Phew!!!!
The first of instance, an attack of claustrophobia, and fear running in your veins. And for a good 15 minutes the heart chose to rise up to the roof of my mouth and stay put even as I put up a brave front. Brave considering the uncontrollable tremor that was shaking up my insides. Was petrified to say the least but why make it obvious. And I summon little soldiers to assemble inside my head for a quick survey of all faculties and senses to be in order. And 'presence of mind' was caught napping. But was pulled upto the task.
The 2 men were playing it cool and sharing valuable insight on To-do's / dont's ICE and the laws of physics ( long forgotten, not that I could recall under these circumstnces anyways).
Lady 2 chooses to keep a sombre expression and stick to a corner, holding on to the hollow cylindrical metal pipe running along the insides of the lift for grip as if bracing before the free fall. Related disaster scenes from movies and videos on youtube all come to me in a rush and flash past.Shudder!! Man 2 I think the lift is moving. We are going down. Yikes!!!!Pure panic in my head now. 2 seconds I still myself and no we ain't going down.
The stale smell of coffee, food and the likes churn up an volcano deep in the gut and I resist the urge to throw up.The fact I was holding my breath wasnt helping and making me slightly dizzy.Motion sickness is the word i think. Or the lack of it.
The power is back now. The A/C hums and the cool air comes as somewhat a relief.The men fiddle with most of the buttons on the panel. Nothing happens for a while. And then the beeper goes off incessantly. Sinister, more than ever, in the pin drop silence. And then the door closes shut suddenly and with such force ( or maybe it was the echo, doubling the effect) that a shriek escapes me. I mumble an apology. 2.3.4 minutes... the doors slowly open to one of the many exits on another floor. We cant get off. Different company and access/entry is prohibited.
Man 1 makes a call to the security. Couple of minutes later ( feels like an eternity by now) .Again,nothing happens as time stands still.Only the reassurance that the front desk lady is getting help.
We toy with the idea of stepping out or remain in the lift. Man 2 is fidgety, hopping in and out and waves occasionally at the doors in the hope that the motion sensors are working.The men ,1 and 2 ,get out and try and convince the security to allow us passage to the entrance (we were in service lift remember) but the chap remains unconvinced. Not allowed Madam. Idhar se nahi jaa sakte.
Couple of exchanges ( read pleads n teary eyed expression) and he concedes defeat and finds us an escort, who lead us out of the floor and through the front/main entrance.I course let my eyes linger on the interiors of the lets call it XYZ firm. Boring to say the least.
And ,we are back to the lift lobby having come a full circle now. And I breathe easy. Sigh,actually ,with relief. My legs are still wobbly as we cover one last floor by foot.
All in a day's work. Here and there it might seeem overtly dramatic but it was so for Lady 1 (yep, it's me).
No comments:
Post a Comment