Rinith drove to Mysore that morning
to attend the state level Sales meet and was packing to drive back after late dinner.
He was working for a small start-up company in Bangalore. It was late and he
was talking to his mother who was asking him not to travel so late at night; on
Friday the 13th. She was very superstitious about such beliefs. He didn't want
to argue with her and hung up to bid good bye to Dubeyji and few other sales guys
whom he met that day. He was hoping that he would bump into a chirpy, talkative
and sexy lady at the meet like last time, but no luck. As soon as his monstrous
Fortuner came to life, a black cat crossed his path which he chose to ignore
and he was on the road. The night was pitch-black and conditions got overcast
with the clouds looming large. He was touching 140 kmph in no-time with Heavy
Metal adding the required adrenaline rush. He was cursing his luck that he didn't get any chic this time and had to hang around with the pot-bellied CXOs
of unheard companies. He planned to drive non-stop so that he can reach
Bangalore by 4:00 am. Suddenly it began to drizzle. He toggled a switch for the
wipers to operate. Soon the drizzle transformed into heavy showers with storm
as well. The wipers were struggling.
There was thick forest cover at
either side of the road. The trees would twist, twirl and bend over the road
with the gust quite ominously. He drove at full speed what his beast had to
offer. Even after two hours the storm showed no signs of settling. The winds
breathed life in the trees on either side of the road. Conditions were looking
gloomy. But in the next five minutes quite unbelievably everything became dead
quiet. The wind ceased to blow, the rains stopped, and even the trees went
dead. He could only hear the engine roar which was screeching ahead on the wet
road. He was driving all alone on the bypass with no other vehicle in sight.
Then he encountered a strange sight. At a distance on the roadside, he saw a
man and a boy in school uniform sitting on the milestone. The man got up and
started waving at his vehicle frantically. He saw the time was well past 1:00
am. He knew that there is no inhabited area within few miles from that place.
He stopped the car and the man started approaching towards him. He was watching
every move of that man very skeptically with one foot on the accelerator. He
noticed that neither the man nor the boy were drenched surprisingly. He heard a
howling at a distance for no reason. It was a bad omen. The man said peeping
through the rolling windows; please drop us near Ramanagar, on your way. Then
suddenly there was a lightning with thunder and he saw some long shining thing
in his back pack. He recalled incidents of robbery on the highways and stepped
on the accelerator with all his might. The car didn't move to his horror. The
man kept banging the glass viciously repeating the same words asking for lift.
Then suddenly the car lurched ahead, and he sped the car at full throttle.
He drove the next few miles with
full speed and found a young lady on the way. She was a tall woman, wearing a
black sari with her midriff showing and a matching blouse sans any sleeves. She
possessed curves so luscious that could drive noble men to sin. She waved at Rinith’s
vehicle asking for a lift. He immediately obliged and sent a Thanking note to
the almighty for listening to his woes. He couldn't resist noticing, which was
rather unusual about the woman: She was bare-footed. As she entered the car he couldn't hide his pleasure and she caught him staring, she looked wary. But neither of them
felt uneasy, as for her she was probably used to this, and for him, she was too
precious to even let go of his sight, for even a moment. After they exchanged
the pleasantries, he got to know her name was Vinita and she was married. She
was at ease after sometime and chirped like a school girl. Rinith was a very
charming guy and knew how to impress her with all his wit and sense of humor. He
was cautious in not asking too many personal questions and making her
uncomfortable. She got down after a few miles near Kengeri but not before
exchanging the numbers and a promise to meet him the next day in Bangalore. Rinith
was very excited at his achievement. Next hour went past very fast and he
reached his flat before the sun was out. When he reached his flat, his
room-mate was fast asleep. He banged the door to find his roomie open the door
rubbing his eyes.
“Kaam ho gaya?” Sagar asked casually
and went to his room before Rinith could respond to his question. Rinith
dragged himself to his room and collapsed on his bed. It was past noon when he
woke up rubbing his eyes. It has been a long time since he slept for so long. He
was experiencing a slight headache. He asked Sagar for a cup of hot tea. After
freshening up he eased himself on the couch. The TOI was kept on the center table. He picked it up to look for today’s crossword. Then suddenly his eyes
grew wide seeing a report.
"Robbers got away with 2 more murders on the highway near Ramnagar at
around 4:00am. Their dead bodies were found in the nearby drain. As per our
sources, Ramanand-38 went to pick-up his son-6 from the school excursion in Channapatna
as he was sick. They missed their last bus and reached close to Ramnagar by
taking a lift in a lorry. The robbers did not find any valuable with him and in
frustration they killed both father and son. The bodies will be handed over to
their family after the post-mortem."
He couldn't read further. He saw
the picture and his whole body numbed. How could he be so stupid? How could he
be so indifferent? He could have easily saved them, had he been rational. In
this case due to his very own home grown stupidity and superstition, 2 lives were
lost. He met them around 1’o clock... The poor guys begged for help for another
three hours. And he fled because he thought they were robbers. Such a poor
excuse... Damn!!!
That’s when Sagar came with tea
and said, “Why are you reading 2 days old newspaper?”
“What??” Rinith checked the date;
it was indeed 2 days old newspaper. His blood froze. Chill ran down his spine. That
means the man and the boy were dead more than 2 days ago and still…
“Here have a look at today’s
headline...!” Sagar said handing him today’s newspaper and tea.
“Women kills herself after hearing the murder of husband and son.
Vinita, resident of Ramnagar who was at her parents’ home in Kengeri committed
suicide on Friday afternoon when she got the news of alleged murder of her husband
and son near Ramnagar.”
Rinith saw that innocent and
sweet face below and fainted.
