Five star thriller

sln · Oct 6, 2009

The year 1981.After our sales conference in ooty we drove down to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Bangalore</st1lace></st1:City> .We,the fourteen of us checked into a five star hotel around 4 pm..It was annual conference time and the hotel was full.We were accommodated in the annexe which had just been commissioned.Having exercised grey cells excessively during the conference,rich food,cocktails etc I was very tired.I ordered for a steaming cup of coffee.put on the TV and went to sleep.We were to meet for dinner at 8 pm followed by a game of cards.Operator called me at 7pm as per my request.I got into the bath tub and revelled in the hot water for half an hour.This was indeed relaxing.

I tried to open the door to get out of the bathroom but it would not open.There was an eerie feeling that some thing was wrong.I tried the handle four,five times but the latch had got stuck.In the final attempt the handle broke and I had no way of operating the latch..Being a new construction, they had not installed a telephone in the bath room.I started sweating which was further compounded by the steam from the hot water I had used for bathing,I got hold of the three hooks on the door for hanging clothes and pulled.The hooks came away in my hand.
I spent 30 minutes in this fashion and started shouting help-help.Unfortunately my voice was drowned by the TV which I had left it on.My colleagues knew that my uncle was in Bangalore and therefore they would not take my absence seriously.I went through all the real life stories in Reader’s digest and was bracing myself for a long stay in the bathroom.I started taking deep breaths and shouting help-help in regular intervals.There was a vent over the bath tub and standing on the bath tub I breathed fresh air from the vent but it was a dangerous exercise without a proper foothold and slippery floor.
As luck would have it,in one such attempt I heard Vijay asking my Delhi colleague staying in the opposite room about my whereabouts.Mustering all the strength in my command I shouted-Vijay I am stuck in the bath room-help me.Fortunately he heard me and shouted-don’t panic,we will get you out.Relieved I slumped on the floor and lay there for 20 minutes before I could be rescued.
I stood in front of the framed picture of God,I carry with me normally and thanked him for the rescue.I was almost dehydrated as I had continuosly shouted and I had not dared to drink the tap water in the bathroom.All the top brass of the hotel were there profusely apologizing and the cocktail that followed was on the house.I drowned a couple of rounds thinking what I would have missed if I had become seriously sick.
Let us now come to the moral of the story.I had put the safety latch on the main door which meant that the duplicate key was of no use.In addition I had put the latch in the bath room which was unnecessary.Keeping one door free would have saved atleast 20 minutes in the rescue operation.Where was the need to keep the TV blaring when I was having a bath?These are lessons I learnt the hard way.
My uncle 82 and his wife 76 were staying by themselves.She had bolted the bathroom and went for a bath.While bathing she had a heart attack and shouted before falling down.But it was too late as it took 40 minutes to open the door.I have seen women keeping some thing on the stove on low flame and going for a bath.Nothing can be more dangerous than this..Whether to simply keep the door closed or put on a latch when the lady is at home by herself or seniors are staying by themselves needs consideration..Another question to be looked into is leaving a spare key with some one trusted staying in the vicinity.Any how my experience was a thriller with lessons thrown in-particularly handy at this stage of our life.

writeme · Oct 6, 2009

This is worth reading !! I could relate myself to many points you laid down..Indeed an eye opener..

Jpatma · Oct 6, 2009

LN sir,
True your life time thrillers are lesson for all of us. Most of us have the habit of leaving the food on stove on low flame and forget about it. I am too a culprit in this.
Latching and leaving TV on is another habits most of us have. Only when we face danger we understand the gravity of situation.
Thank God you were rescued, & you are here to tell the story.
Jaya

knot2share · Oct 7, 2009

That was indeed a horrifying situation. Glad that your colleague managed to hear you. It just reminded me of something. In many of the houses here, the bathrooms/toilets do not have a lock and it is an uncomfortable fact when we have visitors over from India. I guess we can never have a shower or use the toilet in peace due to the fear of somebody entering in accidentally! But the reason for not having a lock is the same as you described - - just in case of any mishap, it will be easy to reach the person. I am sure there are lots of ways to handle this to give one privacy and also at the same time is easily accessible in case of emergency. We need to start thinking along those lines as well.

Balajee · Oct 7, 2009

LN sir, this reminds me of what happened to me in Kuwait city few years ago. I had gone out of my hotel room for a minute and closed the door. It got locked and my key was inside. I had to run from pillar to post to get the hotel staff come up with the duplicate key and open the door.i

Mallie · Oct 7, 2009

An idea to be noted. The moral of the story is very important for all house holds.

Saraswathipv · Oct 7, 2009

Hi LN sir,

That must have been a terrible incident for you.
Your post does throw light on this aspect of precaution to be taken. Specially with elders or little kids...who may not be able to scream their lung out...after a period of time, when they are caught up in situations similar to yours.

Thanx for this post.
Bye