There was something about that particular Sunday. I wanted to try out something new for breakfast. I announced it to my wife only to know that it was out of the question that I could get it at home. So I decided to look for a place where I could eat it. Last time around it was Chole Bhature which we got from a place called NCB ( Nataraj Chole Battura – Paharganj wala). We had spent a good two hours outside on a Sunday morning. We thought of having breakfast but ended up having brunch. After a good meal, we had a good walk and coffee and reached home in 2 hours. I told my daughter that I would be back in one hour. My better half knowing how exploratory I am with food had kept an allowance of an additional one hour. We pressed the bell. It was 1.30 PM. After a couple of attempts, there was no response. We tried opening the door with our key but the door was bolted from the inside. Initially, we wondered if my younger daughter might be in the washroom. After a couple of minutes, the door still was locked.
That is when our neighbour came running and told us that our daughter was locked up in her room and she had signalled her state of affairs through the window. For once we were not anxious. Call it our sense of confidence that we can always break the door and enter. In the next 30 minutes, we saw why we as Indians are good at Jugaad. My neighbours came up with many interesting ideas which was a testament to the kind of support we enjoy. Someone gave the idea of having the ladder connect from our balcony to their balcony and make someone climb ( I mean horizontally move). I was wondering who is that courageous man. But that was a non-starter, as I had locked that balcony door also from inside. Another idea was to give my daughter some support from the floor above through a rope and give her some tools that she could use to turn the lock from inside. Finally, we decided to bang on the door with our bodies. After several attempts of mine and my neighbourly gents, we understood one thing. We need expert help. One of our neighbours said, “This confirms that our doors are strong”. Another idea flourished in our next-door neighbour to call our Man Friday who is an electrician plus helper in times of crisis. I was pleased to see how our neighbours kept sending out SOS calls to Anoop to come quickly. When you are possessed by the moment, all the reasoning tools in the world won’t help you. He was there in a few minutes and he studied the whole scene. It was time for him to get his act together. All of us had created a pause between thought and action. But it was only one person who studied the layout for the door and seized it. Call it converting clear thinking into effective decisions.
He asked for a hammer and paper. There was a pile kept near the door, which was handy. There was a loud sound for a couple of minutes. He was knocking with the right tool, at the right places and Voila the door just opened with the bolt finally yielding. The good news was shared with our neighbours. Anoop entered immediately and turned the lever of my daughter’s room and all of a sudden our neighbours, daughter and all of us were in the living room. It was a moment of celebration and before all of them parted to have their lunch, we shared what ideas came up during this so-called crisis period. I thanked them and told my daughter also to thank and it was a good gesture from all of the neighbours to help us in need. Anoop decided to test all the automatic door handles voluntarily and I rewarded him for his support. Later my daughter came up with her Simple, Practical and Timeline lessons.
Simple – Don’t be stupid as she had removed the paper which was kept to avoid such a scenario ( For my daughter)
Practical – Don’t procrastinate as we kept delaying repairing the door handles ( Wife and me)
Timelines – The door is not strong enough, it is made to break at some point after all it was already 18 years old ( To our neighbours)
Kipling cautioned us not to trouble neighbours who are our second family. I thank our neighbours and our Man Friday for their support.
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