It is the longest 20 minutes of our lives by the time we get to the site of the crash and I am amazed it has taken so long for the news that Dada's vehicle, his ultra posh bright white 4x4, had been shoved off-road to be honest.
Considering he is the Patriarch of mum's side of the family and the main celebrity of this venture, you'd have thought response times would have been slicker. Then again, this is Bangladesh after all, a place where time moves at a completely different pace to that of England due to lack of organisation.
All of us are leaning forward desperately trying to see what the situation is through the windscreen but are struggling to make out much as it has become quite dark now and huge thunder clouds have gathered overhead to add to the already depressing atmosphere.
As expected, there are no street lights but luckily...or maybe that should be unluckily...the headlights of the crashed 4x4 are flickering off and on so we can make out a little even if not all of what has happened.
It doesn't help that we aren't allowed to park close to the scene of the accident due to there already being a crowd gathered, but instead we are directed by some of the more helpful locals to move on.
"That is so fucking annoying!" I say as we are ushered away and although my sister and I'm sure the others in our vehicle share my frustration, unlike me they accept the gathering as the norm - it did not matter that we were family at all, those that were there got there first!
Okay, so maybe that's a bit harsh and there is a severe case of stereotyping going on in my mind at least, but even with a quick glance I can tell most are there to merely check out the chaos but not to actually help; probably because TVs aren't readily available so an accident usually brings the same excitement as a soap.
In any event, as we fly passed to get parked, I decide to refocus my attention on the more serious matter to hand and as we rubber-neck going passed, I can see enough to tell the crash is a fucking mess.
The 4x4 has been clearly rammed off the road, down on to the dusty embankments before colliding head-on and wrapping its front end around a huge banana tree.
Our driver does a U-turn in the road to park on the same side of the scene next to the other two people carriers that were in the convoy following the 4x4 and telling us all to stay in the vehicle, he gets out and dashes over to the other drivers to see what the situation is.
I am desperate to find out for myself what the score is as we all sit restlessly within, "We can't sit around waiting to find out what has happened, we should get out there!" I pipe up.
My sister clenches my arm knowing what I am feeling but at the same time, the look in her eyes are also telling me to stay put for the time being until we know further, hoping that in and amongst the swarm surrounding the 4x4 local police and some medical attention has arrived.
But being in some no man's land stuck on some dusty road from mum's remote village to Dhaka, I somehow doubt that Bangladesh is the kind of place where any law enforcement or an ambulance would be so readily available, but I still reluctantly agree to play possum for now.
I have to say, I am totally surprised Goldie hasn't made a dash for it to check out what has happened considering he is normally in the thick of things but even he realises for now, patience is a virtue so if he can see sense, surely I had to.
By the time the driver has come back, the rumbling of the thunderclouds has finally turned into a torrential down pour and the poor guy is soaked through.
Before I even say anything, my sister frantically asks, "Brother, you must tell us, what is the situation?"
He hesitates but finally begins to speak, "Conditions with there being no light is not good. The locals have brought oil-lanterns to help with the light but these keep getting blown out..."
"Forget that - is everyone alright?!" I interrupt, abruptly to say the least.
"Your father seems to be okay brother and he is trying to do what he can but as we are in the middle of nowhere, we have tried getting another private vehicle ordered so that all passengers can get in that and be driven to the nearest hospital rather than wait for an ambulance..."
Despite the rain bouncing on the roof of our vehicle making it a tad difficult to make out every word he is saying, I put two and two together and understand what he is getting at.
They needed medical attention but thankfully, they were injured but not dead and dad by some miracle, seemed to be okay enough to try and help.
I look around the vehicle and everyone remains glued to their seats as I watch the driver's mouth continue moving revealing as much detail as he has been given.
Some sit in silent contemplation of what to do next like my sister and Tanny, others wonder how lucky they are that it was not them like Anik, Sajid and Goldie whilst little Princess goes on about how grateful she is that her parents were not in the 4x4, but it is Neema who breaks everyone's sense of contemplation.
"Is there anything we should be doing?" she says, desperation in her voice as a lightning bolt lights up the inside of our vehicle and thunder booms in the night sky.
I look out the window and can see all other family members who were travelling with us all huddled together in their vehicles, with equal measure of bewilderment and fear as to what to do next and I realise, it was time for a little magic.
I open my Magic Bag and taking a pouch out, unfold its contents and it opens into a water proof black mack with a hood. I then pull out an orange walkie talkie and give it to my sister, "Here, hold this - I'm going over there to give dad a hand and I'll update you once I know more using my walkie talkie!"
Before my sister can say anything I have already leant over to Princess who is holding the inflatable pillow I had given her and jump out into the rain.
Pulling out my battery/wind-up dynamo torch to help light my way to the 4x4, I begin to run as fast as the stinging rain lets me; besides the rain itself, I have to take every stride with caution as the last thing I wanted was to add to the casualties and twist my ankle or worse, in some pot-hole as I ran towards dad.
When I get there, I see dad is trying to make out how best to help the injured in conditions worse than I could have imagined.
There is glass everywhere on and around them all, the windscreen having smashed into pieces when they crashed and with there being no permanent lights, dad is working to the warm glow of a kerosene fuelled lantern.
He is both surprised and pleased to see me as I shine my torch into the 4x4, "Need help sir!" I jest trying to lighten the situation.
"What are you doing here baba? I thought I told the driver to ask everyone to stay in their vehicles!" dad says back.
"Hmmm, don't think I gave him the chance to get that far actually dad! So what do you need?"
"Shine your torch on Dadi's arm here for now..."
I look around as I do this and dad has blood and dirt on his crisp white pyjama/punjabi but besides some cuts on his forehead, in himself seems okay, if a little shaken.
The driver is bruised and seems to have broken his nose from the crash and his air-bag combo, and is holding his head tilted up high and holding his nose.
"Forget his nose, I'm just bloody glad a country which doesn't even have seat-belts actually had an air-bag otherwise, judging from the turmoil, he'd be dead - no two ways about that!" I mused to myself somewhat shocked.
Dada in the meantime, is leaning with his head resting on the side of the 4x4 with a massive lump on his temple and seems to be in a daze but he seems to be breathing normally and with no cuts at all, "so as long as the concussion is minor, the big guy's safe." I say under my breath.
However, it is Dadi who is the worst off.
I can see several cuts all over Dadi's arms but it is the huge angular mass protruding just below the elbow of her right arm that worries me. The skin has not been broken, but I suspect the bone is!
Despite how I feel about her at times, I reach in and hold Dadi's hand with my free one whilst still holding the torch as steady as possible with my other as she moans in agony as dad tries to figure out if the bone has actually broken or not.
"Dad, I have pain killers if you think that will help."
"Yes, that would be great, but I need bandages and antiseptic too for the cuts everyone has and something to make a sling out of for Dadi" dad responds and no sooner has he said that, I have let go of Dadi's hand and placed the torch balanced on the ground and started routing through my Magic Bag.
I pull out bandages of all shapes and sizes and my antiseptic cream as well as antiseptic wipes, but before I do anything I wash my hands with the non-stick stuff I have been carrying around and put on some forensic gloves I also have.
My dad pauses for a second and then smirks despite the situation, "Your mummy trained you a little too well."
As the storm rages on around us, I apply antiseptic cream or wipes as needed to everyone including dad and help dad create a sling for Dadi. After which I march around to Dada's side and open the door, he is more awake by this point and smiles as I lift his head up and place my pillow under his head, "It will make you a little more comfortable Dada" I say wiping water away from my face as rain continues falling uncontrollably.
"Your brother Asif would have been so impressed with you...I thought only he prepared for everything but must be in the blood." Dada says softly but with a warm smile clear enough for me to understand and managing to lift my spirit despite the position we are in.
"No need to talk Dada. Help is on the way."
"Help is already here!" a voice utters from behind me and as I turn I am blinded by the light of a vehicle and there are the shapes of three people walking towards me who I make out to be Tanny, my sister and Neema all soaking wet.
"Errr, I thought everyone was going to stay put until I buzzed in on the walkie talkie to update at least!" I chirp with a smile, clearly pleased to see the cavalry.
"Yeah well, you never talkied so we walkied" my sister says back, "anyway, Goldie took the liberty of calling the private hire company and they mentioned that the new vehicle is almost here so we all took an executive decision to cram into this clapped-out 4x4 and transfer these guys into our vehicle so that we can get them over to the nearest hospital ASAP instead of having to wait longer."
I look over at Dada and then back at the gang and smile as Anik, Sajid, Princess and even Goldie then climb out of our vehicle and start asking dad how best to move everyone over to our vehicle.
Dad smiles brightly, proud to see this next generation of our family pull together this way when the perceived elders, who are meant to be the more sensible and responsible, continue to stare out from the comfort of their vehicles at the drama as it unfolds.
Once we have transferred everyone over into the vehicle, totally by coincidence, the new vehicle arrives so the gang including Goldie scurry into the new one to get out of the rain except for me as Dadi has grabbed hold of my sleeve with her left arm, her right hanging out of her make shift sling.
"When your mummy died, I was very sad," she says, "despite how things were between us, I loved the fact that no matter how many times I tried to knock her down, she kept springing right back up..."
"Ssshhhh, Dadi" I say but she continues.
"I just wanted to say she has done an amazing job with you and your sister too. I can see her in both of you...living through both of you. Never forget that, no matter how down you feel now that she is gone."
She strokes my head as I step away and slide the door shut.
Dad is sitting at the front with the driver and winding his window down asks me to ensure we all continue to head home rather than follow them to the hospital seeing as we were no more than another couple of hours from home, I nod but make him promise to call us to know the position once he knew.
As I watch the rear lights of their vehicle disappear into the darkness, I smile and look up at the thunderous sky and pulling my hood down, close my eyes and picture mum smiling down at us.
I think about what Dadi had said and as I hear the faint murmur of my sister shouting at me to get into our vehicle so that we can get going and I can avoid catching a cold, I smile back at mum.
As I turn to get into the car I decide if mum is listening to let her know we were going to alright, "The Khans may be down mum without you, but like you, we have a long way to go before we are out. We miss you...but thank you for making us who we are" and sliding our door shut, I ask the driver to get us home.
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