A few hours ....

20th of July, 2015- a normal boring Monday, where my brain said sleep a little more and the alarm kept buzzing and snoozing and buzzing again...till it was completely drained of battery. Time- 9 am. Like a good girl, I exercised for some time ..had a healthy bowl of oats, cooked and packed lunch...ironed my clothes and went for a shower.... Time 11am. And then.. My worst fears came true. The bathroom door, which was forever problematic... decided to play a real dirty game with me- it decided to get stuck. I kid you not, the handle just wouldn't move!!!..as if the door had some supernatural power...or it was possessed. I tried pulling, twisting, turning- nothing worked. Then i spoke to it politely- didn't work! I got angry- i shouted- it became worse! Time 11:30am The next two and a half hours -was a real struggle. I actually got very scared. I had all sorts of thoughts running in my mind. I screamed "help!"...hoping someone would hear my cry for help. I didn't know what exactly I should scream- my name? Where i am stuck? What i want them to do? - you see it was my first time... So, i decided to take it slow...and keep it simple. So it was -" I am stuck in the bathroom- somebody help" in all languages I know- including Kannada. Every time I would hear the front gate open, I would scream with full power.. Almost my kidney and lungs came out.. But no one came for help! Sigh- I think by then it was 12:15 pm I creatively visualized my colleagues getting worried for me and wondering if I was kidnapped. I imagined my closest friends to come looking for me and take me out. I was losing patience...I was feeling tired...hungry...stressed- may be a little sleepy also. I decided to use the available resources, till my friends figure out that I am missing. There was nothing useful in the bathroom, so I started with my filer- The idea was to break the wooden part, so that the metal comes out easily. Well, the thought seemed practical and the optimistic me started hitting the wood. Some pieces fell off and it reinforced my belief that I was on the right track..... But slowly, there was no real change and I was losing hope and energy. Not knowing, if I did more damage, i decided to use the toothbrush to clear out the residual junk- in my head i was like- why am i being so neat?! Never mind- the point is nothing was working!!!! Then, I found my razor! Yes- in desperation, i thought if i can't break the wood..i can scrape it. Now when i look back , it seems so foolish....but while i was in that tiny bathroom with barely any ventilation- this seemed very doable and probably on one inch better situation. I also thought would it help to pour water on the wood, hoping it would soften it- but 7th std physics says, wood would expand. I changed my mind and continued hammering, till my filer broke :( Time 12:40pm approx. By now, I was thinking of worst case scenarios- my neighbor who usually comes by 4pm was my last hope. I knew she would rescue me if she finds out I am stuck. I thought what if the police decides to seal my house... Or no one finds out I am here and i die !! I drank some tap water and challenged my irrational thoughts. I thanked my college professor who taught me REBT technique so well. Even when I was in this situation, I was applying REBT?? Identifying my cognitive distortions!!! In between, I continued screaming for help and got back to using other available tools, trying to break open the door.. Time 1pm. And then... The heroes of the scene comes - 2 of my "Anmol Ratan" I was reassured by a familiar voice...I could breathe and could feel the blood circulation in my body. It was Runa and Deepthi who found ways to come into the room..I am told that she climbed on the window and looked like a monkey putting her hand in, to open the latch of the door. And guess what- with the help of a some bottle, she opened the front door- my brave friends!! And then.. a few pushes.. The bathroom door opened... I was out- breathing.. Shivering.. Happy and there are no words to describe the freedom wali feeling. As I write this, I still feel a little traumatized..like PTSD :P I can now feel the acute pain in my right arm and lower back.. Some strange cuts on my hand and a severe shoulder pain.. But amidst all the pain I feel happy to have such friends ...and yes, the lesson learnt is never to lock that damn door. Oh the time is 1:30 am now :P- exactly after 12 hrs of the action/thriller/drama sequence.