I enjoyed writing the following story very much. I was in Mumbai for the launch of HT's edition there in July 2005. While I was there, Mumbai was inundated by heavy rains in what is now famous as 26/7. A day later a major fire destroyed ONGC's production platform at Bombay High, leaving 11 dead. On the morning of July 29 that year I left a Mumbai still inundated by salty tears to return to Kolkata. Just as I settled on my seat and started reading the newspaper from the seat pocket in front of me, my co-passenger arrived. He looked like he had just walked out of a jail or a hospital, making me feel a bit uncomfortable. Nevertheless, I ignored his outwardly appearance and continued reading the newspaper. Suddenly, he grabbed the paper from my hand, almost preparing me for a fight. But before I could protest, he pointed to the picture of Bombay High on Page 1 and told me, almost incohorently, "I was there, I was there when it burnt down..." As the aircraft taxied to take off, I fastened my seat belt and settled down to hear his ordeal. By the time I landed in Kolkata and reached my office I had the following story with me. Though it was published in HT's Kolkata edition of July 30, 2005 and again in the Mumbai edition some time later, the editions have not been archived yet, so it is not available online.

Escape from Bombay High

Tareq Zahir

When Anil Kumar, assistant executive engineer (productions) ONGC, was floating in the Arabian Sea for almost six hours — before being rescued by a boat — he remembered the day he was posted at Bombay High North (BHN).
He and his colleague were asked which area they wanted to work in — BHN or Water Injection North (WIN)? Both opted for BHN, saying their training would be wasted at WIN.
That was when his senior asked them their weights. Kumar weighed 64, his colleague 63. Though that is no official criterion for selection, Kumar being the heavier of the two was sent to BHN.
Not that he really regrets it, but it did cross his mind while afloat and hoping to live — for his 2 month-old daughter among other people and things — that if his weight had been a kilogram less it would have been his colleague who would have had to face the ordeal.
Even now he does not feel he should have opted for WIN. The trauma of the past two days still haunts him but he knows he has to return to BHN, at least to depose for the inquiry into the fire.
He must now be on his way to Dhanbad, by train, after arriving in Kolkata by a Jet Airways flight on Friday morning. It is home he wants to think of, but images of the burning platform, colleagues getting devoured by the engulfing flames, of barely managing to stay afloat, keep coming back.
Kumar, who does night shifts at BHM (8pm to 8 am), was asleep when Samudra Rakshak collided with the platform (which he insists is platform and not 'rig' as is being reported). To his trained mind and body, the tremors were a sign that something was wrong. From his fourth floor base he looked downwards and heard what was the unmistakable sound of gas hissing out of the pipeline. The smell only confirmed his worst fears.
He returned to his room for an instant, and it was then that he heard the gas catching fire.
From his platform he rushed to the platform on the east. He realised he had forgotten to get his lifejacket, but it was too late to return to his platform which was already engulfed in flames.
A.T. Dohore, a rush-about (R/A), who returned to his room to get his necessary medicines, returned half-burnt and never really made it.
Kumar kept going east, from one platform to another, until he decided he had to choose between the devil and the sea.
He climbed down a ladder and jumped into the sea. There were many others who, too, jumped.
Some like superintending engineer in charge of maintenance, S. Pradeep, were, at first, reluctant to jump. Ironically, though he did take the plunge in the end, Pradeep died within minutes of being saved by rescue officials.
Most of those who jumped into the sea went for lifeboats. Once they found one they formed groups and climbed on.
Kumar, however, drifted apart from the others. The strong waves took him away and it was only a blessing in disguise, he thought. For the water had become all oily and he feared the fire from the station would spread to the water.
Half an hour later he came across an upturned lifeboat. He and five others climbed onto it and were there for some time. An hour later, however, it too sank, and the group got separated again. A wooden plank and then one more arrived like a godsend before Kumar.
Around 7 pm, he saw a boat that was carrying out search operations. It threw a rope at him, but the boat was about 300 metres away and the thin rope cut into his hands. Unable to grip the lifesaver, he let it go.
For the next three hours the wooden plank was his only solace. He tried to keep his ears above water, fearing he would go deaf if water entered it. But after some time he realised the effort was too tiring, and he wanted to save his stamina till daybreak.
He saw many a boat. But they were either too far away, or did not notice him. He also feared he would freeze like Leonardo di Caprio in 'Titanic'. The salty waters were making it difficult for him to keep his eyes open. A year ago a senior at ONGC, who had survived a copter crash, had told him that it is easy, if one tries, to stay afloat. That only sounded reassuring.
At about 10 pm, there was another speedboat, the MAL 16. It had a powerful searchlight but it was not focussed on him. A less powerful searchlight to its side was, however, searching in his direction.
Every time Kumar raised his hand to wave at a boat he would start sinking. He was not sure if he should wave at this one. Reluctantly, he tried one more time.
Immediately, the boat focussed its powerful searchlight on him and moved closer. People on the speedboat beckoned him to come closer, but he didn't know how to swim, and he couldn't have done it anyway, holding on to the plank as he was.
Soon they threw a lifebuoy and asked him to leave the plank. The moment he left the plank, there was a huge wave and he feared he would drown. He tightened his grip to a rope they had thrown at him. They downed a ladder and asked him to climb onto it. He had no strength left to climb it, but they insisted that he must do it.
When he showed his inability, they sent a rope with a loop. His instincts told him he had to tighten it around his waist. Soon, he was being pulled aboard.
The first thing he did on being saved was touch the feet of the man who pulled him aboard.
He thought he was the only person saved but there were a few others on board.
The boat continued rescue operations till early the next morning before proceeding for Mumbai, which it reached at 4 pm on Thursday, exactly 24 hours after his nightmare began.
He learnt that his family had been told that he was safe at 8 pm itself, when actually he had been saved at 10 pm. Possibly because he has a namesake in ONGC. He feared his family would not be convinced, as they too were aware that he had a namesake at ONGC. But, it was no time to worry. It was time to look on.
In those 24 hours he had died a thousand times. But, he believes, it was his willingness to live that made him survive.