As I was heading out to make it Rajashree’s 6:30 pm class over at True, I got stuck in our building’s rickety old elevator. As it made it’s descent from our 18th floor condo down to parking, it starting swaying and bucking like a dodgy horse, and the thought crossed my mind, belatedly, whether I should stop it and get out before I plummeted to my death. Somewhere past the 3rd floor and the 2nd floor, we came to a shuddering stop. I pressed the door button…nothing…I pressed the call button…nothing…I pressed the bell….nothing…in a panic I pressed all the buttons in the dire hope that the elevator would be jarred into life. I actually heard the faint crackle of a voice through the intercom, but so inaudible that I couldn’t make out any words, and after a few seconds, silence descended. What to do??? After about 1o minutes of futile banging and calling out, I gave up, and finished my latte in silence. Was I going to end up missing the class? I was scheduled in for a class, so if I missed this one, then I would have to take the 8:30 pm class…but I really didn’t want to miss her class! How could this be happening to me? Why does India always try and mess with my plans? So weird! Last time it kept me from leaving the country for a whole week as I raced around Pune trying to come up with the appropriate departure documents, (apparently a valid passport and work visa aren’t enough!). Now the elevator has me! Argh! Never one to go down without a fight, I hooked my freshly painted nails into the door slit and tried to pry it open…Low an behold it opened! Not without resistance, but at least I could see…another set of formidable looking doors that looked like a way out. I tried to open those ones to, but they had a lock mechanism and looked faintly electrical, so I only gave it a half-hearted attempt…This was getting crazy! What if I zapped myself or got sliced in half by suddenly moving parts??? I went back to kicking and yelling and pushing buttons again, and then I elicited help from my friend who was still up in the condo.
Me: stuck in the elevator between 3 n 2 floor. help!
Her: try the call button
Me: i did!!!!
I waited another 5 or more minutes, and still nothing, and at this point, my generous window of time to get to the studio had completely evaporated and I would be lucky to get there in time for class, even if I was rescued from this infernal contraption! So the crazy Canuck in me rose to the fore, I pried that door open again, took a James Bond look at that secondary door, fiddled with the latch, and FORCED IT OPEN!!! Success!!! I was about 3 feet up from the floor, but I could easily jump. I grabbed my bag, kept the door open with my foot, and lept to my freedom. Just as I landed, the opposite elevator doors opened and there was my friend. What an adventure!
I ended up making it to the class with just a few minutes to spare. We packed almost 80 students into that room, and Rajashree was on fire, inspiring us all to work harder and heal our bodies from the onslaught of old age. I kept thinking to myself, if it wasn’t for Bikram yoga, I probably wouldn’t have been able to get myself out of that pickle. I would have stepped outside of the box, I wouldn’t have kept trying, and I probably would have just stressed out!
One thing I can say about India without exaggeration, strange things do seem to happen to me on a very regular basis, most of them attempting to test me!
Paz
