Underwater Escape Follow-up

Well! Well! Well! So it's over now! The harrowing experience! Now I think I know why this particular Escape feat was not being done in India since last 35-40 years. Despite all our best preparations, things did go wrong with me also locked inside the box. Twice in the few minutes that I spent inside the box, I felt that this Lake is the last place to see me breathe. With a little presence of mind and slight management, those moments came and passed by, as if I was standing on the Railway Station and I saw Death as a passenger in the passing-by train. She smiled at me, watched me struggling busily, I looked up and smiled at her, and she smiled in return.

There was a large crowd at The Venue, Hussain Sagar Lake, Hyderabad. The lake is centrally located, easily accessible to all citizens of the Twin Cities, but very dirty( due to industrial wastes being dumped in it - as locals reported to me). There were seven boats hired for the purpose(The Helicopter could not be managed due to a long-list of reasons). Without the Helicopter, it was clear that spectators will not get a good view. The drowning of the box HAD to be in the middle of the water body, so that no one can question the seriousness of the Escape's intent. But that increased the distance from the banks, reducing the visibility. I really feel very sorry for this because even I love to perform live. But it seemed impossible given the situation. So we decided to concentrate on the Media so that everyone can atleast watch it on TV properly afterwards.

When I reached the spot, EVERY NEWSPAPER AND CHANNEL were there. For some reason which I fail to see, they chose to interview me individually. So I was stopping every ten meters, speaking again from scratch about the Event. The worst part of this was, I scared myself because after speaking those things so many times, my mind started to re-think whether I can actually do what I am about to do. I got very nervous slowly and my mind started rechecking the list of possible loop-holes. By the time of performance, I must be looking like Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce like face! The handcuffs, the chains, the lockes, the bag, the Box, the Waters, the Ships, everything started to worry me! The event was being telecasted live by some of the channels, so backing-off was not an option.

Anyways, with all things going regular on the surface, I had to look regular too. Interviews and questions kept happening uninterrupted, making me all the more nervous. The only soothing factor was the presence of my very close and very cute friend Karuna, an artist herself, who people told me later, was praying much for me when I was submerged in the Lake.The spot for the locking process was the centre of the Lake where stands a beautiful Monolith of Gautam Buddha, touted as the largest Monolith of the Enlightened One in India at 17 meters height. Around it is a platform capable of boarding a large number of people. So as we slowly reached the Statue in the large boat, my nervousness slowly reached its peak. There were already a lot of general public on the Floating Deck and the platform. I climbed down the boat and at the platform, some speeches took place, and I was asked to strip down to my Swimming Trunks. I was handcuffed, chained and locked there by some local celebrities. I was obviously very nervous but couldn't express the same to the three boats around the Floating Deck, which were full of Media people. I was asked again and again to pose with the handcuffs or the chains and I obliged despite my heartbeats touching 120(I guess). Then I was placed in the Sack and the mouth of the sack was tied with Ropes. I was picked up like that and placed inside the box. I felt the Lid of the box close on me, and then heard the box being locked with chains, ropes and locks. Then the box was picked up and kept on the edge of the boat, and I could feel it being slowly lowered. Then water touched my feet and I knew the box is on the surface of the Water. Through the holes made all over the box, water started filling in. I was struggling hard with my locks when I realised that two of them have malfunctioned! Let me tell you as a professional escape artist that such a situation is the biggest Nightmare of anyone in my position. Although we are in the field of Magic, the things we use are made of common material only. And when immersed in water, they sometimes behave differently. I must tell you that I felt for two seconds that I am gonna die here in Hussain Sagar Lake!! The locks were adamantly stuck and there seemed no way to make them work. Suddenly, almost like real Magic, they opened themselves up! Even now I am confident that the Gods were with me or this Blog would have remained blank everafter. Lord Buddha and Lord Ganesha(whose thousands of idols are lying submerged in Hussain Sagar Lake) were surely with me Underwater to help me. Once the locks gave way, I was out of the sack and the Box (HOW is a good question here;-) ). The water was half filled in the Box. I freed myself from the Box but I was so busy trying to save my life, that I didn't remember a thing about the water condition of the Lake. I went deep in the water and looked around. Visibility was poor but not zero. I saw the sun rays trying to break through the murky waters of Hussain Sagar. I decided to reach for them and when I touched the surface, in attempt to breathe, I gulped a mouthful of the Lake's water. I swear, it tasted just like any normal water that we can have anywhere. Only then I was reminded of the waters of the Lake, and I struggled to wave my hand at the time-keeper who clicked the stopwatch to a halt. I swam between the four boats surrounding me for a while and reached the boat ear-marked for my victory rounds. I was breathless and relieved at the same time because no spectator ever comes to know whatever I go through inside the box here or in the Fire in 'Fire Escape'. I stood up after a few seconds and was greeted with immense delight form all the people present and all the people from Media who had become my friends during our interactions. Everyone had been a lot of support to me, and my heart was filled with gratitude for one and all present(and those who supported me despite not being there). On the boat I was told I have created a New World Record for fastest Underwater Escape.

One must be wondering how so much can happen in 15 seconds. I must explain something queer that I have noticed. During the most important part of the escape, i.e. when I am trying to free myself from the various bounds, time seems to slow down so much! It feels like there are ten seconds in every one second. So much happens inside there in a few seconds which doesn't happen in normal living. And it's all done so fast that any problem anywhere can be identified in microseconds. When i came out of the Box, I felt it was already atleast 120-130 seconds. Then I was told it was only 15 seconds! This part things realy amaze me. I start feeling as if I had gone into a trance and I can't believe I was doing the things that happened.

I am happy that this record story has happened, but I perform for my happiness. The thrill of being close to death and getting away from it again by presence of mind and skill, is an excitement beyond words. Escapes are my life. I will be spending my life on stage and on outdoor escapes. That's where my destiny lies. I never care for records. If they happen along the way, good enough! If they don't, I wasn't trying in the first place.

All the channels of the country kept showing the event all day long. Many Live interviews also happened. All newspapers of the country printed the Event as a Highlight. I got calls from every part of the country, reporting that the local papers had covered the event. There are a lot of articles on the net too. Great going! I think I will do Underwater Escape also many times again. And I pray the Gods be with me!!!!