Was it Saturday Night Fever? Was it predestined? Or was it both? I don’t know. In fact, no one will ever know.
The Farewell:
A 23-year-old boy from a well to do business community, told his parents on a Saturday night around 11 pm: “My friends are waiting. Can I go, meet them? Come back in a jiffy”.
“Look at the time”! exclaimed mother with anger, “It’s 11 pm. You want to go now? Why can’t you go tomorrow? Tomorrow is Sunday, son. Go spend the entire day with friends”.
Understanding his mother’s anger, son immediately changed his tone. He implored and begged: “Mommy, I’ll be back in half an hour. Please permit me. Please mummy”.
Father was listening to this entire conversation, silently. He swallowed his blood pressure tablet with a glass of water, looked at his wife, nodded subtly to permit his son to go. He felt that his eldest son is grownup. There is no point in arguing with him. He will surely know his responsibilities.
A PROMISE MADE:
The exasperated mother understanding her husband’s look, finally agreed. She said “Okay son, go. Come back as promised within half an hour. I will go to bed only after your arrival”.
The son knew that he will have his say finally. He took his mother’s hand, said “Mom, I’m taking the new car”.
“No, son. Take an Uber and go” said mother with anxiety.
“No mom. There won’t be traffic at this hour. And the car, our new car, has not been taken it out for a week. It has probably been more than a week! Let me drive it around and park it back”. Saying so he went to the table and picked up the key fob.
TATA CURVV
This is the car being talked about. The high-end model car that costs nearly 20 lakh rupees, or 2 million rupees. The TATA Curvv’s top speed is around 160–170 km/h, depending on the variant and motor configuration. The Curvv is designed to deliver a smooth yet powerful acceleration, going from 0 to 100 km/h in just under 9 seconds. Whether driving on city roads or highways, the Curvv promises a stable, confident, and exhilarating drive. In everyday driving conditions, the Tata Curvv average speed comfortably ranges between 50–80 km/h for city use and 100–120 km/h for highway driving. Thus, this balance between power and efficiency ensures a stable, composed ride quality, whether you’re navigating urban streets or open roads.
The car was purchased through a finance company. 75% of the cost of the car was born by the finance company and 25% money was paid upfront by the owner. White, gleaming, shining, beautiful Tata Curvv, the latest model introduced by Tata motors for the Indian roads.
BHARAT NCAP – 5 STARS
Tata Curvv has a 5-star safety rating from Bharat NCAP for its ICE (internal combustion engine) variant. It received a score of 29.50 out of 32 for adult occupant protection and 43.66 out of 49 for child occupant protection.
- Adult Occupant Protection: 29.50/32
- Child Occupant Protection: 43.66/49
Key standard safety features are that the Curvv comes standard with six airbags, Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Electronic Stability Control (ESC), and ISOFIX child seat mounts. Five-star rating for a car means it’s almost a perfect car. In other words, the car is a reflection and epitome of today’s safety requirements desired both by the government and the society.
THE LAST DRIVE:
Sitting in the car, the son took the car out, drove straight to his friend’s house. The time was around 11.45 PM. The friend’s house is located at about 10KM distance. Together, they decided to pick up another friend who resides at 15 kilometers away, at the far end of the city. You can also call it, as is well known by that name, the Financial District.
All the three gathered in the car around 00:40 AM. Their joy was, understandably, unfathomable. Laughing, cheering, joking, pulling each other’s leg and driving a brand-new Tata Curvv. The city of Hyderabad has an Outer Ring Road (ORR), an eight-lane high speed expressway, where minimum speed is 120 KMPH (kilometers per hour)!
“Hey man, beautiful car it is, literally flying in the air! We are very proud of you”, said one of the two friends.
THE BROKEN PROMISE:
Mother is totally forgotten! Come on! Not every day he would be going out in a new car with his close friends. He would explain to her later. He hoped she would sleep without waiting for him to return. This is a special occasion, thought the son, and smiled proudly at his friend’s observation, because he made the right choice of buying the right car, which gives high mileage too.
THE CHALLENGE:
“Come on! 120 KMPH only? Nah, let us drive and see at 200 kilometers per hour. That’s the way this car is to driven. Increase the speed, idiot”. said the friend, challengingly.
You know youngsters! Gen Z! 1:30 AM. 8 lane highway. Deserted Outer Ring Road. Taking up the challenge, the speed was increased. The car gathered maximum momentum. The speed may have crossed 180 KMPH. There are no eye-witnesses! They were cruising, literally floating in air. The car is, indeed, a beauty.
With wide eyes, the 23-year-old B.Tech computer science graduate classmate friends with green future ahead, were watching the car with wonder. Wow! 180 KM. Wow! What they did not know was that they were cruising at that speed towards their death and funeral, never to return alive! This was their last ride on this planet earth.
A TRUCK @ NO PARKING ZONE:
A truck loaded with sacks of dry cotton seeds, was parked at the far end of the shoulder of the road. The driver was lazily dozing off while waiting for the mechanic to arrive for an engine repair. As per the law, ORR is a no parking zone. But the engine failure left the driver with no choice. It is dark as a black hole on the road.
In their anxiety for more speed, excitement and thrill, the three friends did not notice the car veering away from its lane towards the shoulder of the road. They were excited and were engrossed in their own world!
One of the friends said “Look man, I am going to tell my father to buy the same car for me”. This perhaps were the last words spoken.
THE ACCIDENT:
Suddenly there was a blinding flash and the sky has fallen! As if the car is hit by a thunder. As if the ‘Litte Boy’ was dropped. The explosion was deafening and then everything suddenly went quiet. The white gleaming Tata Curvv hit the stationary truck at 180 KMPH. The impact so forceful, the car went under the truck. The three friends screamed in fear. They wanted safety but there was not a single soul, no vehicle passed by at that moment on the road. The crash’s impact was so powerful that both the car and the stationary truck ended up 200 meters further down the road.
The truck driver was jolted awake from slumber. He jumped from his truck, rushed towards the rear. What the hell happened? Oh my God! There is a car under the truck! The three occupants were unconscious. The car ignited itself into flames. Like a lighted match to a train of gun powder, the flames were feeding happily on the dry cotton seeds! Both the car and the truck were burning. Due to the intensity of the heat the driver could not even approach the burning vehicles. Passersby gathered, some good Samaritan called police, another called the fire brigade. Time is of the essence here, but by the time help arrived, only three charred bodies remained. They were burnt alive. They reached the other side of life.
FIR & VISCERA REPORT:
The police registered a FIR. There could have been many causes for this accident. It could be over-speeding, wrong parking, or destiny? No one will ever know. All we can do is guess. We cannot point towards a single cause. Postmortem conducted. From the cooked flesh, nothing could be determined. From the Regional Forensic Science Laboratories, Hyderabad, a viscera report was called. A viscera report is the result of a forensic analysis of a deceased person’s internal organs (viscera) and bodily fluids to determine the cause of death, particularly in suspicious or unnatural circumstances. The report is a key component of a post-mortem (autopsy) examination in legal investigations. This is a complicated test and takes around two months.
THE FINANCE COMPANY:
Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. But the unfortunate episode does not end here! The finance company was asking for its monthly installments. They knew about the accident and the deaths. But business does not halt. They will ask. See the charred remains of the car in the picture. There is nothing left.
“Well,” said the finance people, “a contract is a contract sir. We need our money back”.
“15 lakh rupees? Where will I bring it from”? asked pitiably the grieving father.
“We don’t know, but we need our money back sir”, insisted the finance company people.
HUMANE FACE OF ZUNO GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY:
The meaning of “Zuno” depends on its origin “brain” or “intellect” in Japanese; “intelligent” or “wise” in other contexts; a surname in Spain and Italy.
Zuno General Insurance Limited (Formerly known as Edelweiss General Insurance Company Limited) acted professionally. As soon as they saw the FIR, a written request from the insured, the loss of three lives and their brokers request for an immediate insurance claim payment, their response was humane. Based on the FIR and other immediately available claim documents and without insisting upon final documentation, they released 50% of the insurance payout. That took care of the finance company for now.
If I were the motor claims manager at Zuno Hyderabad, I would not have acted with such a professional understanding as the people at Zuno General Insurance Limited acted. We bow our head in reverence and for their professionalism and deep understanding of human emotions. They rightfully deserve every praise.
The parent’s tears will never dry. Three grieving families lost everything. Whose mistake was it? We may never know. Even if we were to know the mistake, does it change the reality? Our legal system aims at punishing the erring. Can this solve the problem? The three lives will never return. The parents are struggling to return to their normal life. And they know well that they will never be successful.
THE SALVAGE PATENT AT WORK:
In insurance, “salvage” is the damaged property (like a vehicle declared a “total loss” or wrecked goods) that the insurer takes ownership of after paying a claim, with the goal of selling it to recoup some of the claim cost. It is the insurer’s right to possess and dispose of the damaged property to reduce its loss payout, and the value obtained from selling it is known as the salvage value.
Months later, after running from pillar to post, the insurer after deducting the value of the salvage from claim amount, handed over the salvage in November 2025! We M/s Topspot Insurance Broking (also known as “insurancepe”) are the insurance salvage patent holders. For more details, please visit www.bhadrat.com.
What lesson can we learn from this irreparable loss? The Insurer has settled the claim. The finance company received its money. Parents lost children. India lost three youth. The Police filed a charge sheet in the court. Cause of death, determined. Death certificates issued. The police, the court and the insurance company and the finance company, all closed their respective files. The event is forgotten, and the memory already beginning to fade. What is it we learnt? It cannot be nothing!
THE LESSON:
From this heart-wrenching incident, we have a lot to learn. The insurers, the parents, the finance companies, the government and the police, all have an ever-increasing inalienable social responsibility of educating the society about accidents like these.
What you see above in the picture is not a piece of salvage, it is a priceless metal with a social message. Three young lives are lost. Public money was spent on investigations. It is a sovereign function of the government to educate the people. Society has to learn.
The insurers, parents, finance companies, the government and the police would be doing justice to this piece of salvage, if this salvage is converted and redesigned into an everyday article of utility. These haunting articles of utility will constantly remind our residual lives, the need for safety, security and wellbeing. This alone can complete the insurance circle. When the circle of insurance is complete, the message is delivered, society may become a better place, and future generations may live in safety.
Authored By:
Dr K. Rajagopal Reddy
PhD, FIII, FCII (UK), FLMI (US), FT
Chartered Insurance Practitioner
Topspot Insurance Broking Pvt. Ltd.
