That time…
She heard that sound..
“…What is that…????????”
Her hopes return..
She became highly attentive and alert.. Concentrated more on the sound. Tried to analyze..
No doubt..
It is definitely the sound of some motor engine..
She hurriedly looked into that direction..
She couldn’t believe her eyes,as she found a helicopter coming in her direction..
She didn’t want to take any chance..
With eyes wide open she looked into the direction of the helicopter..
The helicopter was appearing closer..
She did not want to waste a second..
Lifting her son in one hand and holding the branch of the tree with the other she carefully got up and turned herself towards the helicopter. it is a coast guard helicopter of the Indian navy pressed into service by the government for flood relief operations. There are around six guards on board with life jackets...
She waved at them.. Mobilizing all the bodily strength into her voice she screamed loudly.
The guards did not notice her and the helicopter passed off..
She knows and knows pretty well that it is her last chance to have any chances of survival..
She screamed again and again and louder and still louder..
And that time..
The guard sitting near the rear window of the helicopter with a binoculars in hand heard the scream and noticed her..
He waved at her as a signal that he noticed her..
With a rejuvenation of hope, she too waved at him in response..
The guard then instructed the pilot to take a U turn and turn back the helicopter and go down as nearly as possible to the Palm tree..
She was noticing everything with a subtle smile on her lips combined with a great relief..
First, the helicopter hovered around the area of the Palm tree for a few moments to assess the altitude and then slowly descended down to the maximum permissible level..
Later it remained stagnant there as one of the guards slowly dropped a rope ladder on to the tree, instructing the lady to hold it properly....
She tried to grab it but due to heavy winds the ladder moved around and went beyond her reach for a few minutes.. She tried again and after a few initial misses she very smartly grabbed it with a single hand..
The guard in the helicopter, who was holding the other end of the rope ladder, smiled in appreciation of her smartness as the other guards too join him in holding the ladder firmly. As they all look eagerly, she made sure that she was holding her son tightly with one hand and then tried to hold the ladder firmly with the other..
After making sure that everything is perfect, she very carefully got up from the place where she was sitting and moved.
All the coast guards were watching her every movement very keenly..
Cautiously holding the boy in one hand she did not forget to kiss the tree as a thanks giving gesture..
And then slowly…Very slowly.. Left the Palm tree..
Seeing her moving from the tree the helicopter started to move forward..
After parting away from the tree, she is now on her own.
Hanging in the air and standing on the last step of the rope ladder..
It is altogether a new ordeal for her now..
The wind was so heavy..
She was finding it extremely difficult to hold the rope firmly...still she was managing to stand firmly on the ladder and looked down..
Down there the water was still ferociously flowing and the winds were very heavily blowing around her with a more heavy roaring sound..
It is all so very frightening..
It can frighten even the strongest of the strong..
And the poor lady was very week to sustain that…
But fighting against all odds and all the whims and fancies of nature, she was still trying hard to stay composed, and at the same time was still feeling terrible to overcome the fright..
She closed her eyes for a moment..
Cautiously monitoring every movement of the lady the helicopter was slowly moving ahead. Instructing her to hold the rope tightly the guards then started pulling up the ladder carefully....
The distance between the helicopter and the lady was approximately thirty feet and she was standing on the first step of that thirty feet ladder. Due to heavily blowing winds the guards were finding it extremely difficult to hold the ladder firmly..
They have to first hold it firmly and then pull her carefully..
The weather was inclement and completely unfavorable for a smooth sailing..
The wind was mercilessly throwing the ladder in every direction and it was making life more difficult not for the guards and not for the lady…
But for the boy..
..................Continued in part-four.......................
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