The Other Side(2)

feeling. Lavanya was looking out of the window to the left but I

could see her head moving rhythmically with the tune. Feeling happy, I smiled and negotiated the rocks that the

headlights shone on. It had been twenty minutes since we were

driving and I figured that we should have been somewhere near the

dhaba by now.Yet I could see nothing but desolate vegetation

around. The only sound I could hear through the rolled down

windows was the creaking of the nightjars. I felt uneasy, wondering

about the decision to take a right turn a kilometer back. Lavanya

sensed my unease and turned to check on me.

“What happened?” she asked in concern.

“I think we're on the wrong road,” I answered without looking

her in the eye.

“That's news!” she said in a sarcastic voice.

“I'm sorry, I guess I should have taken a left earlier on,”

I lamented.

“Why don't you just call up Dr. Mathur and ask him for

directions?” she suggested as if it was the most obvious thing to do. “It's midnight and I don't want to disturb him. Let's take a

U-turn the moment we see a clearing big enough to reverse. It

should take less than ten minutes to find our way back,” I said. “Nikhil!” she admonished.

“I promise I'll call up Dr. Mathur if I am unable to find the

turn,” I assured.

Lavanya sighed and turned her head back to the window. I sped

the car hoping to see a wider road. Around the same time, the

disturbing feeling in my chest began to rise. I rolled down the

window further sensing that something was not right. I checked

the audio player that had gone blank and then I realised the night

had become absolutely still, no sound reached my ears, even the

nightjars had called it a night. Momentarily, I looked out of the

window and from the gap between the trees, I saw a flash of white

rush past.

I gasped and braked suddenly and at the same time something

banged against the side of the car. Lavanya screamed and pulled me

back as a face emerged at the window. A very old, frail man stared

back at us.

“Sahib, save my wife or she'll die,” he said in a hardly

audible voice.

“Nikhil, drive… now!” Lavanya's shaky voice reached my ears

but my hands refused to obey.

“Sahib, save my wife or she'll die,” the man repeated. His expressions were difficult to comprehend in the dark but I

noticed the plea in his voice and the doctor in me stirred. Clad in an

ill-fitting white kurta and a torn dhoti, the old man folded his

hands. Lavanya shrieked.



“It's alright,” I tried to calm her down and then turned to the

old man.

“Sahib, save my wife or she'll die,” he said.

“Where's your wife?”

“Sahib, save my wife or she'll die.”

“Nikhil, the guy's mad. Let's go please,” Lavanya whispered

into my ear.

“Sahib, save my wife or…”

“Lavanya, I can't leave someone who requires medical

attention. Tau, where's your wife?”

“Sahib, save my wife or she'll die.”

“I'm here to save your wife, Tau. Can you please take me to

her?” I shouted over his rants.

The old man seemed to calm down and it took sometime for

him to register what I had said.

“I'm a doctor and I'll try to treat your wife but that can only be

done if you show me her whereabouts,” I reasoned.

The old man nodded and walked away, beckoning me to

follow him.

“Tau, you sit in the car and show me the way,” I shouted but he

didn't seem to listen.

“Wow, what a romantic idea to spend your first anniversary!

Treating some stranger in the middle of the jungle,” Lavanya

taunted. I ignored her jibes. I would win her over later but right

then, my concern was for a patient who needed me.

I put the car in the first gear and followed the old man. He

seemed to be running at a decent pace and I didn't want to speed up

for fear of knocking him over.

About ten minutes later, the old man stopped near a huge

haveli amidst wild weeds and broken stones. I halted the car and

got down after taking the emergency medical kit with me. Lavanya

grudgingly followed suit. I had never been to this side of the

country before. In the distance, I could see a few huts and dense

shrubbery. The first thing I felt was that there was no light around. I

say 'felt' because I was keeping an eye on the old man who was near

the huge door. Lavanya wrapped an arm around mine despite her

anger. I could tell she didn't like the place. Standing beneath the

round moon, the haveli was huge, almost cutting out the moon

from where we were standing with a sloping tiled roof; the paint

had peeled off with the passage of time and that was pretty much all