KEDARNATH

The last rain…
We sat for few minutes awkwardly on a bench, without saying anything to each other’s. Soon a small Nepalese boy served tea on our bench. I looked outside and the weather had become really rough. A storm had begun followed by heavy rain. I was tensed about my group and even DG was nowhere to be seen. I took out my cell phone to call him but it flashed, “No Signal.”
Soon her phone rang.
“It’s Papa,” she said.
Then she picked up the phone.
“Hello... Yeah, I am in the canteen papa... What? I can't hear you. Why are you so nervous? Hello? Hello? What happened?”
Soon, she was really tensed. I was even more scared.
“Hey! Hey! What happened?” I asked.
She replied, “I don't know. That was my father. He was very nervous. The voice was not clear. It was something to do with the top of the temple.”
“The weather is getting worse. I am too tensed about my…”
As I was in the midst of saying something, there was a scary and loud thunderstorm. That lasted for about a minute. I had never heard such a deadly sound ever. I was immensely scared at that time. Suman held my hand and clutched it tight throughout the sound.
After the thunderstorm, that place became a ground for chaos. Everybody was running helter skelter in that heavy rain and storm. Mules started moaning and running. A drop of a tear rolled from her eyes, touching a section of her cheek.
“Hey! It’s just rain. Everything is going to be fine,” I assured.
She took out her phone, but there was no signal on her phone and neither in mine.
“Wear your raincoat! We must go outside,” I advised.
We got outside of the canteen. The water layer covered my feet. I looked outside for DG, but he was nowhere to be found.
“Your father asked you to go to the top of the temple?” I asked.
“Something like that,” she replied.
I said, “Let’s go there. I think my friend is also there.”
In that storm and rain, even walking was very tough. Fighting our way through the storm, we reached the top of the temple. She started looking for her parents and I was searching DG. They were nowhere to be found.
Suman said, half-crying, “The weather is going bad and I don’t know where my parents are. My grandfather is also with us and he is sick.”
“Don't worry Suman, we will find them and everything is going to be fine. In no time, the weather will be favourable for us. There is nothing to worry,” I assured.
Soon, there were more thunderstorms and the sound was unbearable. The thunderstorms were followed by rain, including some snow shaped stones. The scene there was pathetic at that time. Children were crying; people were running helter and skelter for shelter; everybody was shouting and was panicked. We stopped a running Pandit and asked him about the weather.
Pandit said, “There is a cloudburst and due to heavy rain, this place will be flooded.”
That statement scared the shit out of me. Suman started to cry.
I said, “Suman, we need to find a safe place to stay. We are running out of time.”
Suman said, “No! I need to find my parents.”
The main portion of the temple was crowded. Not far away, I saw a small temple, which was not too crowded.
“Your parents and my friend are nowhere to be seen, that means they are in a safe place. Right now, their most important concern will be your safety. We don’t need to waste time. We need to go to that temple which is less crowded,” I insisted.
I held her half reluctant hand and we started to move to that temple. She was just crying. It was irritating.
I asked, “What do you do for a living?”
“I am an engineering student,” she replied.
“Since when have engineers become so weak and hopeless? Goddamn it! You are an engineer! Think of something to keep us safe. This crying is not helping. Your beauty is somehow miraculously not going to help us from the flood,” I said.
I saw an oh-yeah-I-can-think-of-something look on her face. Soon she stopped crying and as we reached the temple, the water level was just below my knee. There were around 25 people in there, all scared and with no clue of what to do. I ran my eyes through everyone with the hope to spot DG, but he was nowhere to be found.
She said, “If the rain continues like this, within an hour we will all die by drowning.”
“But still we must take some precaution.”
“First of all, we must detach the electricity completely.”
Some people also helped us cutting off all the main lines in that area.
“If we have to spend the next few days in the flood assuming we don’t sink and die, we must be away from the flood water as much as possible. They may cause many diseases. Ashwani, we must find something on which we can sit or sleep and has as much height as is possible,” she said.
I looked across the room. Statues of some God were standing over a table like wooden structure. I went there and put the statues down on the floor and as I was about to walk away with the table, the Pandit screamed, “What are you doing? This statue has not been touched in decades. Aren’t you afraid of God?”
“Yes! I do fear God. But right now, I fear my death and this might help me to survive,” I replied.
Few men came and started taking that table away from me for them.
Suman said, “Look guys that Pandit is sitting on a bed; we should go fight for the bed from him.”
Most of them headed there. Suman then came to me and said, “Are you going to abandon me?”
“No way! We are in this together and trust me; we are going to make it out from here together,” I assured.
“I am scared,” she said.
“So am I. But we have to face the outcome bravely.”
“Let us take that table to that corner part. That is a vacuum place and we will not be hit by anything during the flood and there is a pole like giant thing that we can hold for safety.”
“We need food too. Can you swim?”
Suman said, being nervous as hell, “No, I can’t swim.”
Then I took the table to that corner. Suman opened her bag, took out a plastic piece, and tore it into four equal pieces of which she gave me two and told me to wrap around my foot. I saw a half flooded shop, nearby.
“Just be on the table; I will be back with some food,” I said.
She asked me for my bag, emptied her bag into mine, gave her bag to me, and said, “Fill this up with whatever covered food is available and bottles of water. If we are going to survive, we need to be hygienic. Flood water will not enter inside the bag, if you zip it properly.”
At that time, the water level was nearly covering my legs. So, I swam to the shop and started to put all the packets of chips and packet stuff in the bag. Many others were doing the same. I managed to get three bottles of water and hurried back to the temple. I tossed her the bag and she gave me thumbs up signal.
Suman said, “We need to manage a little more height and weight over the table. Its weight is quite low, so it may float. We have to bring whatever piece of rock or log we find and keep them over the table.”
At that time, the water level was up to my stomach and had covered the table and knee of Suman standing over the table. The rain was the same as before. We closed all the gates and windows of the rooms. As we were thinking of something, a nearby closed window broke and it hit my head very hard. It started to bleed and with the window broken, the water started to level up inside the temple.
Suman came near to look at my head.
“Oh my God! It’s bleeding. Let’s get to the table now,” she said with concern.
She was horrified and so was everybody there. She gave me a band-aid and I applied it on the wound. There were women and children, crying and men panicking. We got on the table and the maximum of the people arranged a bench, chair, or bed to cope with the water. Soon the water level was near our neck. Maximum windows broke. I swam to the door and tried to open it, but it could only be opened from outside. The pressure of water from outside was so much that I was unable to open the door. Some other men helped me, but it was useless.
Suman said, crying, “I don’t want to die like this. Not here! I have so many dreams to fulfil.”
“Don’t panic. Soon, we will be completely inside the water. Get into a relaxed state of mind and bring your pulse down. Think of the most pleasant moment you ever had. A lower pulse means less oxygen is needed, which means that you will be able to go longer before taking your next breath,” I assured.
She nodded like a child.
Pandit said, “See that gate over there on the opposite side. That gate has never been opened in 200 years. Beyond that gate is a deep trench. If we manage to somehow break the door, the water level will go down.”
Those who could swim went to the door including me and tried breaking it. Soon there was a crack in the door then suddenly, I saw that Suman was completely inside the water away from the table. I swam near to her and took her to the table. Now, her head was above the water level. She started breathing heavily and coughing.
“I am going to die! I am going to die!” She panicked.
“Hey! I need you to focus. Just calm down first, stop your movements, and be as still as possible. We need to lower your pulse. Just close your eyes and think of you and your family celebrating your birthday party. Everybody is quite happy. You are going to cut the cake,” I said.
She did as I told. Her breathing was normal now. She was calm and still.
“Now open your eyes. Soon that door is going to be broken and the water level will fall. But we may be inside the water for a while,” I said.
Suman said, terrified, “I am never inside of water. I will not survive.”
“Trust me! I will not let anything happen to you. Just do as I say and you will be fine. When you are inside the water, just concentrate on moving as less as possible. If you get to a point where your body starts craving exhalation, exhale a little at a time,” I explained as calmly as possibly.
Soon, water was touching her nose and she was about to be inside the water and so was I. We both held each other’s hand, tight.
“Just relax and now take one deep breath, exhale, take another very deep breath,” I said.
We both did the same and we were inside the water. My entire life started to flash back in my mind. I was worried about Tauji and Dadi. I just wanted to see Khusi. I was missing her. At that time, I dreamt of doing many things in my life. But life… it was betraying me. I looked into the eyes of Suman, who had lost her hope and her grip over my hand was loosening.
After two minutes and 35 seconds, the door broke completely and the water level was lowering. Water now started to flow to the trench beyond that gate with a speed. The water level was now below our nose. Suman was half-conscious and we all started to flow with the water to the trench. With one hand, I was holding a nearby pole and with the other, I was holding Suman.
I had swum my entire life. So, being underwater for two to three minutes was a piece of cake for me. Somehow, Suman had also managed that two and half minutes underwater.
“Suman, hold on tight! I am not letting you go,” I re-assured her.
I saw a woman being sucked into the trench, screaming and few more men and women followed her. The flow was so fast that within a minute, the water level was to our knees and now we were safe.
The flow was steady now. Out of the 25 people, only 7 survived, Suman, a pandit, a woman with a child of about two years,  a 25-30 year-old man, a girl of around 25 years and me.
After coughing some water, Suman was normal.
“You saved my life,” she said.
“Told you! I am not letting anything happen to you. Still do not thank me now. Thank me when we are home.”