to their site. Then, they inform the maistry of the availability of sand for that day’s work. Otherwise, the maistry takes the workers to another site.

When Shankar’s car entered the bridge, the sand lorry was speeding without headlights. It was a one-way bridge. The speeding sand-filled lorry hit the car head-on; the vehicle bounced and fell into the river. The impact of the lorry caused all four in the car to die.

It was 00.30 am, a continuous downpour with wind blowing at high speed. The tree branches were swinging heavily. We were terrified of the wind and rain. We thought the wind would blow away the car. Our driver put on all the front and back lights of the car and continued the journey with the wipers, clearing the vision on the windscreen. Everything was dark outside. We were in a terrific state of fear due to the darkness and heavy downpour.

Sai was explaining Shankar’s helpful nature in studies and with money. He was brilliant and in the top three of the class.

As we discussed Shankar’s helpful nature, the car tyre burst loudly and flattened. The car wandered hither and thither. It was dreadful that night. The driver managed to park on the left side of the road. We asked the driver not to park under the tree, lest it may attract a lightning bolt.

  Moving in the heavy rain, the driver got drenched. He sat in his seat. We did not ask him to replace the tyre with the stepney in that heavy rain. As we could not do anything during the downpour, Sai continued the story of Shankar, and we slept.

 We woke up to sunlight, the rain stopped, we got out of the car, and the driver took the punctured tyre to the shop and repaired and fixed it. We started our journey. As we went about two km, there was a large gathering of people, and some were weeping. We were stopped by the police, saying that the bridge collapsed at about 00.30 hours and several cars and trucks got drowned in the flood of the river. There were several deaths. The actual number of deaths was unknown. The officials called the lifeguards and cranes to pick up the dead and the vehicles. The police cordoned off the area.

The officials were finding out if any person was alive.

There were heart-wrenching scenes with the near and dear relatives weeping. The relatives were expecting them home soon, and this mishap occurred. Due to heavy rain on the upstream side of the river, it suddenly flooded. The bridge could not withstand the thrust of the velocity of the heavy flood, and part of it collapsed.

The rescue operations were in progress. Ambulances were kept ready to take the dead for post-mortem and any found living to the hospital.

We waited for an hour at the site and prayed for the departed souls to rest in peace and offered condolences to the bereaved family members.

 With deep mourning for the dead, we wanted to return home. There was no way forward. People suggested we take a circuitous route from another village, travelling 100 km extra. So, we took that route and reached our homes safely.

Sai said, “It is coincidental that our car tyre got punctured at about the same time as the bridge’s collapse. Had there been no puncture, our car and we would have drowned in the river when the bridge collapsed?”

I continued, “Our friend Shankar’s soul wanted to save us and got the tyre punctured. He is always with us, helping us. We thank him from the bottom of our hearts.” 

PRABHAKAR MUSIPATLA