VANISHED LOGAN

                                    

                                          
It's been very long since we went to a trip as a family. We were literally fed up of all indoor games now. We stayed inside home for 7 months because of this sudden pandemic outbreak and self-quarantines. Yes, I enjoyed a lot staying with my family after a very long time. It's maybe because I stayed in hostel for 10 years and I often will not get long holidays. So yeah, we enjoyed a lot inside home. Played games, cooked favorite foods, celebrated all the festivals and spent lots and lots of time together chatting about everything in this world. But we also missed going out, travelling to different places.
                          
My mom came up with an idea that since the cases are decreasing in our city, we can at least go to some nearby temple and come back. After all we all need some positive energy during this difficult time. Me and my sister agreed to it because we are going out finally. So, we chose a temple nearby which was 45 minutes from my home in car. The temple we decided to go is a cave temple and is situated in a village. We don't know the exact route for it but of course we believed Google maps. 
                          
Because of this pandemic, the government had declared certain rules in visiting temples, like the temples will be closed earlier etc. Me, my sister, mom, dad and my uncle decided to go. We were already late. We started from my home at 10:30am and the temple will be closed at 12:00pm. My dad was driving and my mom was telling the routes by seeing the google maps. The funniest part is when we need google, it has its own way to spoil it. We travelled according to it initially. And when it said, "You reached your destination" we were in middle of some village and we could only see a little board saying the way to temple is in opposite direction. We were thankful to google because it at least showed us the correct board. 
                          
We started asking people for the correct route. I don't know whether it's because of pandemic or not, the village was unusually silent. We were not able to find a single person walking in that road. So, we moved a little further and found a group of people standing near a shop. I assumed that it's the only grocery shop in that village. A woman guided us and we went in that route. She said us to take a right and we followed it. After a long time, we were struck and was not able to find the exact route. My mom was a little tensed now, because it was already getting late. That is when we met this man.
                          
He was in his mid-seventies. He was neither fair nor dark. He was wearing a normal dhoti and a white shirt. We stopped our car near him and asked for the temple route.
                          
"Which is the correct way to the Perumal temple?" ("Perumal" is another name for Lord Vishnu), my mom asked since she was near to the old man.
                          
"Oh, the same road. Go straight hmm...", the old man said. And he smiled by seeing us. Not only my mom but everyone who sat behind in the car.
                          
We said thank you and started moving in the direction he shown us. My sister asked us, "He left the sentence in mid-way. Why didn't he complete his sentence?" Only then we realized that he started saying something to us but we failed to hear it. Surprisingly we all liked him. Me and my sister was even saying that he was so beautiful in spite of him being toothless. We laughed at it and continued our journey. Praying that we should reach the temple on time.
                          
We went further but after some 20 mins we were again struck in a crossroad. We didn't know which way to turn. Suddenly, a black car crossed us and the same old man to whom we just spoke sat in the seat near to the driver seat and waved his hand to us. He showed his hands like we should follow him and the road is same. We laughed and was justifying our doubts saying that may be that old man needed a lift and since our car was already full, he didn't mind to ask us. And my sister said see now he is travelling in LOGAN car like a king. We laughed again and was thankful that we at last had a company in this lonely road. 
                          
My dad was driving fast to keep up with the Logan car. We were afraid to be lost in the road again. We kept following the Logan. Suddenly a flock of sheep came in between our car and the Logan and when we crossed the flock, we missed the car. We were not able to see the car anywhere. It just vanished!! 
                          
But we found milestone indications for the temple which showed we had still 3 kilometers to travel. We were happy that we found the milestone. My mom said, the old man who guided us mostly will be in the temple and we should thank him once we reach there. We all agreed to it. When we reached the temple, me and my sister went directly to the car parking area where only 5 or 6 cars were there, to search for the Logan. But we didn't find the car. We thought may be the car dropped him. But to our surprise there is no way out from there. The temple is located in the dead-end of the road and there is no road further. The only way the car can travel back is through the same road through which we came. But we didn't find any car while coming. The car just vanished. We went inside the temple hoping we may find him inside.
                          
The temple was beautiful and astonishing. Lord Vishnu was always a treat to see, for me. And I am seeing him after so many months. I felt a little overwhelmed. We didn't know that the day was so special, it was a mere coincidence for us to plan to visit the temple on the same day. It was the day when they change the Nethra (Eyes) of Lord Vishnu. We all had a chance to see that amazing ritual. And we felt so blessed. If we were just 10 minutes late to the temple, we would have missed seeing this. When we came out of the temple, we were so much amazed by all the happenings. We were not able to find that old man too. That's when my sister asked, "Did anyone noticed the car number or the driver?" I was stunned by the realization. It is true that we all liked the old man and his smile. It was so mesmerizing that we forgot to note anymore details of him.
                          
Everyone was saying that maybe it was a divine intervention. Whatever it is, the one thing I learnt today was, "If you want something in your life, first search for it and put all your effort in achieving it. Surely you will be helped by some positive energy, when your part is done". We were not aware of the road, all we wanted is to reach the temple on time. The old man may be a normal man who helped us to reach the temple on time or may be some divine power. But the help came to us when we tried reaching.
                          
On our way back to home, we all discussed about this. All I would say isthat we all learnt a lesson today.