Lucky Helmet
The neighbours sometimes think of the Lata Viktor Cherian whose sudden demise came just because he removed his favourite helmet...
By Dhanya Ramachandran, Class XI B Students, St. Gregorios School, Gregorios Nagar, Sector-XI, Dwarka, New Delhi
Updated On: 11/15/2008
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It took him a while to come back to his senses. Dazed, he got up and looked around. He saw the rush on the onlookers. Many of them were whispering and pointing at him. After all, why was he sitting up in the middle of this worn out road? He noticed a signboard saying ‘Connaught Place’ but he still didn’t understand how he came to the center of attraction of this dusty, tourist packed area.

He saw that he was causing a full blown traffic jam. He also realized that his bike was lying near a cargo carrying truck some twenty meters away. The front portion of the truck was a bit dented. The truck driver was no where to be seen. He got up and examined his bike and saw that it was damaged beyond repair. Suddenly, he realized that he had been involved in an accident.

Just because he did not like to be involved in courts and cases, he tried to leave the place quickly. As the on lookers watched him, he left the accident spot in a hurry. He felt strangely dizzy and also heard a buzzing sound in his ears. He examined himself for bruises and to his surprise found that he had no wounds or cuts, not even a scratch! He thanked God profusely for escaping unhurt.

He lived in Gurgaon, Phase-II and it was a one and half hour long journey home. While waiting for the bus, he was reminded of the day’s events. It had truly been an unlucky day. He had got up late, cut himself while shaving, quarreled with his wife as usual, his bike had some starting trouble due to Which he had arrived late at office and had been ticked off by his boss for unpunctuality.

The accident had happened while returning home from office. He had got a call from his wife saying that their son was ill and had to be taken to the hospital. While rushing back home, he had not seen the truck coming from the opposite direction the truck driver had apparently taken a u-turn and had been coming in the wrong direction...

*****

As a child, Viktor had often neglected his studies, as there was no one at home to reprimand him. His father had died when Viktor was very young and his mother didn’t take good care of him as he had four younger brothers and sisters. With a lot of snatching and stealing, he had managed to get two square meals a day at home.

When he grew up he married a rich upper class Hindu, Lata Chopra, who had been one of the only two loves in his life .They had fallen in love when both were studying in the same class for their B.A., Ist year. He later cursed himself for having married the woman, who, after marriage had turned out to be a very jealous and uncooperative wife. She had given birth to baby boy in the second year of their stressful matrimony which he had chosen Peter. Lata had strongly disagreed as she came from a prominent Hindu family.

Peter had been an only source of comfort for Viktor during the constant quarrels that he had with his wife. After a fight, he would go and play with the ten month old child; or if the child were fast asleep, Viktor would look intently at him for some time. The neighbours never had held a high opinion of him because they thought he was a complete failure; one who always quarreled with his wife and came back to his house in the middle of the night completely drunk, shouting illogical and incoherent words.

*****

At last the bus came and he reached home in just under an hour. The bike would have to be picked up by some mechanics he would hire later. If only they could repair his bike, he would give them anything, he reflected sadly. When his wife saw the disheveled and dirty looking Viktor (or ‘Vicky as she used to call him during the days of their college romance), she was so shocked that she asked him, “What went wrong? Have you been drinking? Did you have a fight?” Viktor sat down and calmly told her all that he remembered about the bike accident. She asked whether he had got hurt When he replied in the negative, she heaved a sigh of relief and rudely told him, “Go have a quick bath and then come to the dining room if you want anything to eat’. She further informed him that she had to go to her favourite nightclub: ‘Ladies Only’. She was in the habit of visiting the place at least three to four times a week to play BINGO with a few other respectable high society- women.

She was a wee bit sorry that it was because of her lie that he had hurried back home and had gotten involved in the accident. Anyway, she thought with relief, Viktor had already forgotten about Peter’s made-up illness. (She had told him a lie so that he would come home quickly and look after the child while she went to the beauty parlour for a facial treatment before going to the nightclub.)

He meekly obeyed her, as he hated quarreling with her. Just as he had entered, he had seen Peter, hale and hearty, playing with his toys in the bedroom. He had instantly understood that Peter’s illness had been another one of Lata’s tricks.

When he check himself in the bathroom mirror, he saw a handsome,6’1” long, hazel eyed reflection look back at him. Hey! Wait a minute. He had forgotten to take his helmet off. Lata had also not said anything. This had been his favourite red coloured helmet, the same colour as his bike, but now he noticed that it was a bit squashed on the left side. He wondered why he had not felt it before and tried to prise it out. Just as he managed to pull it out...

*****

Half an hour later, Lata was getting impatient and angry. She went up to the bathroom door and stared hammering at it. She shouted in agitation, “Have you gone to sleep in there or are you just trying to irritate me? I am getting late for my club. Get out quickly, or else-“ She gave an empty threat thinking that he would came out quickly. She kept on banging at the door for another 15 minutes. Then, getting desperate and worried, she went and called two of her next door neighbours: Mr. Ram Sharma, an accountant and Mr. Kishore Gupta, a retired Army General. Mr. Sharma had just come home from office and Mr. Gupta, a man of strong principles, was already going to have his dinner ( it was already 8:30 p.m.), when she was knocking on their door. After many apologies, she explained the matter to them.

They all rushed to the spot. When the two men tried to open the bathroom-door, it just would not budge. Lata explained that the bathroom door had always been a little tight. They put their whole body weight on to it, thinking that it would open, but it did not. They moved back and took the door at a run. Finally, it opened. Puffing and panting, they were at last able to step inside. When they peeped inside, they were shocked beyond measure. As Lata came forward fervently, she too cried out with shock and disbelief and then fainted.

*****

After about an hour, the police left with the body for the post-mortem report. The neighbours still remained to give moral support to Lata. Just then her in- laws also arrived. They too, were shocked to hear about the sudden demise of their beloved Viktor. One by one, all their relative and friends poured in (most of them new to Lata). Many told great stories of Viktor’s courage and bravery. As none knew the real reason of his death, it was still a very big mystery. Everyone was equally eager to know about the contents of the postmortem report. As it arrived, there was a flurry of movement to be first one to read the report. When everyone finally finished reading it, they were so excited that many were saying that it had to be a one- in-a-million occurrence. In short, here is what was written in the report:

“Death due to acute pressure of a heavy impact on the head, there by resulting in the bursting of a blood vessel in the left part of the brain and also cracking of the skull due to heavy impact.”

After the accident, Viktor had not taken off his helmet, so the cut in the blood vessel had not been divided into two and the skull had maintained its shape due to the pressure of the helmet. Upon the removal of the helmet, the blood vessel burst forth and the grey coloured brain tissue came out of its cavity causing sudden death.

*****

(2 years later)

As for Lata, she still remembers the gruesome sight and the grayish tissues poking out of Viktor’s head. But she is now happily married to a wealthy widower, Mr. Babulal, of the same colony and they have a daughter, Babita, aged one. Lata claims that she remarried so that Krishna (alias Peter), who is now almost 3 years old, could be happy with a “responsible” (step-) father and a sweet little baby sister.

The neighbours sometimes think of the Lata Viktor Cherian whose sudden demise came just because he removed his favourite helmet. They have given it the name “The Lucky Helmet”, although it proved to be luckier for Lata than for Viktor. They also think that Lata must have it preserved it somewhere as Viktor’s memoir.

[Little do they know that right now “The Lucky Helmet” is in some faraway garbage dump, awaiting its turn to be recycled!!!]

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