…be it about how someone, however remotely associated to them or their family, suddenly met with a terrible accident and “miraculously” escaped being crushed or run over.

i remember reading a line in richard bach’s illusions where the messiah in the book, don shimoga says crowds love to see miracles — like “going to the auto races to see the crashes.”

life’s like that even outside the book. my sister‘s slowly recovering in the hospital, and the world wants to know how it happened, why it happened, and how she’s doing now.

not to offend the concern that everyone’s been expressing till now, but i have been answering phone calls since 7:00 every morning, right up to 11:30 at night. people i have never met — it’s been just three days since i’ve shifted home, and i’m just getting to know my neighbours gradually — mom’s club members, daddy’s rotarian circle, uncles, aunts, friends….and all i do is repeat the same lines again and again. now i know why news travels so far and so fast.

i suggested to mom that we install an answering machine that would have updates-on-deepu in both english and hindi:

hello, this is the home of the janardhan’s.
deepika has just met with a scooter accident and so our bangalore trip has been cancelled.
– for more details on how it happened, press 1.
– if you know about it already and are wondering how she’s doing, press 2 for updates.
– for the same info in hindi or malayalam, press 3 and 4.
– if you want to know the hospital and ward number where you can find us, press 5.
– to leave your name and phone number, press 6 and wait for the beep.
your concern is appreciated. thank you and good bye.