World is still a better place

Last Sunday was my papa’s birthday. To celebrate his 57 complete revolutions around the sun that too after the almost fatal heart attack he faced in December 2014, we decided to dine at a popular south Indian restaurant of our city. The people who have not spent Sundays in Surat will not have a clue about how is the condition of the city roads on Sundays. People come out of their homes to celebrate the day off from their work. Also the ladies who are homemakers take a day off from their kitchens and families dine out. Not a single food vendor is free on Sunday in Surat. Traffic jams and unavailability of Parking space is the biggest issue in our city if one plans to go out on Sunday evening.

Every Sunday my Nanaji comes to meet us and in evening I have this duty to drop him at his place so I am quite used to of driving in irritating traffic. But if any festival falls on Sunday, the cars will only move using clutches. That day was Sunday as well as Id so the city roads were flooded with people. By the time we reached the restaurant I was exhausted, my foot got tired by pressing clutch for long time. We had to wait 15 minutes at each traffic signal. After reaching near the restaurant, Parking became an issue so I asked my parents and nanaji to wait inside the restaurant meanwhile I go and park the car at some uncongested place. I moved ahead on the road slowly to find the appropriate place. Coming much far from the restaurant I found very convenient parking space. Excitedly I moved forward to grab the space and park quickly, and suddenly I heard a thud sound. I came out of the car to check and I saw that one of the car wheels was stuck into a deep gap between road and footpath. I tried a lot to take the car back on reverse gear but all my efforts went in vain. Ultimately I had no choice than to leave the car as it is and join my family for dinner.

I told my parents about my parking blunder but they told me to concentrate on eating and since the food was so yumm that I completely forgot about the car. My father thought that it would just be a little height gap between two surfaces so he’ll be able to handle. Unfortunately he couldn’t take the car out of that deep trough because one wheel of the car was moving independently. asking help from someone was the only option left. A gentleman who just stepped out of his car with family, saw us struggling and he came to help us. He got wooden boards from his car deck to give support to the free wheel. Even his wife and little kid joined the crusade of rescuing our car. We tried all tricks possible to take the car out but all in vain. Some guys at a tea stall nearby were observing our struggle. After realizing the seriousness of the issue they came ahead to help us. 4-5 healthy boys came to us and said that pulling the car out of the gap manually is the only alternative left. We agreed after trying all possible things we could have done. One man who was walking towards his home also joined us. Everyone including that family pushed the car and finally with combined efforts of 9-10 people, the task was accomplished.

I was so delighted to see how strangers came to help their fellow beings. It gave me a beautiful feeling that humanity is still pulsating in human hearts and World is still a better place.