ESL Blogs

Hope everybody had an amazing new year celebrations.But for few people the first day of the 'Happy new year' turned out to be different.

I went to home with a lot of excitement and joy to celebrate the new year day with my family, but 1st Jan turned out to be a grieving day for us. On 1st Jan early morning(I was half asleep) I overheard my father talking to my brother about my relative,(name : chandu, my Brother-in-law.Elder brother of my brother's wife) that he died in a car accident.

It happened in the early hours(around 3:30am) on 1st Jan.They were 5 people in the car including chandu.Luck did not favor him, he was the only person who died in the accident and rest of them survived.The driver was in coma, but he came to his senses after two days (on 3rd Jan).

What happened on 31st December???
It was around 9PM and my cousin was waiting in his home to attend the mid-night prayer meeting in their church at 10PM. Surprisingly,few of his friends came to his house at 9:30pm.They met each other after a long time so they planned to go out to celebrate the new year.Also they asked chandu to throw a party for them because he got a job as Marine Engineer and also because his younger sister(younger to my sister-in-law) got engaged.He was hesitating, but his friends compelled him and he agreed to give them a party.So he informed his mom (my aunt) and said he would return as early as possible.

It was late night,he did not return.My aunt was bit worried.Chandu's sister tried to reach him on phone but since it was 31st December the cell network was very busy. At 3:30am they(my aunt) received a phone call.It was him. He wished them 'Happy new year' and said that he is returning home in a car(Toyota innova).He was still talking to them and all of a sudden the call failed.My aunt tried to call him back again, but because of the busy network she could not reach him.However,she felt a bit relaxed because he informed her that he's returning home.

1st January 2011, Time : 3:30am - 5 am
Chandu and his friends were returning to their homes in a Toyota Innova.They were drunk and were  driving at high speed(nearly 150kmph) in a freeway/Highway.Some road construction work was in progress on one road side of the freeway divider,so that road was closed and the traffic was diverted to the road on the other side of the freeway divider which makes it a two-way traffic road temporarily.A lorry driver coming in opposite direction was not aware that it was a two-way traffic road and he too was driving at high speed.After a while, the vehicles ran into each other at great speeds.

Chandu was in the back seat of the car with his friends sitting on either side of him.He was making calls to everyone to convey his wishes to them.The impact was so high that even though he's in the back seat he was pushed right into the front glass of the car.The glass of the car is of fiber type.When such a glass is hit it doesn't break into pieces like an ordinary glass.Instead it cracks at the point where it is hit.Chandu died on the spot with his head hanging out of the front glass of car.The two friends sitting next to him dashed against their front seats during the impact and survived the impact with some minor injuries.The guy sitting next to the driver wore his seat belt so he too survived.But the driver got hit on his head by the steering wheel and he went into coma.The survived ones called to their homes and left the place.Next day morning at 5am, few of the people returning from a church spotted a man with his head hanging outside the front glass of the car unattended by anyone.So they went near to the accident scene and identified the man as chandu their church member and called the police.The lorry driver fled away soon after the accident and the police are still searching for him.

On 1st January early morning 6am,
Chandu's younger sister woke up to a heavy knock at the door.It was one of chandu's friend.He said he wanted to talk to her father.But my uncle was not at home as he goes out for a walk every morning.So he asked for her father's number but chandu's sister did not give the phone number and asked him to leave a message to her and that she'll inform him.But the guy did not say anything and turned around to leave. Chandu's sister asked him a bit seriously about what had happened and why he wanted to talk only to her father this early morning.So finally that guy broke the ice, 'Your brother met with an accident and he died on the spot'.She first thought it was a joke.But that guy started weeping and told her what had happened. She too started crying.She informed her father when he returned home, but to her mother(in the kitchen)she said that he met with an accident and got severely injured.After hearing the news of his son's death, Chandu's father returned to his room weeping silently.

7am - 2pm
Chandu's sister informed us on phone and we started immediately to there place(it's 2hrs journey).Somehow all the relatives came to know about the accident.Everybody reached chandu's home.At this point, chandu's mother, seeing all the relatives in her home realized what might have actually happened to her son.She wept a lot.

2pm-5pm
Chandu's body was brought to home in an ambulance. It was rolled up in a mat full of blood. Autopsy was done in a government hospital since it was a road accident case.There was a big crack on his head and there was profuse bleeding from his body.His face was fully disfigured.So we paid some amount to a doctor to prepare him for his burial.The doctor did a good work and he managed to make chandu's face look as it was before the accident.At 5pm we buried him.

I sincerely request each and everyone to never drink and drive. Because the ultimate sufferers are the parents and the family members who have to live their rest of the lives with the thought that their son/daughter/husband/wife/friend/brother/sister is no more for them.