Unknown....

Photo by - Endevourme

Almost two years back....one fine evening we started from pune to hyderabad.Ours was a Qualis, it was 12 hours jeorney, and very soon after dark all others went to sleep. I was on the front seat with the driver, watching outside, thinking about chores of the next day, but soon my eyes too started becoming heavy. The highway pulls straight, alternating between barren lands, jungles and occasional small villages. He was driving steadily at the speed of 80, his eyes fixed on the road. We could clearly make out the road and sideby trees hanging on us.
"Highways are safe now-a-days no?", i said. He looked at me, "Really?", "yes, we hear very less tragedies on roads now", i replied. He smiled cynically, "Then i must show you something". I said,"ha?"."Put on your seatbelts", he said. As I did so, he slowly raised the vehicle to 100, looked in to the rear view mirror,took good judgement of the road ahead and ...
...he switched off the headlights...for almost 4 seconds....

.....it really took me a moment to register what has happened...then what i felt was absolute fear!it was absolutely dark...i could see nothing outside...literally nothing...and a chill of fear ran through my spine. I was instantly straight, cautious and fully awake...... my mind was instantly flushed of thoughts...the thrill brought me to intense present tense...clear to analyse the surroundings...but i could hardly see anything...i could hear rustling sound of leaves outside,sound of our vehicle..wroom...wroom......and its small movements up and down...i could feel fast wind gushing through the window...and..........a vast unfamilier land outside...a jungle....dark...strange......unknown........

...after the lights came, i felt like coming back to life again. Still the brief encounter with truth made me realize the false sense of security we have with our surroundings. We believe in our roads, assuming they are safe.We trust our vehicle, just a machine, after running it for over 1 lakh kilometers. As humans we live in a shell, constantly protected. But when something goes wrong do we have enough mental and physical strength to protect ourself? Nature is beautiful, but it is strange too. And we lack the sixth sense that animals have, a pure natural instinct, an ability to listen to surrounding and make out danger. Instant decision making, which can make a difference of life and death.
but...during that blackout... for a moment, i did feel a pleasure, a thrill, a deep sense of peace, a blankness, a tingling sensation...
After this incident also i travelled this road many times, but kept always in mind the respect and knowing - for the unknown....