Monsoon Showers

Monsoon, the season when thick clouds envelope the sky and the cool breeze bring much needed relief from the heat of summer, the rains quench the thirst of the parched earth, the trees sprout back to life with new greenery, the birds chirp away in search of a mate and the drains overflow, the mosquitoes breed like crazy and then there is a cholera outbreak.

Well, excuse me for being an unromantic killjoy but if you went through what I did last Sunday, you would want to migrate to Sahara too.

A new movie featuring another new kid on the block who has not yet wiped off the chocolate sticking on his face, throw in a few young cousins who somehow have gotten into their heads that the purpose of life is to watch this movie and learn all the lyrics by heart and then there is me, the big brother with a car. I had no option but to take them out to the evening show on Sunday.

The movie began, the movie ended. That’s enough about the movie. We came out and it was the lovely monsoon in full flow. As I was driving back, there was one stretch of road where there was pretty heavy water logging so traffic was being diverted to another street. It was 10.30 in the night and there was total chaos with almost no movement in traffic. I was behind this city bus and the bus guy decided to drive right through the water laden main road and I foolishly decided to follow (after all how much water could there be, right ?). The moment my car entered the water, I realized that I was screwed. Before I knew it, the car was almost three feet in water. The water almost reached the door handles and began seeping into the car through the rear doors.

The exact thoughts that went on in my brain (which, I am convinced now, is still under construction) were

“Shit, shiiiiit, craaap...$*##***...damn”

The car was struggling to move and there was a real danger of water entering into the engine through the exhaust. I remembered a tip that a friend had given me during a casual conversation several months ago – “Never let go of the throttle when driving through water”. I literally stood on the accelerator pedal, the car inched forward. The bus driver for some reason decided to stop, forcing me to stop as well

“(more expletives)”

But even with the clutch pressed down, I kept the accelerator in full throttle, praying desperately to God and Spiderman (my two favorite imaginary superheroes) that the engine does not switch off. All the while grunting, yelling, pressing into the pedal and pushing the steering wheel. One of them must have heard me, since the car slowly inched towards dry land. I finally made it to the other side !!

This was the scariest fifty meters that I have ever traveled. Of course, my cousins in the back seat were thrilled about the whole incident (their words - “Wow, what an adventure. It was such fun”)

They did not realize how easily the situation could have gotten real worse. And, the only thing that saw us through was the tip from a friend and the superhero who answered my prayers.

Thanks Spidey!!!