The life jackets were yellow and bobbing up and down on the water. Yellow and bright like the sun. There was a collective sigh of relief when the survivors were brought to the riverbank.

The surrounding temples bore silent witness to the near catastrophe that the adventure group had gone through. The crowd gathered at the bank thanked the Gods on the Ganges’ bank for abating the disaster and claiming only the boat as the victim.

George took off his life jacket, tears streaming from his eyes, and thought about the twins and Melanie. He had gained back his faith today, all his forty years flashing before his eyes in the split second when the boat capsized. All the time he had spent building a career, a family, an existence…. a LIFE!! All would have been lost, had it not been for the yellow inflatable he had been wearing.

He glanced all around him. All seven of his adventure club members were unscathed physically, if not emotionally. Each one’s turmoil was evident as they struggled to get their cell phone, waiting for the calls to go through, and finally the relief of reaching their loved ones. Life does go on.

© 2009 Gauri Kanyalkar. Original for CCF. (Kanyalkar grants CCF first electronic rights for one month; CCF may archive the material indefinitely and include it in an eBook anthology).