Accident that never happened

So this was yet another weekend, i thought i would enjoy relaxing at the cool confines of my home. And wow, it so happened that the extended weekend, friday being a holiday, was kind of fun, with no real mad rush to office and work. I spent the friday almost sleeping. And thought to imitate it the next two days too .  I was almost successful in my plans had the things not panned out the way happened.

It was a lazy saturday evening,  suddenly i thought of doing something adventurous.  After all stepping into the kitchen to prepare something is a kind of adventure for a guy like me who find it difficult even to prepare a cup of tea. My mood was very good and was planning to try my hands at something spicy.

I was almost done, when my cell phone ranged and i got a news that one of our neighbourhood lady met with an accident.  The caller in haste told me to come down and i heard him saying that a truck crushed her legs. The lady was in her late 50s. I handed over the unfinished task in the kitchen to my mom and washed my hand to rush to the accident spot. The accident spot was a road in front of our building. I was surprised how come the lady met with an accident on this crowded road, where the driver may find it difficult to drive even at 20 kms per hour.

On my way, i met a neighbour who is a cop, the poor fellow was  returning from grinding 24 hours duty, visibly tired, he inquired where i was rushing in such a haste. I informed him what i heard, he too told me that he would join me and asked me to wait in the passage of the building.

We all reached the accident spot, by now the lady was taken to the hospital. There was a crowd of onlookers and so called eye witnesses. Some said they saw the truck crushing both her legs, the others said that she was bleeding terribly, some others even prophesied the worst. Adding only confusion, by now many neighbors assembled and we were successful in finding the name of the hospital where the lady was admitted. We all rushed to the hospital which was not that far away.

There we saw the husband of the lady, a visibly shaken man sitting in the waiting room outside, the lady was taken inside for treatment. The couple were retired school teachers, and this noble profession blends into the persona of the teacher. The couple were both very soft and amenable. The husband was totally shaken and he too was repeating the version that others told him, for he too was not at the time when the accident took place.

Slowly the hospital was flocked by neighbors, the relatives and others.  Their son and daughter in law too came from their duties. There was chaos all around, the atmosphere was visibly tense.

After around an hour or so, two unknown persons came searching for the victim’s husband. The man was in his forties and another one in the early thirties. The man introduced him to be the friend of the driver, under whose vehicle the lady had come.  The man expressed his readiness to bear all the expenses for the treatment of the lady. He requested the husband not to stretch the matter to the Police and settle the matter amicably. Hearing this suddenly, the atmosphere changed, it became more animated, the son of the mother became very aggressive and started shouting forgetting that he was in a hospital. He told he would not spare the driver, he would hit him. The police case would be on and he would ensure that the driver was punished.  Both the men who came for settlement became almost speechless hearing this tone.

Soon, however, sanity prevailed, we, myself, and three others including our neighbour who was the cop, took those people downstairs and decided to sort out the matter.  They said they can bear the cost upto Rs.50,000/-. We then returned to the hospital and took the husband of the lady who was a very matured person, aside, and made him ready for the settlement, we convinced him that there was no point in settling scores. The treatment of the lady was of much import. The husband got ready for amicable settlement. Then we took the son aside, cooled his tempers and convinced him, we almost coerced him. He too became ready for settlement.

It was around 10 in the night by then. The doctors had treated, x-rays were taken, and the doctors came out telling that the accident was a minor one, there were only bruises on the toe of the lady and that the truck had not crushed her legs as all claimed.  The lady told the whole story when we met her.  Hearing her side of the story we surmised that the driver was not at fault.

The lady was suffering from joint pains and was also having problems with her eyesight. When she tried to cross the road she got caught between a car and this truck, she was terrified and somehow to save herself she moved backwards, lost her control and fell down, some part of the rear tyre of the truck did bruised her toe, which caused bleeding. But it was not as big an accident as it was made out to be. The people who claimed to be the eye witnesses were on the other side of the road and almost cooked up the stories. The lady was in a shell shock and almost believed that she had been crushed by the truck. As the Doctor said later, that she is in a state of shock that a truck had crushed her legs.

In the thick of the things however, the poor driver was caught by the public and beaten black and blue.  This behavior of the mob, which is on display rather frequently does affirms my belief that inside we all are wild animals.  Almost waiting to tear these garbs of human behavior.  Most of the people who hit the poor driver, who himself was almost in his sixties, did not even know why they were hitting him, they just were venting out their frustrations, their anxieties on this person.   Someone from the mob even did not leave the opportunity to steal the purse of the lady, her belongings, her money and her cell phone all was lost.

Somehow, the driver ran for his life, but he did the sane thing, he went to the Police Station and surrendered himself and informed them what had happened.  The poor guy was returning from a long trip and was returning to his home for a good night sleep.  The police asked him to wait inside the police station and awaited the formal complaint from the hospital. The hospital sent the complaint informing about the accident and the policeman came to take the statement of the lady at around 12 in the night. Since the matter was amicably resolved by both the parties, the husband gave in writing that they do not wish to lodge any complaint and they had settled the mattter. The driver was then allowed to go to his home.

The poor fellow however, got beaten and bruised for almost no fault of his,  on a lighter note, i may add that, he was more hurt than the lady was. But, it becomes, the mob tendency to beat the drivers, assuming that only he was wrong.

At around 11.40 pm we all returned to our homes tired. My plans to prepare something spicy that evening almost went awry. But for my mom who modified the dish and prepared it for my liking. I relished it before taking much deserved break that night.

After all, all’s well that ends well.  :)