I left Rishikesh early in the morning and was on my way to BheemTaal in Uttarakhand. After Haridwar there is a long patch of highway under construction. Only god, [ And probably some government officials] can tell why they don’t make the road completely on one side first, and then make the other side. So now every 500 metres or so, you have to change the side.
At one point I while crossing the side of the road my judgement went completely wrong and my car got stuck in sand what was in the middle of the two tracks of the road. I tried to reverse the car, only to realise that the car is actually getting sucked more in the sand.
My car sunk in the sand
I got out and stood looking at the stuck car. Didn't think of anything to do, so clicked a couple of pictures of the stuck car. Suddenly a public bus [private service, not the government service bus], stopped. There were some 5-7 passengers travelling in that bus, including a couple of ladies. The conductor [ The ticket master] got down, and said to me " Aha You got stuck!"
"Yes, I didn't realise it was fine sand there"
" Don’t wory sir, We shall take it out." he assured me.
Then he ordered - not requested - but ordered - everyone from his bus to get down and help me. Within next 30 seconds all passengers except the ladies, got down and assessed the situation. The conductor then told me to start the car and give a jab on the accelerator while everyone stood behind the car and start pushing.
Most unfortunately the car instead of moving ahead went in deeper. But even more unfortunately the entire group of pushers got showered with sand from fast rotating tyres. Still they tried it again. With the same result. I was quite embarrassed now. Because of me they all had got sand in their face and hair. This went on for a few minutes. But then suddenly one guy spotted a tow truck at a distance. They all shouted and called him. The tow truck came and the driver assessed the situation and assured everyone that he can easily do it and there is nothing to worry.
" Ahaaa, Don’t worry, This is my job." the tow truck driver said with a big smile on his face. He was quite happy to see me stuck actually.
The bus conductor said " Chalo sir, your job will be done now, we shall leave."
Awestruck, I thanked him and bowed to them with folded hands in gratitude. The bus left.
Now the tow truck needed to go in front of my car. So he went slightly ahead and he too got stuck in the sand! His truck being much more powerful than my car, put in lots of energy to go ahead or back, it only sank further down and sprinkled large amount of sand everywhere!
The tow truck that too sunk in the sand !
He and his assistant got down and we all stood thinking about what to do. In a few minutes he spotted a tractor. We all shouted and managed to get the tractor to come to our rescue. The tractor came and with its huge wheels managed to push the tow truck from behind in a jiffy. The tractor then reversed and disappeared. The tow truck, now on a stable ground rescued my car in next few minutes.
Tractor pushing the Tow Truck out of sand.
"Bhai Sahib, thank you very much." I expressed my feelings towards him and asked him "How much should I give you?"
"Whatever you feel like." I got the reply.
I gave him the first note that my fingers touched in my pocket. He was quite happy and left with a smile on his face.
I continued my journey towards BheemTaal remembering the bus conductor and the passengers who helped a sand stuck guy without any expectations and the lost humanity as we perceive, while sitting in big cities.
Comments