A regrettable accident.

We'd left Thiruvananthapuram by a half past 2 and I was maintaining a comfortable cruising speed of 80 kmph depending upon the traffic on the road. After crossing the Haripad main junction, we're looking forward to the restaurant by the wayside that offered a decent shelter and evening snacks with coffee.

A blue Maruti 800 was moving ahead of us and a superfast bus of the state road transport corporation was charging towards us. I'd begun to overtake the car when the bus lurched towards me and then angled away to pass by without any mishap and it was then that I'd heard a thump on the left. Sensing that something was amiss, I stopped my car to survey the scene, risking hostilities from the localites in case something had gone wrong horribly(I must confess that the 'Mr. Hyde' in me urged to step on the gas and scoot, but, thankfully, the 'Dr. Jekyll' in me prevailed over that impulse!).

The sight was grotesque as I saw an elderly gentleman and his wife emerge out of the Maruti, half submerged in a pool of dirty water, about 8 ft below the level of the road. I quickly approached them and conveyed my apologies for the discomfort caused - the gentleman who was a retired Colonel touching 70(as I gathered later) was naturally fuming, but realising that I'd stopped despite the option of scooting, was quick to acknowledge my 'decency'. I must admit that I was in no mood to accept compliments for my conduct as I was very sorry on three counts, strictly in the order of their intensities/priorities :-
(a) For having caused discomfort to a fellow driver by my hurry
(b) For upsetting our schedule of reaching Kochi to meet up an old lady, seriously ill and
(c) For causing damage to my own car as paint had peeled off at the point of impact.

A local crane was requisitioned to fish out the car, a mechanic surveyed the damages to give an estimate of 25 grand and the police went through the process of filing an FIR. As these activities were taking place, a sizeable population had gathered out of curiosity and quite a few of them turned out to be the Colonel saab's relatives(He, a resident of Haripad was going to Ambalappuzha nearby, on a social visit). What amazed and comforted me was that there was no animosity, whatsoever, amongst the crowd and a few people even came to me to say that I wasn't at fault. When I finally revealed my identity with the promise of footing whatever expenses that would ensue, on my word of honour, I realised that I'd picked up quite a few admirers!

As I got off to move, the Colonel saab told me that if the expenses were footed by the insurance cover of the car, he'd bother me no more and gave me a standing invitation to visit his place - damn sweet of him!

Tailpiece.
1. The KSRTC bus just scooted off without even bothering to check probably because its driver knew that he's at fault!
2. I shudder to imagine the consequences had the Maruti turned turtle during its fall or hit the concrete wall skirting the pool of water, in which it fell.
3. Thankfully, there were no human casualties, the loss was truly materialistic and I'm so glad for that!
4. Yet another lesson for yours truly to drive safely and avoid being rash - always and everytime!!