The night was a thick, ink-black curtain drawn over Chandanpur. Vikram Singh gripped the steering wheel of his black Thar, the engine roaring as he navigated the muddy path back from a neighboring village meeting. Suddenly, the sky cracked open with a violent streak of lightning, followed by a thunderclap that seemed to shake the very earth.

Within seconds, the heavens unleashed a torrential downpour. The rain was so heavy it turned the world into a blur of grey water. The wipers on the Thar could barely keep up.