Vehicle in neutral

Vehicle in neutral ( a real life story)

Those were our youngster days and I was posted at a place in J&K. It was my first unit and thus I was learning the ways a unit functions. Every second drops of knowledge kept accumulating in my mind. I was enjoying the company of troops and had made friendship with them. As I came quite close to them so they also reciprocated in sharing their problems and jokes which they hesitated with the senior officers. Going outdoors with them was a real fun which gave ample opportunities to know in depth about them the act which is encouraged in this organisation for having a better officer-men relationship and understanding the troops so that one is able to allocate the type of task one is fit for later when required as per the situation.
I was once detailed to go to some higher HQ located at about two hours journey by road to get some important military documents .Such type of duty was popularly termed as ‘Courier Duty’ which was mostly entrusted to the junior officers and used to be a good outing not involving much work except to collect the documents and bring it safely under security ; the aspect which was taken care of by the guards with weapons accompanying them. The officer was however responsible for the complete conduct. I had a one ton truck which is something more than a Jeep and less than a truck .I had one more officer accompanying me and four of the guards who were sitting at the rear of the vehicle. I as their commander was sitting on the front seat as a co driver and the driver was driving the vehicle. We reached the HQ ,collected the documents and immediately started back our return journey as were to reach before the dusk.
The weather was pleasant, sun was bright , road was wide and the route was mountainous. There were turns, climbs and gradual slopes as it was National highway connecting Srinagar to Jammu in Northern part of India. I could also afford to see good scenery enroute as was sitting in front and not driving. I could see long stretches of valley ,green trees with fresh leaves coming out of them ,clear sky with cirrus clouds in the background, birds flying and whatever can be thought of for painting a good scenery hence was lost in them. We reached a place called ‘Nandini Tunnel’ and crossed it after which stopped for a tea break. The place was famous for ‘Paneer Pakodas’ a good Indian dish of cheese and gram flour fried in oil to make it crispy which everyone likes to have it with tea. We had lot of them and after the men had it full to their hearts content started off refreshed.
As we proceeded further a few kms on the way towards Jammu the vehicle started giving jerks but the driver somehow carried on for some time as a gradual slope was helping us to carry on. He used to switch off the vehicle and again start it with the help of momentum gained by the vehicle due to the slope and we proceeded like this for some distance but the vehicle finally came to a grinding halt.
I asked the driver, Om Prakash,”What happened? “
He replied, “There seems to be some problem in the carburettor”
“Don’t you clean it daily especially before carrying out such a move.” I said authoritatively
“Saab , Kiya to tha chalne se pehle (Sir,I had cleaned it before we started)”he said lowering his head with raised eyebrows and looking towards me with his eyeballs turned left and face in the front as if trying to check from the expression of my face whether his lie works out to convince me to avoid further scolding.
He got down and opened the bonnet with it resting on the hood of the vehicle, started to fumble the parts of the engine and after sometime closed the bonnet, came back and sat down on the drivers seat. He then twisted the ignition key and the vehicle started. We proceeded ahead and carried on for a few kms more.
After sometime again the vehicle started behaving the same way as earlier and stopped. I glared at the driver and said nothing. He quickly opened the door and started off with the same drill. After that he then quietly entered the cabin and twisted the ignition key once again. This time the vehicle did not start. Fearing to face me he looking at the steering wheel told me that the vehicle needs to be pushed after which he will manage it to start.
Feeling pity on him I asked the guard party sitting behind to help him and push the vehicle .They at once dismounted and pushed the vehicle .He kept the gear in neutral and after gaining adequate momentum turned the vehicle into the second gear and left the clutch. Chak !chak! chak ! the vehicle started off. Soon everyone mounted and we started our journey again.
The vehicle climbed and descended the route and gained good speed and I taking a sigh of relief got convinced that now we will reach without any problem and as soon as I reach the unit handover the documents to the Adjutant after which would have a bath, watch some good movie in the Mess , a nice dinner after having my favourite lime cordial soda drink and sweet dreams at last with some romantic music in my ears.
Chuk!Chuk!chuk!Chuck!Krrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr came the noise and my mind was back in the one ton vehicle which again came to a halt .I was getting furious now and fired the driver for poorly maintaining the vehicle.
“Aaj lagata hai hamaare sare pakoday yahin nikaal dega Om Prakash( It seems that today OmPrakash will take out all the Pakodas that we had) “ said one of the guards from behind as was expecting that he will soon be told to dismount and push the vehicle once again.
Fortunately there was a very gradual slope favouring our direction of move. He got down from the door and making use of the gravity started to push it moving along with it by holding the steering with his left hand and the door with his right hand applying force on the door in the direction of the move at the same time keeping the door half open so that he could jump in once the vehicle gained adequate momentum and then with the same trick start the vehicle without disturbing and requesting anyone to push the vehicle since he was now guilty conscious. He succeeded in doing this and the vehicle started again but soon stopped after moving a few metres.
He again adopted the same procedure as the slope was still in our favour. All of us became so used to this fact that we did not bother thereafter even to think of it. Our minds were accustomed and tuned to the fact that this vehicle will move in this way only and we will be able to reach in no other way.
I kept my head rested on the back of the seat tilted on to the left window pane and started to watch the birds on the hill side who were sipping water dripping from one of the rock outcrop on the hill side turn by turn with their small beaks. The guards were also holding their rifles with their barrels facing the sky and butt on the vehicle floor in drowsy positions since were tired of hill sickness one experiences generally due to frequent turns on the hilly roads.
There was adequate slope and the vehicle although switched off now was moving slowly in neutral gear with everyone having deep expectations on it that it will soon help take us near our destination.
I took a glance towards the valley on my right hand side. It was deep, very deep, infact very very deep but beautiful where one would like to have a flight on the ‘Hang Glider’ since was an ideal place for take off. I could clearly see about 50 meters ahead in front a sharp left turn after which the road was not visible. My mind diverted and became busy in selecting an exact point of take off along with the hang Glider keeping into consideration the minimum length of road required to run for finally diving straight into the valley which turned out to be the edge from where the road turned left.
There was no traffic on the road at that time which could be seen nearby and was late afternoon. The sun was clearly visible in between the clouds. I felt something missing which was not coming to my mind as it seldom happens at times in our mind that we are not able to see what is in front of us and assume everything is in place even if it is not so . Your eyes are able to see but mind is not able to concieve what is missing. However something keeps pricking you to find what is missing. I again stretched my mind to various things which I could recollect but still could not . The vehicle was moving slowly, smoothly with a speed of about 10Kmph in neutral with engine switched off. There was no noise of the engine, no one was talking and stunned silence except for the very dim voice of the moving tyres which could also be felt as was being transmitted from the feet to the upper body and finally to the mind. Still something was unusual which made me feel uncomfortable without the known cause..
I suddenly brought my mind inside the cabin to watch what expressions the driver Om Prakash was emitting after hearing and having so much from me for the day and being guilty conscious for keeping his vehicle unfit. I got the shock of my life when I looked towards the driver’s seat as he was not there at all
Missing!
The vehicle was moving on its own in neutral.
My head turned over my neck my in quick successions all around like an Owl, with my eye muscles totally flexed and searching for him all around inside the cabin. My heartbeat doubled its pace as our one ton vehicle was soon going to become a wingless Hang Glider and would take off from the spot which I had selected as was just a few metres ahead and we were approaching it spot on fast ,very fast.
I looked back from the slit opening at the mid rear of the cabin from where the person sitting in front can peep at the rear of the vehicle and I saw Om Prakash on the road running towards our own vehicle from the rear
What ?
The driver of the vehicle running towards it from the rear to catch up with his own vehicle ?
The why and how of the situation was complex to understand at that juncture for there was not enough time available for me to tackle the situation .These things could be thought of later as the priority was to save the lives of all of us. There was a very thin line between life and death which only I knew. I had to take further action of deciding what to do in next fraction of a second otherwise soul of six of us would have soon left its body and all of us would soon be seen standing in a ‘fall in’ in front of God and attending a court of Inquiry as to why we returned back so early apart from the one being held on earth in our unit for the loss of lives of 02 X Officers and 04 X Other Ranks including the loss of ‘Secret Documents’ which we were bringing by courier.
I saw Om Prakash running like a slouch trying to catch up the vehicle and after sometime being not able to keep with the pace of the vehicle reduced his speed further and finally even stopped running. I feared for a very serious accident.
All these thoughts explained above did not take as much time as I took to explain it to you but just a few seconds . I as a result of reflex action of my mind dived on to the brake pedal with my body lying down completely on the front two seats , caught hold of the steering wheel with my left hand and pulled it towards me moving it anticlockwise (so that the vehicle turns left, hits the hill side and does not go straight into the ditch ahead) and with all the strength left in me pressed the brake pedal with my right hand .My head was under the steering, body on both the seats with stomach flat on it, the left leg on the floor of the co driver seat and right foot just projecting out of the window of co driver seat. I could see nothing as my eyes were fully concentrated on the brake pedal below the steering and only wished that the brake functions properly with the strength of my hand.
It was my subconscious mind which planned for the double safety (turning to the hill side and braking) on its own without me actually thinking about how to go about it . This is where the training comes in handy as the actions practiced during the training get drilled in you at the back of your mind without you actually knowing it. Although we consider such actions a mere wastage of time time during the training period but in real life it is rewardable as can be noticed now. .
The vehicle finally came to a halt from a speed of about 20 Kmph in 3 to 4 seconds after I applied the brakes with my hand and fortunately did not touch the hill cutting preventing the damage to the vehicle. I immediately put the vehicle in gear and got up holding the steering and the seat of the cabin to see where we had stopped and saw that we had halted just about 4 to 5 metres short from the edge of the ditch.
Oh ! Thank God!
‘For extending my tenure on this planet’ I prayed and took a sigh of relief.
As my mind stabilised from the turbulence, anger started to take over me exponentially and there was only one name in my mind,
‘Om Prakash ‘
I saw him walking at a far off distance behind towards our vehicle as if some civilian asking for a lift was approaching the tail board of the vehicle when the driver stops a few meters ahead of him to offer the lift and waits for the hitch hiker to get in.
My mind then wandered to clarify its confusion.
How the driver went behind ?
If the driver was behind why did the person sitting in the rear did not say anything to me and kept on looking at the driver?
Inspite of all this occurrence no one even cared to bother as to what has happened and rather they should be thanking their stars that they were saved and have got a new birth.
Why have they turned out to be so mean, thankless and least concerned types after somebody saved their lives .
Leave apart everything at least they could have thanked me for the good job done.
It was so confusing . They still did not move their muscle and now it was heights and I got furious and was fuming with anger. I got down from the vehicle banged the door and speedily went behind the vehicle shouting at the top of my voice,
” You Shameless creatures don’t you have any shame, if you are seeing the driver running towards you on the road and also know that he is your driver don’t you think it was necessary to tell me at the top of your voice?
Do you know where would have we landed had I not stopped the vehicle?
They, including the officer who was with them looked at each other and were speechless. By the time Om Prakash had also reached the vehicle.
“Where were you and how have you reached the rear of the veh”? I asked him to unravel the mystery for clarifying the matter to me so that I could give my peace of mind to him as he seemed to be the main hero in this act.
‘Sir, I was trying to push the vehicle on the slope holding the steering “? he said
“Then how did you reach at the rear”. I shouted at the top of my voice.
“Sir, I was not able to move the vehicle properly as it required more effort ,since the slope was not adequate so I went back and started to push the tail board with my both hands which thus moved the vehicle” he further clarified it to me.
“Go on”, I said, showing curiosity to know the remaining part of his version.
“So I pushed the vehicle but it sped up as the slope increased so I started to catch up with the vehicle by running behind it in order to reach the drivers cabin door from the right and get into the vehicle for starting it in the same way as done earlier”, he added.
Now I understood everything as clearly as you are able to make out the remaining part of the story of a typical hindi film after watching it for 10 minutes.
I then helped him finish his remaining explaination from my mouth and got the confirmation from him alongwith to authenticate what I am saying was correct;
”Then you pushed the vehicle and when it gathered enough speed you were unable to catch up with it ?Right? After which you thought it is useless to run now and stopped running thereby allowing the vehicle to go on its own. Isnt it?
“Yes Sir”, he nodded in affirmative to me.
“And you thought that since you are safe you should now relax? Is it? I added
“No sir “? He said.
“Then why the hell did you not shout at the top of your voice so that the person sitting in the rear could hear you and convey the same to me? “
“You are lying.” I said assertively
“Sir I was very far off then” he said just for the sake of saying to cover himself up
“Shut up”! I shouted again at him
I looked at the guards sitting inside the vehicle in the rear cabin and standing next to the tail board asked them ,”why did you not tell me”?
“Sir, we were thinking that you are sitting on the driver’s seat and have told him to give a push to the vehicle from the back so that you are able to start the vehicle yourself by putting the vehicle in gear and releasing the clutch.” They replied honestly.
I was now adequately clear of the situation and my mind was stable since I got all the answers to my doubts .
The driver was foolish.
A perfect example of ‘Suppandi’ whom we read in comics.
It is said a foolish friend is worse than a wise enemy and today it was proved.
When the situation was clear to everyone they got infuriated and were about to thrash him, the action I stopped but however did now interfere them from abusing him to release their anger as it was going out of control. I heard all the filthy language which a soldier uses uninterrupted for 2 to 3 minutes after which there was stunned silence .I then told the officer to come and sit in the co driver seat and myself drove the vehicle which fortunately started on the slope with the same method and we reached the unit at last, fortunately without any further stopping of the vehicle enroute .
Om Prakash was awarded 14 days of Rigorous Imprisonment for this act which I think he must remember all his life for the betterment of his as well as others safety. Later we came to know that he was having some family problem due to which he was thus so absent minded and thus demotivated. After his problem got sorted out he was hail and hearty again and was given administration duties.
The guards who were sitting behind narrated the story to their friends and the incident was talk of the town for so many days .They only understood the complete story and realised part of it but I had experienced and realised it in full and know what what went inside me . All I can say now is that there is hell a lot of difference between understanding and realisation. It is my realisation which has made me remember this story bit by bit to the minutest detail and is fresh as a flower in my mind which enabled me to narrate the same to you even after 20 years of its occurrence .