This topic might seem debatable for a few people in the world but for the the readers of my blog, answer to this question could be unanimously a big “YES”. We all would have come across various experiences in life when we had felt that gut instinct save us, people like friends and doctors who saved us and sometimes even strangers who save us. All these are generally cited to the supremal power – “Kaduval madhiri, they saved us”, “saami kanavu vandhu sonnanga”, “correct time la someone refered us the right doctor that saved our life” etc etc. So yeah, God doesn’t come in ornate form as in “Mukuthi amman” but as people we Meet. So, here is my close encounter with God as I consider.
Recently, we had been to hogenakkal during Dasara holidays. At around 4.00 I came up with an impromptu plan of going to Yercaud too as it was near and we had not been anywhere in the last two years. My husband who had driving for the last three years was a little skeptical about driving in the hills but he too wanted to give it a try and we checked the hotel rates. Luckily, we were able to find a good one at reasonable price and we started from Dharmapuri at about 4.00.
All was well until we reached the foothills of Ghats. Google took us through many villages and not via Salem. We simply followed the maps directions with no big fuss. As we started climbing the hills, it started drizzling on and off abd in the plains, it made our drive slow but was not a big deal. We had coffee at the Yercaud Filter Coffee stall and started our uphill drive. Kids were asleep and it was me who was keeping up with directions and me and husband were really excited about our first hillstation drive. Network was fine and so we proceeded carefully at a very modest speed considering it was our first time.
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It was dark and foggy and was pouring now and then and my husband started feeling the pressure of driving in the dark that too for the first time in the hills. I was trying to motivate him to stay calm and helping him with running commentary on what lied ahead with the sign boards so that we dont miss anything. At just about 6.00 PM and it became completely dark and network was up and sometimes not there at all. But as there was just one road ahead, we did not bother much and just paid attention to the road ahead of us. Every minute seemed so long in the hills but we were still enjoying only with any complaints. Then, we reached a junction kind of place and we assumed it could be a village. So, we just followed the Maps and Google rerouted in that place. We thought it is picking the best possible route and continued. By now, the rain had caught up its pace. It was raining which made us drive even slower. We took a left and kept moving and suddenly realized that we were simply into a jungle void of any road sign and there was hardly any vehicular movement now. It was hardly around 6.30 and it was dark; simply dark everywhere. It got scary and we checked the map just to be sure and I realized that there was no network. I couldnt help but panic. I told my husband to slow down the car and gently conveyed him that there was no signal. Kids were asleep. He too got into a panic now. He suggested that we should simply keep moving forward as there is no way. Following the route might take us only to Yercaud. But I was not okay to explore in a place where those glittering stone to figure your way ahead is not there as there is no guarantee that this is ghat road. As we had just moved for about 15 minutes from the village junction, I decided to get back there itself. We spent a good 10 minutes thinking what to do when I saw a bike approaching us. I got down and asked those men on details like where we were, the name of the place, how far is yercaud and blah blah while the husband man was conveniently sitting in the car. Told him to get down and ask for routees – one of the two guys said that this was a dense estate and moving foward, we can reach yearcaud. he cautioned that the road ahead is way too steep and is dangerous for first timer as there will no Airtel signal for sure. The other guy suggested we go to their village, stay there overnight in their house as it was raining. We humbly ruled out the second option and decided to get back to the junction. When we told them of the junction that we had just come across, they said a route like second left from there will take us to Yercaud. We were pleasantly surprised with their proficiency of the route while we saw no left or right and they are talking about 2nd left in particular. Anywaz, we bid them a good bye, reversed our car and reached the junction. AT the junction, we saw a board which read Matheena Stores KUppanur which was shut. Surprisingly, the store was closed and the entire area had no humans at a few minutes past 6.00 in the evening. It was like midnight 2.00 AM while it actually was just 6.45 pm or so. Above the store, we could hear some voices. We started calling out “Sir and anna” to ask for directions to Yercaud from here. Yes! there was no signal here as well. Then, two men of the Islam religion came down and asked us what. We explained our situation and those brothers luckily shared their WI-Fi with us and helped us with the map. When we told them that we were skeptical of the route, they motivated us saying that as we have come until here, another 30 minutes can easily take us to the destination. The route was clear, go straight for about 4 kms, and then a bridge on the left should be seen. Cross the bridge and then there will no deviations. Just one single uphill and you should reach Yearcaud. If we don’t find the bridge, get back and come to the same place and call them. That was assuring. 4 kms and bridge or come back… With infinite thanks to those young men, we proceeded further. Rain also was merciful and had stopped. So, 4 kms straight, and bridge on the left and we yippe! yercaud is now one reachable without maps. The hair bends were sharp and steep but somehow my husband did a fair job and by the time we reached Yercaud it was heavily raining. All through the journey we did nothing – just following the sparking road studs, clueless on the elevation we were riding, what laid ahead of us, nothing. It was just the yellow light of the car, those road reflectors, the road signboards with danger symbol every now and then, and complete darknesss everywhere around. So, where those two young men at Madheena Stores at Kuppanur the Gods we saw?
<<to be continued>>
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