The Superhero

"Yes, Dr. Kulkarni!" asked Nikhil anxiously on the call. This was his 5th call in the last two hours to Dr. Kulkarni of MGN Hospital's trauma department. Finally, he sighed with relief when he heard the news that he wanted to hear – All three patients of the Roy family from Mumbai were safe now. "Their relatives were there in the hospital along with them, and gradually the patients will recover!" said the doctor.

35 years ago, Nikhil would frequently be caught with his favorite superhero comic in his notebook by his parents while studying. Superman, Spiderman, and Batman were all his favorites! Then came television with animated serials of ‘Spiderman’ & ‘He-man’. "One day I will grow up to be one of them & save the world!" thought the 10-year-old Nikhil, who could barely jump or even run fast due to his weak & sick body. Even daily exercise and the gym in his adolescent days did not give him any superpowers.

Time rolled by. Nikhil eventually grew up to become an engineer. In the day-to-day struggles of life, with his job in an MNC & a short but sweet family of a wife & a kid, like all other dreams, the superhero interests gradually disappeared in the darkness of adult life.

Today the family was excited. It was a fresh Saturday morning as they all got into their car. They were going to travel for a weekend break at a resort in Konkan. It was also his daughter’s 10th birthday. It was a lovely rainy morning, with his wife Priya & daughter Riya singing along in the car. As their car crossed Lonavala, suddenly they heard a noise behind. A truck had rammed sideways into an old Alto car. The truck sped away as their car catapulted in the air to land in a ditch nearby. Even when none of the other vehicles stopped, Nikhil got his car on the road shoulder. Without wasting any time, he ran down the ditch. It was an old gentleman, his wife & another middle-aged man in the car. With a lot of effort, he got them out one by one as his wife Priya called the emergency number of the highway patrol. In the next 15 minutes, the injured Roy family was in the ambulance. Without any hesitation, Nikhil along with his family followed the ambulance to the hospital. As their vacation disappeared in the waiting room, Nikhil did all the formalities & talked to the relatives on the phone of the injured. Finally, Nikhil & his family returned to their home in Pune in the evening with the entire Saturday gone in this event, with little Riya sulking to have lost the vacation & finally celebrating her birthday at home in the evening over a quiet dinner.

On Sunday morning, Dr. Kulkarni thanked Nikhil for having saved three precious lives in the golden hour. Usually, news channels carry a lot of negative news, especially when people lose their lives. Not a single news channel carried this news of people saved in an accident. It is said that the world runs as usual because of good people, & Nikhil along with his family was just one of them.

The week started as usual on Monday. Nikhil went to work, his wife stayed at home & Riya went to school. As he returned home in the evening, a smiling Riya was dangling a medal in hand. She had won first prize in an essay writing competition in her class. The topic was – ‘Superhero’. She also handed her dad a copy of the essay. Tears rolled down Nikhil’s cheek as the essay started with, "Even if there are imaginary Avengers who save the world from enemies, the real Superhero is my father! He saved the injured in a highway accident!"