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That feeling of helplessness...


Yesterday morning I left home later than usual, to go to office. It had been raining and the roads were wet and in some places slippery due to the mud. There was a massive traffic jam…actually bumper-to-bumper as they say. Due to the rains the vehicles were driving very slowly. Mercifully people’s tempers were quite calm and there was no honking or desperation to get ahead.

Suddenly I heard and ambulance siren in a distance. Usually whenever I hear an ambulance siren I get a little worried. The first thought that comes to my mind is ‘what are the people accompanying the patient, usually close relatives, going through at this moment?’. I make sure that I get out of the way as soon as possible and I have observed that so do all others on the road.

Today, however, when I heard the siren, I felt a lot more disturbed because I was acutely aware of the traffic jam. Very slowly the siren came closer and closer. I had already moved to the side of the road. Other vehicles too were trying to do the same. But, the traffic was really so packed that it was virtually impossible to make way. My anxiety started spiralling by the minute.

Now the ambulance was driving about 10 feet away, parallel to my motorcycle. At this point the traffic simply stopped moving…it was impossible to move. The ambulance started sounding an additional siren as well. I could see that people were trying to move away but couldn’t as there was no space at all. The two loud sirens made it amply clear how important it was for the ambulance to advance as quickly as possible. The road that we were on had no lanes or by-lanes through which the ambulance driver could take a detour.

At this point of time tears started streaming down my cheeks. I felt so helpless ! Those 5 minutes till the ambulance finally got a clear path to advance seemed like the longest 5 minutes ever to me. The strange thing is that I couldn't stop crying for a good 10 minutes after that.

Yesterday was one of those situations when things just aren't going right and it is nobody's fault really. You have no answers. It made me feel so helpless and frustrated !
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aanand said…
hota hain frd..u cant do much abt it. tc
26 June 2011 at 09:52
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