Asha’s Grit

Madav was a businessman selling food products to the local markets that came from his own farm. Asha, his wife an MBA graduate homemaker. One day they were on a road trip to a nearby lake in a car. At one point Madav lost control over the vehicle as he was busy talking on his phone and he banged the car into a tree, the car banged on the side where Asha was sitting. Madav got away with a wounded arm as he was thrown out of the car at the point of impact, but she was terribly wounded. People near the accident spot immediately called an ambulance and they were taken to a nearby hospital, Madav was transferred to the general ward after the treatment, but Asha was still in ICU.

After two hours the doctor came near Madav’s bed and explained Asha’s condition, after hearing that he immediately collapsed. According to the doctor in the accident, her spinal cord was damaged and he said she cannot walk, he also added that this condition cannot be treated medically and was upto Asha’s willpower. After a month Madav brought Asha home and after that their life was not the same.

Asha came to her home after three weeks in the hospital, she did not take it lightly, but Madav was full of confidence that she can walk again as there was at least a way.

After coming home Asha really did never recover from the incident and the bare thought that she cannot walk again killed her slowly. For two months they both were taken care of by Ramesh, Madav’s friend com business partner and his wife Divya. They left after Madav got better, form then Madav resumed his business and was trying to return to normal. One day when he was at work, he saw a man outside his office who looked so familiar but he can’t remember him. The person was at least six feet tall, brown and had short hair, he was in the tea stall opposite to Madav’s office and was staring at the office. The whole day Madav was trying to remember the man he saw, but he couldn't figure it out, when he reached home he forgot everything after seeing Asha and remembered he has to worry about her.

Asha before accident ran a yoga class at her home, she was really into fitness and maintained a healthy diet, but now she can’t even walk and not one day goes by without thinking of it. One day a delivery came to her, it was a gift from an unknown person and the guy who delivered was not one of the regular, but she thought he was familiar in some ways. She opened the gift, it was a toy car that read “Get well soon”. It was creepy because everyone known to her has already wished her long back. Then she thought it was for Madav and left it in the bedroom.

After two weeks the same face showed up in the same tea stall in front of Madav’s office, this time Madav was terrified and quickly left his office and went there, but by the time he reached he was gone. The shop owner called Madav and gave a gift when he asked who gave this, the shop owner said just now he was sitting here and that he is a friend of his. Madav opened the gift and it was a toy car that read “Get well soon”. Immediately he returned home as he was not in a mood to work. Asha was confused as Madav never comes home early and it's not even noon. She saw confusion over Madav’s face and without hesitation she asked what was going on, Madav did not reply he went straight to bedroom, to his surprise he saw the same gift in his house. Asha entered the room and saw Madav holding identical two toy cars, both were stunned and looked each other terrified.

Asha looked at Madav’s eyes demanding an explanation, without no choice he explained everything about the person he saw in the tea stall and that he gave the gift to him. Asha also said that the delivery person was familiar too and when he asked how he looked, to his surprise the description fits exactly to the person who he saw in the tea stall. Asha suggested to go to the police and Madav also thought it was a good idea as he cannot take any risks, so he filed a complaint.

For a week there was no sign of the strange guy. One night after Asha went to sleep, Madav was watching TV as this is his daily routine, watching tv shows late at night. After some time Asha heard a man screaming for help at the back of the house. She called Madav but he was gone, the TV was not switched off. Asha gradually sat on the bed and looked through the window, she was shocked by what she saw out there, it was the delivery person dragging Madav to the nearby cliff. Madav was struggling so hard to let go of him. Asha shouted “Madav,...Madav”.Asha tried to get down but she cannot move a muscle below her hip. She was looking around for her phone but she cannot find it. She tried and fell down from the bed, crawled and dragged her body out of the bedroom door. Madav was still crying for help.

Asha managed to crawl out into the backyard, she grabbed a pole nearby and tried to stand up but she cannot do it. She tried hard and managed to stand in her knees with the help of the pole. Asha looked around but they were gone, no one was there except her. She tried hard and with the pole, she stood up, she looked in all direction but there was no one. Suddenly the backyard lights were on, she turned around and saw Madav, Ramesh, Divya, and the strange guy. They were all clapping for her. Madav said everything was a drama and he introduced the strange guy as Divya’s cousin.

Asha now recognised him as she saw him in a marriage long back. Asha understood what was going on, she was watching herself standing and tears came out of her eyes. Madav said “Sorry” and Asha hugged him and said, “Thank you”.