Am I Hydrophobic ?

This one turned out to be pretty funny afterwards. It was sometimes back, I along with a friend went to a one day conducted tour of Mussorie.

On the way our bus had an hour long stoppage at a water park near Dehradun. Although 1 hour is a very less time to fully enjoy the frolics of a water park,as stated by my friend, but still we went inside with a hope to catch most of the rides. Especially my friend was bubbling with energy, this being his n'th time in a water park. He had already narrated me stories about the fun in water parks near Bangalore.

For me, this was the very first time !

We went to the first slide. It was not that high and my friend was prepared within seconds for the ride. I stood nearby, carrying his stuffs and contemplating whether to go for it or not. I thought to watch him, for that should give me a fair idea about the risk involved ! I saw him slide, one time, two times, three times. Just when i was preparing myself to go for it, he spotted the highest slide of the park.

"Hey ! Lets go there", he exclaimed. I followed him.

We reached the slide. I gazed at the floors, the top one was surely some multi-storeyed high.

He said, "Lets slide from the top one, it would be fun". I said, "You go on, I will watch", still gauging the risk involved.

He went on, it took him some 5 minutes to reach the top. He waved me from there. This one needed an air tube. Just because of the height, while sliding down, one attains so much kinetic energy that one can easily leave the flank. The tube will avoid such a thing.

He slided and i saw his body going through all the rounds and curves and within seconds he splashed in the bottom repository of water. It surely looked a lot of fun and was easy to invite anybody to fall for its prey.

Yes, it was a prey !

I decided to go for it, after-all what the most can happen, within seconds it will be over. I climbed at the top floor, there was this person instructing how to align the body while sliding and he provided the tube. I did as he said. Just when I was about to leave myself on hands of gravity, he gave me a slight push.

Within seconds I could feel my body gaining the  huge momentum and moving through the curves and rounds with a great thrust. The first few seconds are surely good when you know everything is in control. You can see the path you are sliding through. But thereafter it goes all out of your control and when this happens, let me tell all the water lovers, this is definitely not fun !

I remember, I had closed my eyes after some seconds, but could surely feel the thrust and energy while my body slided through that labyrinth.

and then I remember, I was thrown in a water repository. My mind was completely out by then and I thought something wrong had went in the setup and I have been dumped in some water tank.

I could not find a feet !

For the whole slide, i don't remember i could breathe, and now the water was going all inside me, through my mouth, nose and i started suffocating badly.

You know how a person feels when he or she drowns? Well, I too didn't, till that day. i discovered another fact about us, humans, in-fact all living beings. we don't give up so easily. life becomes so precious to us in those moments that we try out all sorts of things before we actually are overtaken, before we actually submit.

i too was no different. i remember myself fighting, throwing my hands and legs everywhere, somehow to get a hold, somehow to find a stand. and then suddenly my eyes caught a faint glimpse of the sky, I knew this was the direction I should aim for, as until then I didn't even knew which way I should align my body ! I threw my hands outside to give a SOS type of indication.

The fight continued and then just before when my strength was giving up, i felt the base. I felt the floor with both of my hands. it was like a second life. I gushed out my face and breathed hard. for some moments I just stood there with my eyes closed and kept breathing, breathing and breathing. Air is so precious for us, it cannot be explained. I opened my eyes when my senses starting coming back,  I saw my friend standing dumbstruck at the top floor, the man near him whistling and an another one coming towards me.

I knew the message was conveyed that i was drowning. The SOS had worked !

I don't know what heaven is but I didn't knew that this life would be so difficult to give away, the fight would be so horrifying, within moments it tends to loose and seems weakening and all the strength and courage diminishes exponentially, all memories washes away. We are left with just one feeling, one urge, one prayer that is to breathe again, to live again.