A Narrow Escape (a real life story)
It happened in the month of May 1989 at the Sailing Club when I was a youngster in the Army and was doing a young officers course at the College Of Military Engineerin
g in Pune. I had developed interest in Sailing watching beautiful noiseless sailboats smoothly sailing in water in the cool breeze which I could feel at a distance watching the waving hairs of the sailors . I along with my coursemate friends Deore, Deo and Rakesh boarded a wooden sailing boat which was the basic boat meant for learning for the novices known as, ”Kamla”. We all took our places on it, Deo at the Stern sitting on the Starboard side, I and Deore at the sail and Rakesh at the Bow. We did not have much of the training being the novices. At that time the coach had only taught us how to observe the direction of the wind and proceed in the desired direction with the help of a small thread tied on the mast of the sail with an attempt to keep the hanging thread at an angle of 135 degrees to the direction of the move. For the boat to proceed in the desired direction ,the hanging portion of the thread should point towards the person sitting on the Stern side and we proceeded accordingly. Although we knew very little on the subject of sailing but knew just enough to take the boat anywhere and bring it back to the starting point irrespective of the direction of the wind blowing.
We were going smoothly gossiping and enjoying the gushes of the cool wind on our face wearing the lifejackets over our Tee shirts and shorts. The river was dirty as usual but still clear till one metre of depth. We could see the floating plants , the planktons passing near us. One loves speed and thrill at that age and we were no exception to that so I applied a little more pull on the rope of the sail as a result of which the speed of the boat increased and the body of the boat also tilted with the degree of tilt directly proportional to the strength applied on the rope and so was the corresponding increase in the degree of thrill. We soon got adjusted to the new speed and wind started to flutter the sail .The desire to attain more speed and thrill got into us .Deore yelled, “yaaaaaaaah! I want more speed. More! More!” and added to the excitement .I was waiting for this ignition and without a second thought applied more tension on the sail as a result of which the speed further increased and thus more thrill .”More! More! More!” everyone shouted. I and Deore applied all the strength we had leaning and keeping our complete body nearly parallel to the water surface keeping our legs stretched.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! went the boat at full speed with the sail cloth making noise phat! phat! phat! but the tilt increased so much that and at one stage the starboard edge of the sailboat was at the water level and just after that it tilted further taking the boat out of control. Finally all the water started entering in our boat and the boat collapsed completely.
Chapaak ! came the noise of the sail when it fell flat on the water surface.
The sail was on the water surface which became a mere wet cloth which one could no longer call it as a sail. I do not know where all the others were but I was under the boat beneath the water surface with boat above me vertically with its keel facing the sky . I thought it to be a normal incident as we used to see the learners capsizing their Laser and Scull boats quite frequently as was a routine affair in the club but never heard of a ‘Kamla’ boat capsizing like ours did as it was considered to be a very stable boat. I tried to come up at the surface of water from under the overturned boat and swung my arms with a breaststroke action but something stopped my movement ahead and I felt that as if some one was pulling my leg. Initially I thought that one of my friend must be playing a prank by holding my leg and took it lightly but as my breathing was becoming difficult I gave a jerk by kicking with my leg to move forward but could not do it .It was then I realised that my feet had got entangled in the sail rope which I was pulling. I immediately turned back taking a U turn inside the water itself and tried to free myself from the entangled rope but was still unable to .
Now the things were becoming difficult and serious as I could not even yell for help since no one was able to hear me being underwater . It was then I realised that its Mayday for me and no one on earth can help me except for my own efforts and God .My breath was giving away as I gasped for air and the body was becoming heavier. I thought in a few moments from now I will be leaving my body and going up from where I will see the boat and others as there was no way out but to die .I prayed to God not to spoil my birth as I had just entered my youth and wanted to live. I could not even cry .Time was running out and it was no time to think but act .Only act and act fast. There was no time to plan and think .My mind decided to give a last try and all good thoughts of helping my ownself started creeping into my mind like God helps those who help themselves, do what your mind says when heart and conscience fail to give a decision and a soldier never quits etc etc. There was no choice but to give a last try with full force of all the strength and breathe left in me as it was fight for survival. So I firmly decided to act ,collected myself , applied all my strength and dived deep into the water going much below the boat as a result of which the knot got loosened and I was able to take out my leg from the loop of the rope where my leg was entangled which gave me tremendous confidence as I was free now but still below in deep water. My nerves were about to burst and my lungs were completely shrunk waiting for oxygen to come in by the inhaling action which was long awaited by them. My stomach was absolutely stuck with my back with not an ounce of air gap in my intestines and eyeballs were waiting to be catapulted out any moment. I somehow gathered my leftover strength and breathe and swung all my limbs into action pushing the water down and after two such coordinated swings of my hands and legs finally surfaced up outside the water Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! My voice came out and the air gushed into my lungs giving me life .Finally at last I had made it and kept floating on the water with my eyes closed thanking God and my inner unknown strength till I gained 4-5 good long breathes after which I opened my eyes .
I noticed that I was not far away from the overturned boat which was floating submerged in water which all three of my friends were holding it and drifting along with talking to each other as if they were having a cup of tea over a dining table made of the overturned boat . They had just made two swim strokes after having fallen in water of the Mulla river and got hold of the boat thereafter and were now waiting for the motorboat to come and drift us ashore. Even the safety org was not bothered much and had not send any boat till now as were thinking that everyone was safe after seeing three of them gossiping over the capsized boat from a distance being an everyday affair for them.
It was later after we drifted with the flow more than about a km from the sailing club that we saw a motorboat coming towards us . How was the dip ? Asked one of my friend ? I wondered what to say as for me it was like someone asking from lord Rama ,”How was the trip to exile”. I however replied, ”An Unforgettable experience indeed”. Soon the motorboat reached and drifted us to the shore at the sailing club bay just to hear from our instructor ,”You all owe me a Beer bottle each as have set a record of capsizing a ‘Kamla’ boat which no one in the history of this sailing Club has ever done it till date”.
I said to myself,” Had you asked for the costliest scotch in the world today I would have happily given it to you as my life was not so cheap that it was worth only a beer bottle.”
But you know what I did ?
I kept quiet.
It happened in the month of May 1989 at the Sailing Club when I was a youngster in the Army and was doing a young officers course at the College Of Military Engineerin
g in Pune. I had developed interest in Sailing watching beautiful noiseless sailboats smoothly sailing in water in the cool breeze which I could feel at a distance watching the waving hairs of the sailors . I along with my coursemate friends Deore, Deo and Rakesh boarded a wooden sailing boat which was the basic boat meant for learning for the novices known as, ”Kamla”. We all took our places on it, Deo at the Stern sitting on the Starboard side, I and Deore at the sail and Rakesh at the Bow. We did not have much of the training being the novices. At that time the coach had only taught us how to observe the direction of the wind and proceed in the desired direction with the help of a small thread tied on the mast of the sail with an attempt to keep the hanging thread at an angle of 135 degrees to the direction of the move. For the boat to proceed in the desired direction ,the hanging portion of the thread should point towards the person sitting on the Stern side and we proceeded accordingly. Although we knew very little on the subject of sailing but knew just enough to take the boat anywhere and bring it back to the starting point irrespective of the direction of the wind blowing.We were going smoothly gossiping and enjoying the gushes of the cool wind on our face wearing the lifejackets over our Tee shirts and shorts. The river was dirty as usual but still clear till one metre of depth. We could see the floating plants , the planktons passing near us. One loves speed and thrill at that age and we were no exception to that so I applied a little more pull on the rope of the sail as a result of which the speed of the boat increased and the body of the boat also tilted with the degree of tilt directly proportional to the strength applied on the rope and so was the corresponding increase in the degree of thrill. We soon got adjusted to the new speed and wind started to flutter the sail .The desire to attain more speed and thrill got into us .Deore yelled, “yaaaaaaaah! I want more speed. More! More!” and added to the excitement .I was waiting for this ignition and without a second thought applied more tension on the sail as a result of which the speed further increased and thus more thrill .”More! More! More!” everyone shouted. I and Deore applied all the strength we had leaning and keeping our complete body nearly parallel to the water surface keeping our legs stretched.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! went the boat at full speed with the sail cloth making noise phat! phat! phat! but the tilt increased so much that and at one stage the starboard edge of the sailboat was at the water level and just after that it tilted further taking the boat out of control. Finally all the water started entering in our boat and the boat collapsed completely.
Chapaak ! came the noise of the sail when it fell flat on the water surface.
The sail was on the water surface which became a mere wet cloth which one could no longer call it as a sail. I do not know where all the others were but I was under the boat beneath the water surface with boat above me vertically with its keel facing the sky . I thought it to be a normal incident as we used to see the learners capsizing their Laser and Scull boats quite frequently as was a routine affair in the club but never heard of a ‘Kamla’ boat capsizing like ours did as it was considered to be a very stable boat. I tried to come up at the surface of water from under the overturned boat and swung my arms with a breaststroke action but something stopped my movement ahead and I felt that as if some one was pulling my leg. Initially I thought that one of my friend must be playing a prank by holding my leg and took it lightly but as my breathing was becoming difficult I gave a jerk by kicking with my leg to move forward but could not do it .It was then I realised that my feet had got entangled in the sail rope which I was pulling. I immediately turned back taking a U turn inside the water itself and tried to free myself from the entangled rope but was still unable to .
Now the things were becoming difficult and serious as I could not even yell for help since no one was able to hear me being underwater . It was then I realised that its Mayday for me and no one on earth can help me except for my own efforts and God .My breath was giving away as I gasped for air and the body was becoming heavier. I thought in a few moments from now I will be leaving my body and going up from where I will see the boat and others as there was no way out but to die .I prayed to God not to spoil my birth as I had just entered my youth and wanted to live. I could not even cry .Time was running out and it was no time to think but act .Only act and act fast. There was no time to plan and think .My mind decided to give a last try and all good thoughts of helping my ownself started creeping into my mind like God helps those who help themselves, do what your mind says when heart and conscience fail to give a decision and a soldier never quits etc etc. There was no choice but to give a last try with full force of all the strength and breathe left in me as it was fight for survival. So I firmly decided to act ,collected myself , applied all my strength and dived deep into the water going much below the boat as a result of which the knot got loosened and I was able to take out my leg from the loop of the rope where my leg was entangled which gave me tremendous confidence as I was free now but still below in deep water. My nerves were about to burst and my lungs were completely shrunk waiting for oxygen to come in by the inhaling action which was long awaited by them. My stomach was absolutely stuck with my back with not an ounce of air gap in my intestines and eyeballs were waiting to be catapulted out any moment. I somehow gathered my leftover strength and breathe and swung all my limbs into action pushing the water down and after two such coordinated swings of my hands and legs finally surfaced up outside the water Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! My voice came out and the air gushed into my lungs giving me life .Finally at last I had made it and kept floating on the water with my eyes closed thanking God and my inner unknown strength till I gained 4-5 good long breathes after which I opened my eyes .
I noticed that I was not far away from the overturned boat which was floating submerged in water which all three of my friends were holding it and drifting along with talking to each other as if they were having a cup of tea over a dining table made of the overturned boat . They had just made two swim strokes after having fallen in water of the Mulla river and got hold of the boat thereafter and were now waiting for the motorboat to come and drift us ashore. Even the safety org was not bothered much and had not send any boat till now as were thinking that everyone was safe after seeing three of them gossiping over the capsized boat from a distance being an everyday affair for them.
It was later after we drifted with the flow more than about a km from the sailing club that we saw a motorboat coming towards us . How was the dip ? Asked one of my friend ? I wondered what to say as for me it was like someone asking from lord Rama ,”How was the trip to exile”. I however replied, ”An Unforgettable experience indeed”. Soon the motorboat reached and drifted us to the shore at the sailing club bay just to hear from our instructor ,”You all owe me a Beer bottle each as have set a record of capsizing a ‘Kamla’ boat which no one in the history of this sailing Club has ever done it till date”.
I said to myself,” Had you asked for the costliest scotch in the world today I would have happily given it to you as my life was not so cheap that it was worth only a beer bottle.”
But you know what I did ?
I kept quiet.
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