Prarthna

He screamed. His lungs expelled hair as he hit the wheel hard. Breathless, he bounced off to the side of the road. His only passenger was asleep securely in the back seat. She was just two. Those two years were painful and joyous to Niranjan. His wife never survived the birth of Prarthna.

The Toyota swung hard and balanced precariously on edge. The edge peered deep into some dense trees. He couldn’t help the swerve as he avoided the running deer on the road. He was enroute to his parent’s summer retreat. The passage was through some picturesque ghat section of central India’s western forests.

He glanced occasionally on the fauna that his car’s windows showed him. He had stopped earlier for more than an hour pacifying Prarthna. He had to wake her to feed her and then continue before they entered the wilderness. This was his first car trip outside his city. He had no choice as there was only a weekly train to the area of the retreat.

As the car balanced on the edge, he then knew the trip was a bad idea. His stomach knotted as he glanced behind him. She slept unknowingly. He got the car brakes on and slid out of the car. He pushed a big stone under the right rear wheel to assist the front brakes. The nose of the car pointing to the tree tops below. Cables of the fence held another part of the fender, as did one more tree stump.

He tried his mobile phone but the hills did not bounce back any signals. The empty forest road had him worried. He now had a decision to take. Niranjan knew that there was a village some kilometers behind them. But with fading light, he had the decision of leaving Prarthna or taking her along with him.

He decided to the take risk and took her along with him. He did not have the courage to leave Prarthna securely in an insecurely tilted car. His hike took more than fifty minutes. His arms were aching by the time he reached the road turning into the village. Prarthna had slept through the walk and the sounds of the jungle.

Sweat sticking to his polos, he quickly gathered a few villagers and some strong hemp rope. He left Prarthna with one of the womenfolk, still sleeping. He knew if she woke up, she’d cry up a storm in the hands of the stranger.

The going back was slower, and it was blackness that slowed them, on that narrow forest road. The men from the villagers had lanterns, a drum and long wooden poles along with the rope. They chattered loudly as they walked with purpose. When they reached the spot, the car was not seen. Niranjan rushed forward and found the white Toyota was belly up nearly half way down. The car had somersaulted to its position below. With the tree stump acting as a fulcrum, the car somersaulted into the edge.

The threads of the cable on the fence had given up to the weight. The losses of those threads were enough to change the advantage to gravity. But Niranjan’s Prarthna was safe.