Mental Health During Pandemic - My Thoughts

My Story when Modi’s Digital India failed me and Humanity saved me.

-      Lijil Lakshman

Disclaimer : My story has nothing to do with Modiji or politics. This title can be deceptive for a simple narrative.

I don’t generally believe in good days and bad days, but that was a bad day turned to scary nightmare of my life. I am a freelance tutor, so driving car from Calicut to Kochi after 9 hours of session is generally not that easy. But after the session, all I wanted to do was to get back to home at Kochi. I right away started driving my New Honda city, who will turn as a villain in few minutes from here (Only if you choose to read this :P).

It was fun driving until what I thought as Google’s one of the best innovative mobile application of the decade turned out to be useless when I need them the most. Yeh! I am talking about our own GOOGLE MAPS. To add to my so called “Bad Day” it started fetching wrong GPS signals and started showing my vehicle at odd locations I have never been to. As our answer to all mobile software issues, I also did a reboot of the mobile phone thinking that would save me. But a bad day is a bad day. By then I had already taken a route as per the signboards en route to kochi. You would be thinking why would there be confusions over route to Kochi from Calicut. There will be full off confusions when you have multiple routes.

By the time I finished my parcelled porotta roll I was already on a different route to Kochi than the main highways. But luckily, a route that will save me some KMs. The danger was in details. Those were very bad roads and narrow in fact. With my mood and urge to reach kochi early, I felt really trapped. Thanks to the monsoon, rain started making it a lot worse. (“Madhu poole paiytha mazhaye” by Sid Sreeram did try to change my mood a bit, thanks to my sterio). From thanur to thirur I am entering every possible towns nearby and roads are getting shorter and shorter. It’s been 1 and half hours of drive before I could get google to work for me again. (Why did you do that Google, I was your regular customer. Was some foreign spy stealing my GPS signal or what? I gotta think about that another day!)

Google said its 3 and half hours more drive to home. I was hungry and angry together with the situation I was going through it’s been like an hour since I could accelerate my speed. I started cursing myself for picking this route. After thinking about the Yoga Day ahead of me and keeping a deep breath to calm me down together with “ Friend like me from Aladhin Movie” I started cruising through the short cuts and gullies shown by google maps. Oh yeh! I can never have a friend like Google Maps.

Why should it rain so heavily, it wasn’t raining the last whole week? Thanks to our electricity lines, there was hardly any streetlights. Finally, my Map showed highways 8KMs ahead of my location. Hurray!! Let’s get there faster. I started accelerating my drive, overtaking those slower ones ahead of me. Was I too fast to overtake this one? My vehicle went inside a gutter and I felt losing control over steering. I knew there was something happened to the tyre as I heard a sound when I came out of that gutters. I went little ahead and parked on the side where it was available.

OH! OMG! My tyre was busted. Thank god I had control over the steering. I was panicking with my mood and the way things went over the journey. I felt blank not knowing what to do next. I saw that EON and couple of bikes passing me without checking much on this fellow looking at his lost tyre. I started analysing situation and location. I have never been there before. Lucky it is not very late at night, it was just 9.00 PM. I could locate a small shop nearby. I walked into the shop saw an old Ikkakka there (That is what we call someone looking old and Muslim to you). I explained him the situation and asked him if there is someone who can help. FYI, I have never changed tyre of that car before since I had bought it only couple of months back. I can’t venture into YouTube learning when it is needed the most.

“Curse on the rain, else that shop was a repair shop, he closed early.” He told pointing out the shop next to his shop. Screwed is all I could think of. I didn’t want to tell this at home. I texted them saying I would be late since it’s raining and I will have to drive slow, while my brain was making plan on sleeping on the car till next morning or changing the tyre with your limited Honda City Knowledge and seeing the tyre going ahead of you while driving it next. I kept asking Ikkakka some stupid question thinking he would be able to suggest something.

If this was a movie, I would call an interval now. You can take one now. Because there are twists from here as new characters would enter the show (Look at my build up for a below par drama).

Let’s get back to business,

I saw a middle-aged man standing in that shop asking for some things to purchase to Ikkakka. I went to him and asked if he knows any nearby shops where I can seek some help.

“Here you won’t find any, in the town you might get. But don’t worry Chamravattom is a very nice and safe place. Don’t worry.” Shafi Ikka told me (As later he introduced himself). That was the sweetest thing I heard for the entire day, also the first time I heard the place name “Chamravattom”. I told him about my situation. He said he will take me to the nearby town in his scooter if I want. I saw a ray of hope there. I locked up the car as suggested by Ikkakka and started to the next town. It started drizzling a bit. “God why! Was this not enough!” I was thinking in my mind as I saw the rain getting stronger. We reached to one nearby tyre shop. To my luck, the shop was open. I saw another Middle aged Chettan (Elder brother and wearing lungi) sitting there flipping through his newspaper. I waited for Shafi Ikka to converse as he might know him since he is a local.

“All my employees have left. I can’t come keeping the shop opened.” Told Pratheesh chettan as I saved his number in the phone. But he started explaining how the tyre can bust with his expert knowledge in the field which was the last thing my mind wanted to analyse at that moment. He also started lecturing me about the need to learn changing tyres and how it can be very important when you drive alone long routes at night. After 9 hours of lecture to students and a bunch of events followed by it, I wasn’t really in a mood to listen to it. (I had to, like a student who does not like subject since he has zero clue on what it means beyond textbooks). He started giving practical example of a schoolteacher who wanted to change tyre in the midnight and no one could reach there even after he promised to pay Rs. 5000 and how Pratheesh chettan could guide him over phone to do it. Bravo!

“Is he saying he will charge the same to me or asking me to change the tyre by myself.” Can’t my mind stop thinking! Thank god, finally he agreed to come if the spare tyre changing is not possible by me after he closes his shop. And He continued explaining me the process while I watched him imagining about alternative options of sleeping in the car (Poor me!). But he warned for the second danger changing tyre, the spare tyre may not have the air in it. I tried to be positive about it since the car is new. After few discussions, Shafi Ikka decided to drive me back. We had to stop couple of times in between as the rain was so heavy and annoying, joining the team of Google Maps and Honda City for the day. Shafi Ikka was drenched but still he decided to help me out. He told that he was on the way to purchase notebooks for his kids as he waited with me in the small shop for some time due to rain before checking the spare tyre for air. The Old Ikkakka of the shop asked me to stand inside his shop as rain was getting stronger. It was already 45 minutes gone by then. I checked the spare tyre for the air as the rain subsided a bit. Air was proper, thanks to the Honda dealer. I was fully drenched. I was super scared of being sick considering my schedule ahead of the month.

I called up couple of friends to cool up the situation and stopped it as I saw battery of the phone is dying. I decided to dial Pratheesh Chettan and seek help. I dialled him and told him to come and help when he closes his shop. He duly agreed and asked me the location of the car parked. I asked the place name and handed over the phone to the guy nearby. He properly directed him. I told Shafi Ikka to carry on and told I will manage. I gave him my card and told him I will never forget the support and asked him to call up whenever he comes to Kochi. (He had worked in Kochi earlier as per our conversations while I was on his scooter).

After few minutes Pratheesh Chettan arrived with his raincoat. He is all smiling and chilled out. I was right opposite of that. Tensed and terrified about the day. He parked his bike nearby and asked me to show him the tools. I opened the toolbox all fresh from the car and gave it to him. I watched his work like an assistant though he suggested not to get drenched, but practical knowledge is power as I learned today. We changed the tyre and he announced how the tyre got busted like a doctor announcing diagnosis. Edge of the gutter had hit the unprotected side of the tyre in one line summary.

So the spare tyre is all set and I am all drenched. Suddenly the thought came to my mind on the payment I need to make to him. OMG, look at my wallet, it was like kerala treasury (Motham kaali aanu he!). Thanks to modi I have 5-6 Credit and debit Cards and almost 5-6 UPI mobile banking application reason why I never even thought of withdrawing money during travel. DIGITAL INDIA ZINDABAD!. I decided to do a google pay to transfer to him.

“What had happened. I was in mosque all this while. I saw this car only now.” Shaji Ikka another middle aged man walked into me as Pratheesh Chettan was finishing his work. I explained him what happened. He looked like a person who is known among the local people there. He also lectured me on speed we need to maintain on roads as Old Ikkakka defended me by saying how irresponsible the authorities are and how many times he pointed out about the gutters and its danger. I was not interested in that conversation, given another day I would be the first one to crack that conversation (I paid additional 1% road tax since I registered car few days after start of this financial year. ☹)

Pratheesh Chettan is in all smiles and started his lectures once again as he finished it and promised me that it is all safe now and I can continue driving. I was super happy. And I could not believe of it taking track of events happened on that night till Modi became a danger once again. I went and asked Pratheesh Chettan which mobile application he has for the transfer since I did not withdraw money.

“Mone, application for mobile transfer huh? I don’t even have a bank account.” He told me. Modiji where were you!!

I am trapped again. God why are you doing this to me. I told him I can take him to next ATM in my car and withdraw and give me him money with all embarrassment of having zero cash in hand and having a Honda City busted on road side.

Chamravattom is where next avengers should be shot, Heroes for the day was not ending as Shaji Ikka called me aside and told me this. “ You are already delayed and I don’t want you to go back and withdraw money” and he handed over me 500 rupee note and told me that I can give that back to him any time I come back in that route. I didn’t see that coming as I met him only few minutes back. I told him I don’t travel this route often and I would rather withdraw from some ATM. He said it’s okay even if I don’t come back or pay him. I had to take that money and hand it over to Pratheesh Chettan as he resisted in collecting money.

I promised I will pay back Shaji Ikka the money back next day morning through some friends around and started driving home again, all of them had a smile on their faces and they did not even forget to check if I reached home safe over a call.

From what was to be considered as a worst day, having got stuck in the place I have never been to on a rainy night, my drive from Chamravattom to kochi was with full of smile on my face and heartfelt gratitude those then strangers turned friends of Chamravattom who helped another stranger when he needed the most. Good people and Good places are to be remembered and Chamravattom and those bunch of people will be always in my heart <3.

Chamravattom is a village near Ponnani in Malappuram District of Kerala. We hear a lot negative stories on the danger on the roads on a daily basis through media. Here is my little story which made me take some time and think the impact of your little help on others life. Your support and pat on the shoulder means a lot to someone. Spread love to our fellow beings. Because we are human. That is what holds our worlds together. <3