The blaring almost jarring sound of cars, bikes and buses stood frozen at that moment. The loud jiving music emanating from a nearby nightclub, the chit-chattering of strangers on pavements, the movements of customers and shopkeepers stilled.
The chilling noise of the right side of the auto rubbing against the hard rubble. The sudden adrenaline rush, the experience of a strange confusion, an unexpected commotion, time had stilled at that moment. Was this real? Or was this a figment of imagination?
The auto my sister and I were in had tilted on its head, hurling us out like unwanted objects. We were propelled mid-air, stuck like an awkward pause, before finding ourselves on our backs on an extremely hard surface. In a rather compromising position with my skirt hiked up a tad bit and my t-shirt scrunched up, exposing my thighs and midriff, respectively. A feeling of sheer embarrassment washed over me instantly. The pain followed next. The impact of the fall had managed to render us both speechless, in an eternal state of surprise. Thoughts of ‘Was this really happening? Were we really seated holding onto our bruised knees and elbows and our sour backs?’ played tricks inside my mind.
Almost like a knee jerk reaction, a sudden feeling of concern for my sister, who too had terribly hurt herself popped up in the incomprehensible mess of my mind. A racket formed around us. A woman in an ochre saree helped my weeping sibling up, while also gathering all the other things that had fallen off our laps. She also assisted a rather bruised me. Another man came forth from the public, pulling the auto driver from under the toppled auto.
It was chaos painted in hues of red, brown and khaki. I felt like a muddled granny. Thoughts buzzed past my mind, like irritating mosquitoes, ‘Did this really happen...or did I imagine it?’
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