Operation Success, but.....

A long cherished dream of visiting hills of Uttarakhand became a reality recently but not without the drama, which could have turned this dream into a nightmare, but for some timely actions and inaction.
Bored with repeated visits to Ooty and Kodai year after year, the search was always on for alternate hill stations but then the notorious language challenge wherein one has to think multiple times before travelling to the other side, always deterred me from looking beyond Tamilnadu borders.  My dream of visiting Nainital took a new birth, when it was announced by the tour operator I am conversant with and I just latched on to the opportunity, even while I was away from India. The operators were best known for their courtesy, personal touch , excellent accommodation and good food facilities and I could not have asked for anything better - so I thought.

Our well laid plan kicked off in the wee hours of a Tuesday, not without the usual anxiety of call taxi operators' laid back response to a cab booked for 2 AM, but then all was well when we managed to catch the 5 AM flight to Delhi. After devouring the unusually hard but not hot Idlies supported with an earful of chatter, the touring party of around 18 was in the best of elements, blissfully unaware of things to come. Initially, even Delhi weather was kind with some cool cover as we hurried out of it on our way to Nainital but then the sun caught up with some blistering heat waves as we panted through, after a liberal lunch at Mamaji's Dhaba.

Things were moving well until our siesta was disturbed by a roadblock created by an overturned truck which was apparently overloaded and the uneven road helped it to turn turtle blocking majority of the path. Our 'Partha' , until then an angel even buying ice blocks to keep the water bottles cool, swiftly managed to maneuver the narrow passage like a Chennai auto rickshaw driver and pass through only to realize a few steps ahead that the van has developed a flat tyre. While the same was changed with astonishing speed in twenty minutes to the appreciation and clapping of all passengers, his pace was impeded by some cops, like an umpire warning the overstepping bowler. That his crime of having a license to drive a higher category vehicle than the one he was driving was realistically solved after incurring some 'expenses' and after devouring some valuable time, he was cleared to drive on , when we were struck again with some 'Air leak' right in the midst of a jungle , fortunately near a decently lit road shop about 20 KMs from our resort in Naini. We should have been alerted about his capabilities when he asked for some adhesives to arrest the air leak, but then the impression he had created thus far was so high that we chose to believe him and he justified by managing to take us to Nainital by around 9:30 PM, as against the scheduled 4 PM !!

The same driver started revealing his colors gradually over the next days, when he made the whole group wait for 45 minutes under the guise of turning the vehicle before coming for the pick up.

The next day, after the jungle Safari,  when the bus was driven through the darkness of night, more through GPS aided smart phones of passengers , we were shocked with his query whether we need to travel one more hour, when we were almost in the same road of the resort ! So much of his road sense and knowledge of the place, or the lack of it, but then we were riding our luck, rather stretching it, without our knowledge.

The crowning stupidity was reserved for the concluding day of the tour and glad that we are here alive to share the story. Again, the same driver made the bubbling party wait for nearly an hour to turn the vehicle and pick us up at the entrance of the resort. When the driver who exhibited so much of confidence and driving expertise on the way up the hill, managed to drive close and at times even scratch the oncoming vehicles to the chagrin and mouthful curse of other drivers, little did we suspect that this guy was not fully fit to drive.
 
Only after he collapsed to sleep on the steering wheel when we stopped for a bio break and also his stopping at every shop to buy cold water and soft drinks that we came to know that he was not in his elements. But, when the journey was resumed on the plains, it was a nightmare with the cleaner sitting nearby directing him to swerve to the left or right of the road and we had some scary moments of having come close to a head-on with an innocent family in a car keeping to their left and when our driver realized at the last moment to stop inches before a stationery heavy vehicle. But for providence, we could have been involved in any of these and even some lives from the innocent road users could have been lost.

Though the errant driver was sternly dealt with through some timely reporting of the matter to his bosses at Delhi, we still had to persist with him as we were far away from Delhi for the tour organizers to arrange for a replacement driver, we were told.

 I am writing these some days after the event and it has taken me so much of time to reflect on what has happened, what could have happened and what should have been done by all the stakeholders.

As I mentioned, easily it could have turned out to be a bloody experience had one of those collisions happened and that is what could have happened.

As a person travelling in that van almost blindly driven by that driver, I feel ashamed I had failed to act and could have acted better, thus saving the situation.

When once we realized that the driver was not fit enough to drive, risking the lives of passengers and others on the road, we should have been bold enough to stop the vehicle and not allow the driver to drive until he is sober. I feel, here, all those travelling in the van as well as the tour operators have to take collective responsibility of inaction and failing to act on time and accept the blame. As I said it is only a miracle that saved us from further damage. We should have put all other considerations such as connecting flight to Chennai, possible delay leading to possible stay at Delhi and  commercial loss aside and put our foot down by refusing to travel in a vehicle driven by one who is drunk to the neck, only in the interest of human lives.

That the tour operators managed to get connected to their Delhi counterpart, who reported the matter to the police as well as arranging for a replacement driver as we entered Delhi by 6:30 PM , who expertly drove and took us to the Airport just in the nick of the time to board the plane, with exemplary support and assistance of the Delhi staff of tour operators and Indigo staff are a different story , that could be enjoyed only in the cool comforts of homes, but then we could have been easily deprived of the same due to our vacillation.

The touring party was all praise, rather justifiably, for the tour Managers in getting us into the plane but then it could have been a touch and go. The operation of emplaning people was a big success but then it is a miracle that the patients survived to board.

The big lesson learnt out of the incident is that even if you are alone,  shout when you feel justified and if it is in the interest of everyone. Reminded of Rabindranath Tagore's words sung by Mahathma Gandhi, as quoted in the book 'Freedom at Midnight' - "If they not answer your call , walk alone, walk alone".

It is going to take few more weeks for me to get out of the trauma when I close my my eyes and the guy heading straight towards the oncoming car. Until then, I need to pray to the Gods at all those wonderful Divya Desams and Jyotrilingams, we have visited in the same company !