RE-BIRTH EXPERIENCE! (03-July-2021)

Never a pretty sight to witness and study the under-belly of an 18-wheeler truck when it is in motion!

Feb 18, 1994 – in USA traveling in a car in Texas from a small-town Beaumont to Houston on highway I-10, I caught a glimpse of the under-belly of a massive 18-wheeler truck. 

Master Hirannaiah’s “Lanchavatara” was playing in the car, as my friend and I drove amongst well-disciplined drivers.  The master in his own inimitable style delivering intertwined ocean of words, a’ la vehicles movement into and out of the highway, kept us entertained as we were immersed in this kannada narration and ruminating on the same!

Our car was cruising along in the middle lane when suddenly two nerve-wracking swerves, first to the left and then to the right perched us stationary in a precarious position, perpendicular to the flow of traffic.  I could see two approaching ‘semis’ one behind the other – monster trucks a very common sight on US highways.  One, they have an overwhelming effect due to their sheer size and road-presence with 18 wheels, and two, its own momentum could pose a challenge to brake and stop during emergencies!

At 90-degrees to the traffic flow, seated in the right-side passenger seat I was closer to the 1^st truck as it approached.  It sent shivers up the spine then, and even now.  Family images whizzed past me – a near-death experience, ‘a glimpse of my entire life’ in a matter of seconds.  The driver maneuvered (or was it destined) the beast and avoided hitting our car where the front few sets of wheels missed before the metals collided as the rear wheels clambered over the bonnet.  I had the misfortune in that passing second, to peek into the underside of the shining metal and the ghastly view of the 2^nd semi as it fast approached!

The next thing I heard a voice from deep within.  I believed I was dead and all blood and meat, if not at least a blood-smeared body with broken limbs.  God could not have been kinder; when I opened my eyes, I saw my legs intact but just a few centimeters ahead was the mangled mess of the front one-third!  My limbs moved; I released the seat-belt that had so snuggly held on to my torso.  I reached out to the door handle, but the door hinges were jammed.  I climbed out from the driver-side door.  I could see huge smoke emanating from what used to be a bonnet that held the engine underneath it!  The front nose gone kaput, a mashed metal remained with the rear two-thirds still intact!

My friend was in a state of shock; it had not dawned on him that we had just escaped a ‘near-death’ experience.  A church van that had whizzed past us stopped ahead and the passengers walked back to where we sat kneeled down in front of the vehicle.  A lady approached me and asked, ‘where are the dead occupants?’  When I told her that I was one of the lucky ones to have escaped unhurt, she exclaimed to her fellow group: “God wanted the two to live.”  Unscathed from this harrowing experience, it sounded music then to our shocked fears!

Apparently the left-front tyre had burst causing the car to swerve first to the left.  My friend had jammed the brakes which rotated the left front rim and swerved the car to the right.  The car came to a screeching halt.  The rest is only for conjecture.  February 18^th may as well - a RE-BIRTHday!  A re-birth of sorts…the Lord has His own plans and we are only players!!