Mount Abu The Abode: Mount Abu “The Cat Man”

“The Cat Man” Walter

Walter After the accident

What I’m about to venture into is the charmed life of my brother-in-law Walter also known as Peter after the fabled “Peter the Rock” a disciple of Jesus Christ. Walter within his circle has been dubbed “The Cat Man” he’s an individual who seems to lead a charmed life a man who possesses ‘Nine Lives’, over the years this man has led a charmed life, from his youth to the present day on the verge of his retirement from the post and telegraphic office, this man has cheated death or neigh death by a cat’s whisker.

Here are the near-death episodes this man has survived over the years, if there are any other ones I’ll request him to enlighten me or post them on this blog directly.

While in school Walter and Eddie another of his classmates were driving down the steep road via Paddy’s bridge on a bicycle. They lost control and crashed into the boundary wall and were flung into space to land 10 to 15 feet below on the rocks. They were so fortunate that they escaped with only bruises and shock and no broken bones. It was a day to be remembered as it was Brother O’Neal’s Feast day. Even today the ex-students recall this extraordinary accident that took place in the year 1965.

From the humble cycle to the next accident on a motorcycle outside the residence of the CM house Rajasthan on 14th Jan 1971. Walter and his friend were racing down the road at a speed of over 80 km per hour when they crashed into a stray dog Walter who was the pinion, was thrown into the air and propelled like a missile to land on the tar road with his head between his clasped hands and drawn up knees. Here again, he escaped with no major complications only bare bones on his forearms elbows’ and knees.

On 1979 Christmas Eve, Walter the acrobat was atop a 15-foot ladder fixing decorations for the holiday session, he lost his balance and came plunging down head first like a torpedo ready to strike the floor below, to his good fortune his better half was below she caught him in midair breaking his fall in the nick of time. If she had not been there it would have been “Angels We Have Heard on High”

Then in the year 1994, my cousin Bubbles from England and a few others from Ajmer had come to the family home in Abu to condole with us on the demise of our loving father earlier in the year. After spending the day and a late afternoon lunch they all decided they would drive down to Ajmer that night. As all of them were very tired I suggested that they should all spend the night at Abu and leave early in the morning. My suggestions and protests fell on deaf ears; I told them they were taking a very big risk as the road via Beawar was very dangerous for night driving. Walter our hero also volunteered to go with them.

They left Abu Road pretty late on the 12th May 1994 heading for Ajmer, Bubbles who was sitting up front in the jeep requested Walter to change places with him while on the highway as he was feeling sleepy. After stretching their legs and rearranging their seating positions they once again sped towards their destination. “Some destination”, 13th Friday, May 1994, the dreaded ringing of the phones a little after 1.30 am left us all traumatized more so Walters’s wife. She was told that the jeep just outside Beawar had met with a headlong accident with a truck. In the accident, the driver was pinned to the wheel, and Bubbles who had swapped places with Walter died on the spot when his head hit the middle bar in the centre of the jeep. Peter Lee from Ajmer who was sitting on the side was flung sideways out of the jeep, his skull up front had been smashed on the impact of the rod above, and Walter who was up front was propelled through the windscreen to land under the truck. The people who conveyed the message to Abu said in all probability Peter would not survive as he was in bad shape. Aurelia Walters’s wife was in total shock as she thought ‘Peter’ (Walter's nickname) had also passed away or was on his way. To calm her down I literally dosed her with a generous amount of sleeping pills. It did pacify her but did not put her to sleep on our way to Beawar.

The government causality ward at Beawar was full of accident victims when we landed there. The Peter who was referred to was not Walter but Peter Lee, Lee was in bad shape as a piece of his skull had snapped off. Walter was also in a pretty ugly state, his face had been pitted with glass shrapnel which had been removed, besides some ugly bruises and a lacerated face Walter had no other major injuries, ‘Some Cat’.

In the year 2005, Liz and I headed for Goa to spend a short holiday with Walter and family at their Goa home in MudGaon. While there we really had a ball, it was January and the climate was fabulous, fish was plentiful and ample il-vino to quench our thirst. While we were there Walter had to make a run into Bombay on some urgent work. On his return from Bombay on the 26th of January his bus a Volvo while speeding hit an embankment and turned turtle. Can you imagine the plight of the passengers, quite a few of them were pretty badly injured but our ‘cat man’ makes it through this tragedy with minor cuts and bruises.

I had come home on the 5th of 2009 deadbeat after spending a wonderful two days at the Lair. Walter was to accompany us but he had some work in Ahmedabad, hence we missed his witty company. Being abs tired I flaked out around midnight, and then through my mushy grey matter I heard the tinkling of my mobile, with sheer determination and apprehension I reached for my mobile. I heard Aurelia’s voice on the other end and she seemed desperate she wanted a Taxi pronto to go to Ahmedabad as Walters bus which was returning from there had met with a headlong accident with an oncoming truck on the wrong side of the road. It was 1.30am in the morning.

The accident occurred just outside Himmatnagar at a place called Prantij. The truck driver and his assistant were killed on impact; the injured passengers from the bus were rushed by the 108 ambulance to the Prantij Referral Hospital for first aid treatment and then transferred to the Civil Hospital Ahmedabad. Walter had passed out when his head impacted with the seat in front of him. He only came to the Referral Hospital when his head had been sewn in two places he must have been in limbo for at least 35 to 40 minutes. His younger daughter who is doing her hotel management course in Ahmedabad had reached the accident spot along with a colleague an hour later. Walter did not leave with the injured who were rushed to the civil hospital Ahmedabad as he said his wife had left home with a cab to pick him up.

Aurelia his wife picked him up at around 4:30 a.m. and headed back home, she should have rushed him to Ahmedabad which was closer and had an MRI performed on him. She had a CAT scan done later that day at the Trauma Hospital at Abu Road. As nothing turned up in the scan they returned home. It was early morning when I received an SOS call from Cresentia Walters second daughter, she told me “Uncle Dad last night threw some convulsion and he behaved rather strange” I was now worried my sleep vanished I immediately rushed to his house met him and then phone my family Dr. Dr. Sharma told me to immediately rush him to Ahmedabad to a Neurologist Dr.Ajit Soowany in Ahmedabad. I made arrangements for an ambulance and took him to Dr Ajit Soowanty He’s now on the good Doctors medication. Walter will have to go back in the New Year for an MRI.

Till then this “Cat Man” is under observation. When I look into the crystal I see the hazy image of a cat that has outlived its six or so lives. A question mark keeps popping up, has he other lives? Would he have further adventurers after this one?

Take a look at the snaps of the hospital and the vehicles of this ill-fated accident.