The Blue Maruti - I

It was a very odd road which linked Hindon with Mandrail. The road ran through nothing. This road was built only a few years ago and certainly made driving avoidable; it snaked, it shrunk, it expanded, it ascended and it was strewn with holes. Certainly, the 80 km drive from Hindon to Mandrail was odd. There were no villages on the way, no trees or mounds or remnants to human life to look at. But the strangest were the breakdowns which had only just begun. Jeeps, tractors, trucks, cars, motorcycles all broke down at a particular point on the road. After a few minutes they would be on their way again.

It was a Wednesday and Amaavas: no-moon night in the Hindu calendar. Travel on Amaavas was usually avoided in these parts of the country. Only 15 kms on the drive Kawaljit Ahuja felt thirsty. The thirst would have to wait. The sun was scorching in the May sky and there was no wind. Today there was hardly any traffic which was again odd as Mandrail, being close to Bhopal, was an important linking village between the states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Kawal was an inexperienced driver and the engine coughed everytime the gear box engaged with its shaft. The lack of traffic was no respite to Kawal’s inexperience as the road wasn’t particularly pleasant. The radiator was thirsty too, but the thirst would have to wait. The AC was not working and the open windows weren’t any help either as there was no wind.

Half an hour passed. The Nokia cell started ringing. The ringtone was the latest Bollywood hit number ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’. The cell rang again but no one picked it up. Kawal had spotted a stream and his parched throat could bear it no longer. He had rolled to an imperfect stop, again botching up with the gears. He was walking down to the stream just when his cell phone had rung. He rolled up his sleeves and his blue jeans. The water looked clean. The 500 ml Mirinda bottle never found a better use than before. He took off his shoes and socks and gingerly entered the water. The water wasn’t still but the flow was steady. The feel of cool water on his hot fingers and soles was pleasant. He waded up to a rock and sat down.

A Tata 207 DI crossed, the driver cursing “Baap ki sadak hai kya kutte, ***** raasta chhod ke gaddi khadi kar ”. Kawal had left the radio on and the keys too. A young woman’s voice was now echoing in the car, but there was no one in it. ‘And now… something spooooky haha .. whose’s afraid of ghosts. Since the past few days village folk from a border village called Mandrail are talking of a haunted blue colored Maruti. Many drivers have reported their vehicles breaking down at almost midway on the Hindon-Mandrail road. And then is sighted this blue Maruti which stops a few metres ahead. Nothing happens and suddenly their vehicles respond!! .. Wow that’s cool aint it?… Wish I could see this blue Maruti myself ’

to be continued...