Tale of a Pothole- Tells Us All About Being Prepared For the Unforeseen

I was born on a day when the monsoon uncorked its gush, set free the season’s heaviest shower to wash away the sweat of a hot day. As heavy rains covered the city, the water logging that arises turned the roads into puddles and potholes, washing away the asphalt. As the rain continued to hit the roads over the next few days that I emerged on a narrow road in the suburb, I was so huge that the crowds would part like the Red Sea for me! Though my depth wasn’t much, I was the size of a small car, forcing even the most lethargic of pedestrians to turn into gymnasts in their bid to avoid getting their feet wet in my muddy waters!

But while I may have inconvenienced pedestrians, I like to believe that I was a boon to motorists who drove on the waterlogged roads riddled with me. Do you want to know why? There’s nothing like being jolted when your vehicle hits a pothole unexpectedly, and motorists, seeing my crater-like body ahead, would slow down and drive carefully through. That’s some reason to follow traffic rules and become safer drivers! True, the commuters trying to navigate safely around me led to traffic slowing down considerably leading to major traffic snarls in the area, but that’s a conversation for another day.

I had never set out to become a celebrity, but it wasn’t long before my sheer size attracted the attention of all and sundry. Soon I was counted amongst the biggest of the bunch when it came to potholes! First, the citizen groups came, then the news reporters; they would crouch in the middle of the road, poking rulers into my water-laden body and taking measurements. Oh, how I’d preen for their cameras when they clicked photographs and shot videos!

As time passed, I was steadily expanding in girth and depth, I would send motorists’ workshop bills through the roof; the damage to their vehicles ranging from punctures, via bent wheels, to broken suspensions and damaged axles. I became a nightmare for daily commuters as their vehicles would get stuck in my body deeply submerged under water, bringing the traffic to a halt. I would inadvertently knock bikers off their vehicles when they would try to skit around me, and it wasn’t long before I earned the sobriquet of ‘Terror Pothole’. But the worst was yet to come, and it occurred when I saw a family of two on a motorcycle fall while trying to avoid me and sustaining injuries. I was left devastated! Thankfully, they survived as the car behind them could stop in time, but I wasn’t so lucky. The incident prompted a Good Samaritan to brave dust and pollution on the busy road and take up the task of repairing me himself. After collecting broken bricks, gravel and stones from nearby areas, he filled me up with them. And that is how my life came to an end.

Why you should prepare for the unexpected?

Unexpected events such as an accident or a critical illness can happen anytime, and sometimes additional finance is needed to deal with such emergency situations. Though the motorcyclist and the pillion passenger survived the fall, they ended up with multiple injuries and a hefty hospital bill. If only they had insurance, they would have found it easier to pay for their medical expenses!

Be better prepared for sudden mishaps in life by signing up for a good insurance plan which covers death, disease, and disability.