The Conqueress

By Radhika R

Fear gripped Ezhil as her hands tightened around the steering wheel. This was going to be one hell of an adventure for her. She cursed herself for having taken the effort to sit in the driver’s seat. She turned the key in the slot and the engine sprung to life. Ezhil tried to recall the commands of her driving instructor as she steadied her foot on the clutch and plunged it deep. Her left hand worked gingerly to shift the gear from neutral to one. As she slowly released the clutch the car started rolling forward and Ezhil’s heart palpitated haphazardly.

Ezhil tried to relax her mind by taking slow, long breaths and tried to focus on the road ahead of her. It was still early morning and there was not much traffic on the street. Slowly she eased onto the road and shifted to the second gear. Though she had cleared her driving test and obtained her license a year back, Ezhil didn’t have the nerve to drive the car on the road. She had often held back due to road fear and impending negative thoughts. Her family members lost no opportunity to tease her regarding her road fear and driving phobia which she found was called vehophobia or amaxophobia as she Google searched on how she could get rid of her driving fear. A doubt had sprung up in her mind whether she would requiry some therapy to start driving even though she exhibited none of the symptoms like hyperventilation or perspiration as listed out in the search engine. 

Yesterday the bullying by her family members had reached a new crescendo with her son joining in with her husband to compare her with daughter who had obtained her license a week back and was comfortably riding the family car now, without much ado.  Ezhil’s husband had made such hurtful remarks about her riding fear, comparing her to some of the worst riders he knew and she had been extremely hurt by the laughter and fun the whole family had at the expense of her embarrassment. It was then that Ezhil had taken up the challenge that she would start riding at least to nearby places on her own and live with some dignity. She  had decided to wake up at an early hour and try her hands at the wheel so that there would be no one on her porch to witness her driving skills and make fun of her. Moreover she expected the road would be almost empty and it would give her the confidence to drive.

Ezhil felt herself relaxing a little as she had successfully manoeuvred the car for almost a kilometre without any major struggle. Just as she was looking for a route to return back home without having to make a U turn she was forced to step onto the brakes abruptly as she noticed the figure of a woman jump almost into her way. Ezhil yelled aloud as her body mildly reacted under inertia and was restrained by her seat belt. Luckily as she was not speeding much there were no major consequences.

Ezhil pulled down the window on her side as the woman ran up to the driver’s side. She wanted to give the woman a hearing on her road discipline. As she came closer, Ezhil could make out the form of an infant in the woman’s arms. Panic gripped Ezhil and her immediate instinct was to roll back the window. The woman was however quick and placed her hand in the gap between the glass and panel.

“Madam,” she called in an imploring tone, “Please help me! Take me to the nearest hospital. My kid is dying!”

“I’m sorry,” Ezhil started, “I …I shall call an ambulance!”

“No mam,” she woman shook her head, “There is no time for all that! I tried once already! She needs immediate treatment! Atleast drive me to the hospital…I will try the ambulance! You can drop me once the ambulance meets us!”

“No, actually,…I don’t drive properly..I guess I will not be able to take you to the hospital on time!” Ezhil blurted out but the woman showed no signs of understanding her. She was attempting to open the door to get in.

“It’s okay…. Just do what you can! If you leave us here, she is sure to die! She swallowed something, and…she is in grave danger! Please do what you can…I promise, I will not blame you…You are the only hope for us now!”

Reluctantly Ezhil unlocked the door and the lady got in hurriedly. Ezhil could see the infant shrouded in a turkey towel. The child seemed to be breathing with difficulty and was clearly in distress. Ezhil prayed to all the Gods she could think of as she started the car and accelerated gently. The lady was trying to reach an ambulance but she was not successful in getting through. To add to Ezhil’s stress, the lady was trying to speak to her child, shaking her up and patting her chest lightly.

“I wish you had someone other than me to take you to the hospital,” Ezhil stammered as she navigated the car towards the nearest 24 hours’ hospital she could think of. Luckily, as she had predicted there was not a soul on the roads as it was just half past three in the morning and this gave Ezhil a faint hope that she would reach the hospital. The distance was just six kilometres but she felt the journey seemed never ending. The mother let out a cry as the infant’s breathing turned more laborious and Ezhil stepped on the accelerator to increase her speed. No, she was just hitting 80 kilometres per hour but by her standards that was the fastest she had ever travelled. She focused on the road ahead, praying for the child and herself as she ploughed on. In a little over 10 minutes she brought the car to a stop in front of the hospital gate. She was unable to manoeuvre the car to park properly so she goaded the lady to run out with her child while she struggled to move the car to one side. 

It took Ezhil around ten minutes to park the car properly with a little help from the security and walk into the hospital. The mother of the kid was seated on the metal chairs, her hands clutching her head. There seemed to be no one else around except a receptionist who seemed to be engrossed on the screen in front of her. Just as Ezhil was about to seat herself a nurse rushed out of the emergency room, her face beaming with happiness. The woman sprung up but sensed that there was no problem as she looked at the cheerful expression on the nurse’s face.

“Don’t worry ma’am! Your baby is fine and out of danger!” the nurse announced boisterously even before reaching the mother. 

Ezhil smiled in the first time after she got up that eventful day. The mother looked up at Ezhil and clasped her in a giant hug, exploding into tears.

“What did the baby swallow, sister?” Ezhil asked, tearing up.

“A small part of a toy was stuck in her throat. If you had reached here even a few minutes later, I think it would have turned out to be life threatening!”

The mother still continued to sob, leaning onto Ezhil’s shoulders. Ezhil was happy the baby could be saved. Uttering thanks to the Almighty for answering her prayers, Ezhil walked out of the hospital an hour later. 

The roads were not empty as they had been in the early morning and Ezhil could see a fair amount of traffic on the roads. As she settled onto the driver’s seat and clipped on her seat belt, she didn’t feel her body jumping into tension mode. She smiled as she turned the ignition on. She recognised then that she had conquered her fear.

By Radhika R