I come across more and more crashes along the way. It becomes quite evident that the disappearance of people is responsible for them. I wasn’t able to see much on the medical college premises. I didn’t go around the college completely. That can be a reason. I did go through the casualty. The presence of the empty ambulance and limited vehicles in and around the area tells me that the phenomenon might have occurred when there was the least load on the casualty. I can’t be sure because I don't have a reference to gauge.

I am approaching Kumarapuram junction. Just before the junction, I see a car off the road and crash into the shop on the opposite side of the road. It has caused a lengthwise dent on the shutter. Regarding the state of the interiors, it remains in a pristine state. The airbags were not inflated. The car does have them. It belongs to the newer generation that has made airbags mandatory. I stop to give the car a quick check. The front grill is intact but the side fender and body have sustained damage. It has long scratches from the side indicator light to the fuel tank.

There is a small temple right in the middle of the road. It encloses a banyan tree. Nothing has happened to it. There is no activity from it though. It should have been open by now. The temple priests would have been going about their daily duties. Instead, it remains calm and peaceful.

For the past couple of hours, the whole environment has taken up the quality of being eerie and mysterious. Because of a lack of sounds or activity, there is an innate silence hanging in the air. The sounds that are in abundance are those of the animals and birds and the occasional flutter of the trees caused by the wind. The other sound that has become prominent is the hum of the transformer (I can hear one from where I am standing now). It was a noise that used to get drowned down in the sounds of daily life. Even a hartal is not this quiet. I have seen plenty of them and I will verify this fact.

I take a moment to observe this. The world seems a very odd place without the everyday sounds one is used to. They have become an integral part of our lives. From the time we wake up to the time we hit the bed, we are constantly being barged with all kinds of sounds. If there is a lack of it then it means there is a problem. Just like now. Even if you are at home, you are subject to all kinds of sounds from your house and its surroundings.

The presence of human life brings in all kinds of sound. Places where what I am experiencing might be normal in isolated regions of the planet. I can think of places in Antarctica, the Arctic circle, the mountains, and the island nations inhabited by tribal populations. In a video, I had seen how these tribals respond to the sounds created by the vehicles and people that come to visit them. For them, these sounds are a novelty, and treat them with an air of suspicion. It is normal. When you encounter something out of the ordinary you are always cautious. Until you understand it, it will remain a novelty to be feared. As a species, we too have survived because of our fight or flight instinct. Although we are at a stage where this does not apply much to our daily lives in its strict sense, it is one of the basic instincts ingrained in our DNA. It comes out in situations that involve undue stress and panic. That is what you see in those tribals.

Nowadays people take a detox from their hurried daily lives every now and then. They go for yoga retreats or do adventurous treks in the mountains to seek a bit of peace and solitude. Some retreats practice a lifestyle of minimum noise. You talk under the direst of all circumstances. People spend months here without uttering a word, creating an atmosphere devoid of human sounds. I have wondered how it feels. I surely am getting a taste of it, one which is more harsh and hurtful.

Kumarapuram junction is also a busy junction on a normal day. Three out of the four roads lead to a hospital. The place has also seen a lot of development over the years. I hope on my scooter and continue on. I cross the junction and head straight. The couple of roadside eateries that cater to the hungry at night remain closed and wrapped in tarpaulin. One of them has tipped a bit. It is leaning against the wall behind it. An autorickshaw is responsible for this. It lies right next to it, crashed onto the wall. I slow down, look at it and continue on.

If it was a normal day and I was in a hurry, I can’t take the liberty to look around as I drive. It would not be good for me. I will be navigating through the traffic and every inch of my presence and focus should be on the road. I have observed a couple of times that a lack of focus can thwart away the rhythm I had on the road and put me off. This has occurred not when I was feeling sleepy or tired. Even going into some kind of deep thought is more than enough to lose track. The absence of any kind of vehicle on the road has given me the freedom to ride as I wish without compromising on the time taken to arrive. If I was able to open google maps now and enter my destination, it would show a duration that is bound to be drastically less than it was previously.

I do remain vigilant as I drive. Seeing all these crashes, maybe I might encounter a real one. Or find a vehicle approaching me in the same circumstances. It is always better to be safe than sorry. It is something I have learned from my workplace. It has been infused into my character over the years.

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I cruise at a good speed through my deserted surroundings. I find vehicles that have strayed from the road now and then. They are quite distinguishable from the vehicles that were parked on the curb or the sidewalk. The frequency increases on the main roads and junctions. By lanes are almost empty. I haven't come across any big vehicles yet. No buses or trucks or lorries on the road or in a crashed state.

I pass through Kannamoola. There is an ITI center nearby. Once I had once here to write an exam. I don't know why this thought has come to my mind. I do pass these premises from time to time without thinking about it. I think my mind is going into an introspective and extrapolative mode. With the need to make a sense of whatever has happened and is happening, my mind is working hard. Maybe it is a signal to eat something. It is five minutes past eleven. I haven’t drank much water, just the glassful at home and from the bottle in the police jeep. As I think about it, I feel a small gurgle in my stomach.

The road rolls downhill a bit here. Just slightly. An auto lies overturned on my side of the road as the downhill portion ends. I stop in front of it. The windshield is shattered, the front wheel lies to the side, and the sides are almost completely damaged. I saw the skid marks stretch out behind it. It surely did scrape the road for quite a distance before it came to a stop. I look inside for any casualties. It is empty. I find a purse lying inside it. It must have belonged to the driver. I can’t find any trace of a passenger. The seat has been overturned. There is nothing to point out someone's presence.

I reach Kannamoola bridge. It is a small bridge built over a small stream. As I enter it I see a bike lying toppled on the sidewalk. I immediately stop near it and jump out. I run over to the railing and look out into the stream. It is flowing peacefully. I stare at it for a while and walk to the bike. All the plastic parts of the bike have been broken. The metal body has taken a beating. From the look of it, I think it was a high-impact collision. Interestingly the helmet lies a meter away. This is the first time I am seeing a helmet in any of the cases I have come across. I walk towards it, pick it up, and inspect its insides. It is an old helmet without a visor. There is no crack or any sign of blood inside it. I wonder if the rider was wearing it.

Nowadays everyone wears a helmet whenever they ride their two-wheelers. There was a time when no one wore a helmet. It was a thing of novelty. Only riders and others who were conscious of their safety wore them. It did result in the death of the rider whenever a crash happened. The main reason in most of them would be due to the impact on the head. Following this, helmets were made mandatory by the government two decades ago. The rule was enforced strictly in the state by the police. Anyone found without a helmet was fined on the spot. It took some years for the habit to be ingrained into the common folk. At this time you had to be careful when you parked your two-wheeler. If your helmet was not secured, there was a high chance that it would not be there when you came back. A couple of my friends suffered this. Their brand new helmets were stolen. After that, we all started to secure it. Nowadays everyone has a helmet. It has become a part of the lifestyle. I leave mine on the scooter itself wherever I go. She asked me once as to why I was not stashing it away in the compartment under the seat. I gave her the same logic. That the need to steal a helmet has gone.

There were a string of other road laws that were passed during those years. Mandatory seat belt for the driver was a great one. Although cars had them no one used them. Cars manufactured before a certain year were exempt from it. I felt that to be strange. I started learning to drive in a jeep-like vehicle named Trekker. It was a kind of a jeep that can seat nearly 9 people. The instructor had the clutch and brake pedals on his side. After a few days in it, I was given a Zen to drive. The first thing the instructor told me to do after I got into the road and came to a smooth speed was to apply the brake. I did it as I would in the trekker. The car came to a sudden halt. I was caught off guard. Sensing the change in my demeanor he drew my attention and told me that the car was equipped with power brakes. I acknowledged this. Within a few minutes, I was able to grasp it. He also inculcated the habit of wearing seatbelts in me.

Over time I got used to wearing it. I would even don it while on the passenger seat. I have a friend who went to the extent of asking all his passengers to wear it while going for a long drive. It came as a blessing for him that night. Halfway through his journey, he was hit by another car from a tight angle. The airbags instantaneously deployed and saved the front passengers. His parents sitting at the rear sustained minor injuries. When I heard this, I also thought of asking my co-passengers to wear their belts while going for a long drive. But I dismissed it. Maybe I had confidence in myself that nothing would happen while I am on the wheel. I know it is false confidence. I should just ask them to do it. Our people are also similar. They don’t know the importance of safety unless they experience it firsthand. Maybe my mother might wear it when she sits in the rear. But I don’t know if anyone else would. It is always good to be safe. I have kept that as my mantra whenever I am in the driver's seat. One should always be on the lookout for any impending dangers while on the road. If he can do that then he has secured the safety of all around him.

We sometimes forget that an unsafe incident doesn’t just affect us. It affects our near and dear ones. Sometimes it hurts them more than us. I think we should all try to cultivate a habit in which we think collectively about matters than require it. Like suicide. Your death will leave your family and friends in a state of shock that will take a good amount of time to recover. If we can think of them before we take our own life, that there are people around us who will always care and want us in their lives, we might reconsider our decision for a second. It might be enough to bring a change.

Life is meant to be lived to the fullest. It happens when we share it with the people who matter to us. She said this to me on one of our outings. I loved it. I keep it close to my heart.