The Fortuitous Ride

By Sonal Maharana

Sabita, a purblind girl, and her mother were thoughtful about how she was going to cross the foot over bridge to reach the platform in the railway station. It was an urgent requirement that they board the night train to reach Chennai the next day. She and her mother finished their early dinner to leave for the station by taxi. Her mother, though worried, assured her they would safely board the train. “Sure, Mom. Baba is with us. How is it possible that we won't be able to reach Chennai tomorrow?” said Sabita who always carried the tiny idol of her beloved deity whom she lovingly called ‘Shivbaba’.

Although they had left home afore time, they did not know what was waiting for them in a few minutes. A massive traffic jam just before the station was visible from a distance to the mother-daughter duo. The driver exclaimed at once, “Holy crap! How are we going to move now?” Sabita’s mother was also taken aback. She instantaneously joined hands for a prayer. But deep within, she was much skeptical about the way to reach the station on time. However, Sabita was sitting like a rock, unruffled, steadfast. Although the traffic was only partially visible to her she being purblind, she could figure out the seriousness of the matter from the anxious expressions of her mother and the driver. She just closed her eyes once and had a chit-chat with her Baba. She was awaiting an answer from Him as some sort of intellectual wisdom that would click in her mind at that moment. But it was in vain.

They had already waited for 40 long minutes for the traffic jam to get clear. Each minute was as gruelling as a surgery done on the body without anesthesia! Her mother couldn’t wait anymore. She screamed out loud, “Driver bhaiya, please do something! Get us to the station as soon as possible.” The driver gave the world’s most helpless look. The station was only about a kilometer from there. The driver uttered with much grievance, “There’s only way now, behenjee. Let’s run our way to the station.” Sabita’s mother shrieked promptly, “Oh, my Golly Gosh!” The driver then tried to console, “Don’t worry, behenjee. I’ll carry your luggage. It’s only a kilometer from here. I’ll accompany you to the station. I don’t need my wage. I shall leave my taxi here and make sure you reach your destination.”

The hapless mother of a purblind daughter screamed, “But my girl cannot see half of the world with these futile eyes. How is she going to run her way to the station?” Pat came the reply from Sabita, “Baba is my sight, Mom. Why do you keep forgetting the fact?” The exhausted mother kept mum with tears rolling down her cheeks as she showed concern about how important it was to reach Chennai the next day. Silence prevailed for a while. All of a sudden, the three of them said in a chorus, “Let’s leave for the station now.”

The driver carried all the heavy pieces of luggage and headed towards the station with a firm determination that his passengers won’t be disappointed today. Sabita’s mother, along with the duffle bags, held her daughter’s hand tightly and ran. Sabita just held her idol with absolute faith. Then, she just let her fluid steps flow with her mother. She felt like running inside a closed dark room with enormous noise all around because of the traffic jam.

After a while, there was stillness all around her as they had reached the station. They were all dripping with perspiration in the hot and humid environment. They took a breath of relaxation ignorant of what was still in store for them.

A sudden loud horn of the train. There was an announcement of the arrival of the train. The traffic jam had already created much chaos in the station as the jam had occurred just near to the station. But as the train arrived, the chaos took a very nasty form. It was a stampede!

Sabita was yet to cross the foot over bridge. As soon as they headed towards the bridge, Sabita’s mother lost control of her hand due to the stampede and Sabita was left alone in the running, pushing crowd.

Sabita’s mother cried for help, but all were too busy to board the train. By that time, Sabita had sensed her separation from her mother. First, she calmed down herself in spite of the constant pushing and shoving by the people around. The only words she could utter was “Baba, be my sight please.”

Just after a few seconds, she could see some sparkling lights before her. And one voice pinched her in the ears that said, “Follow these lights, follow these lights.” That was the eureka moment for her. So, with no further ado, she just obeyed the orders. And to her pleasant surprise, she reached her destination or train after a while. Her wailing mother, also standing there, couldn’t believe her eyes to see her daughter. The train was about to leave the station in a while. So, they quickly boarded the train along with their luggage. The driver helped them a lot with that. They thanked him immensely and paid him double his wage. As the train started off, Sabita and her mother took a relaxation breath. Her mother curiously asked Sabita, “How did you reach the train?”. Sabita could only say, “If you trust, you get that thrust.”

Once again, her staunch belief in God had led her to those miraculous encounters glorious among people.

Her mother then replied, “What a fortuitous ride it is, indeed!”

By Sonal Maharana