The surrender

The time was past 1am. Her shift that was to be over at 11pm but dragged on as she could not leave till her reliever came. It happened often like this. But today it was and dark drizzling when she entered the parking lot in the basement. There was no one visible. She was always afraid to go into lonely parking lot alone. If she saw someone, it gave a scare instead of relief. Her mom has been telling her to take up a job in the general shift even if it meant lower salary. But the pay was good here and she was getting much visibility and name.

The road was deserted and she had to pass through a lonely stretch before she can come to the city proper. She could not see many cars and the few she saw sped away fast. She had an old jalopy that did the service of a car. She had already booked for a new car and was expecting a car loan from her bank. Though it started instantly after she inserted the ignition key, it showed signs of a rebel after a short distance. She coaxed it gently and drove along. In another 20 minutes she would be out this bad patch. There was the long subway a little ahead that got flooded even after a slight rain. Once she crossed the subway, she would be safe on the highway where cars kept moving continuously even at this late hour. As ill luck would have it, the vehicle came to an abrupt stop no sooner she entered the subway.. All her attempts to start the car yielded no fruit. She was scared to get out of the car in the dead of night and she did not also know the car mechanism. It was dark too. She closed her eyes with her hands and started praying not knowing how to get out of this mess. No car came along. Her husband was away on tour. To make matters worse, her mobile had nil credit.

It was then she saw silhouettes of two well built men with wooden logs approaching the car from either side of the road. They ambled along evidently drunk. Their wicked intent was crystal clear. There was little point in screaming. Beads of perspiration ran over her body. Fear enveloped her as she thought of their breaking the glasses. It is not the likely loss of money or car that bothered her but the harm they could inflict on her. Her mind became numb as they came very close to the vehicle swinging the logs in their hands.

Not knowing what to do, she resorted to the only thing that she knew. She prayed intently,”Oh, Krishna, Guruvayurappa, I totally leave it in your hands Please save me from this predicament and I will pay my obeisance to You at Your shrine at the earliest” and turned the ignition key. Lo, the car came to instant life as if by a miracle and as she pressed the accelerator the car whizzed past the two crowding men taking them by utter surprise. It did not stop till it reached the highway when a police patrol car screeched to halt by her side. Tears ran down her cheeks in wonderment at the compassion of the great Lord.

“It is such comfort to drop the tangles of life into God's hands and leave them there.”