On the occasion of the Rankala Mahotsav, sponsored by the Maharashtra State Government and the M.T.D.C., I was slated to perform a stage show on the 15th of February 2007 at Kolhapur. On 14th February, at 10.00 a.m., I left for Kolhapur in my Innova car along with my friend and the driver. We halted at Pune around 12.30 p.m. for tea and snacks. Thereafter during the onward journey both my friend and I dozed off on the rear seat of the car. Normally, I always sit next to the driver but because the rear seat of the Innova can be reclined too, we both decided to sit in the rear seat. When I was aroused from my snooze, I realized that our car was traveling on the Pune – Satara Expressway at a speed of about 120 Km/hr. and I suddenly realized that O God! Even the driver had dozed off. At that very moment I saw a S.T. bus coming from the opposite direction with great speed. I alerted the driver, immediately. He jammed down the brakes and the car veered sharply to the left and instead of a head-on collision with the S.T.bus, the car collided on the side aspect of the bus. The impact was so severe that the car as well as its engine was totally smashed and the front wheels were broken to pieces. Even the rear window glass was totally shattered and hot vapours & smoke was being emitted from the engine. Even the S.T. bus had suffered equal damage on the left side. But the most startling aspect was that neither anyone in the car, nor the S.T. had suffered even a slight scratch!
- Falguni Pathak
