The Invisible Man

One cold wintry morning, exactly at 8:50 AM, Chayphee drove his car inches behind a Toyota Land Cruiser. On such a cold morning, for neither was he a prophet nor an astrologer, it was hard for him to predict the moves and whims of the driver in front. 

To add to that, at breathing intervals, he let out thick vapors from his mouth that he could literally count the water droplets at two thousand. Every droplet from these two thousand at every breath settled on the windshield that he had to defog it. Defogging poses a serious issue when the engine refuses to warm up during winter. But then, we will forget this for now.

For the better part of his morning drive to the office, he completely lay at the mercy of his driving skills and humanlike non-prophetic travel of the machine ahead. 

His blood pressure didn’t agree well with someone who drove in front, having neither the decency nor the respect to use the indicator lights. So, there he was, his right foot on the brakes, ready to press it without warning, anytime!

As he cursed, fuming water droplets at his nose that settled on the windshield, he faintly heard himself through the song on the radio “Babesa, Babesa… Babesa joemi taxi lesha dhu… (Babesa, Babesa… There are taxis, so many, going to Babesa)”:

“The car manufacturers should export cars to Bhutan without indicator lights!”

He wondered if it was the ignorance of the drivers in Thimphu to use the indicator lights that made them suffer the unintelligent congestions that plagued the tiny city. For all he knew, in a city where more than 70% of the drivers were educated, it was quite unfortunate for them to suffer that way!

For an instant, which appeared like an eternity to him, he basked in the singular thought-exercise that all drivers in the city used their indicators, that they drove on the right lanes, and that they rendered each other the respect of safe driving. 

But then, there was this Land Cruiser in front, defying all the rules of safe driving. The Land Cruiser would unexpectedly cut junctions, maneuver turns on the wrong lane, stop without prior notice in front, and start talking with someone in the street. 

Chayphee couldn’t endure it anymore. He felt the whole bearing falling upon him that he felt a tingling sensation in his eyebrows and a fierce shriek in his ears, which rendered him motionless in his own car. 

As he opened his eyes, he was in a different set up where everything was white. Even the man near him was in a white gown. As he prepared to leave, the man in white gown wrote on his prescription: Blood pressure- 180/120.