A Good Fall

                         Kaw caw    

                              A Good Fall

The other day, Avatarji and I were strolling casually in the Ornamental Park, Greater Kailash-I. A gentle breeze fanned our cheeks and the birds twittered in the trees. Everything seemed to be exuding peace and harmony. There was not the tiniest wisp of impending danger.

Suddenly, Avatarji slipped. His foot unexpectedly fell into the crevice between the pavement and the hedge. In front of my eyes bulging with horror, his tall frame seemed to fall sideways in slow motion, his descent decelerated by the  thick, bushy , luxuriant  foliage. I tried to come to his rescue by making a desperate lunge at his receding sleeve. Luckily, I did not connect, or else I would have also fallen, perhaps on top of him.

Some walkers tried to see what was happening. Most were just on-lookers, with no plan of action. One middle-aged lady noticed that I was no good as a saviour and my intervention might make the situation worse. She  bent down and caught hold of Avatarji’s arm. He continued to fall slowly but the momentum was noticeably reduced.

I could see with a sense of horror that Avatarji’s totally bald pate was moving inexorably towards the iron grill that protected a growing tree. Had the collision taken place with any strength or power, his head would have split open and he would have suffered all the trauma of a head injury with concussion.

Luckily, the timely intervention by the middle-aged lady  saved the day. Avatarji’s head reached close to the grill, but did not touch it.

Meanwhile, other people had reached the spot, and their combined effort brought Avatarji back on his feet.

“Thank God!”, I exclaimed.

Avatarji actually smiled. He was totally unfazed. It was as if nothing had happened.

The middle-aged lady had a question. “ How come, when there was no crowd, you walked so perilously close to the edge? It reminded me of the ponies we hire in the hills. There are narrow mountain paths. On the one side is the steep mountain face, and on  the other extreme is the edge of the precipice. It always fascinates me how the pony invariably chooses the perilous path, often dislodging  a loose stone or two and you pray mentally you would not be hurtled to a violent death by a precipitous fall into the void!”

Avatarji laughed. “ The pony inspires me. I think the brave prefer a violent death to a slow  ignominious exit.”

I tried to match his savoir faire. “There is no doubt that the mule is an ideal model to follow.” Then I spoke my unspoken thought. ““Avatarji! Jokes apart, that could have been a very nasty fall.”

Avatarji grinned. “As it turned out, it was a good fall. You can see, not a scratch or sprain and not the faintest possibility of a fracture.”

“The Lord be praised!”

Avatarji’s iconoclast spoke,” Why bother the Almighty? As a Saviour, the lady was enough.”

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