We had left the earlier post when I was trying to see the idols from closer quarters. I just inched myself a little closer, all the while looking back just to make sure that I have an exit route available. I was entering the yathra from the temples side and before me were almost 3-4 lakhs of people,(speculative figures, the crowd might have been much larger or much smaller but the fact remains that I could see nothing but human heads for kilometers off)

The chariots were being dragged now, one of the chariots had already moved, the others were being dragged into motion. I suddenly realized that my breathing was becoming tougher, that there was no more oxygen in the air as such. I thought I had had enough; I just wanted to turn back and leave.  While I turned back, I saw that hundreds of people were still coming in to the yathra. The people at the back of me wanted to get away from the yathra. Two opposing forces, both heading for a collision.

Before I knew, I was at the nucleus of a stampede-in-the-making.  It is a very very helpless situation.  The only thing which is there in your mind is to get away from the crowd, give yourself some air and some free space. That is sheerly what you wouldn't be able to do. I was a helpless fuzzy logic between a strong 0-group which wanted to come in to the yathra and a strong 1-group which wanted to get out of the yaatra. (I understand its a very bad usage of my feeble math knowledge)To put it simply, me and the people around me where being pushed both from back and from the front. And from left and from the right. 

I was cramped up for space. The pavement was just inches away from me but I couldn't reach it. You have to maintain delicate balance if you are in a stampede. You will be pushed from all quarters. Neither can you lean forward nor back. If you do that, you would be the reason for a hundred felled and trampled bodies.  I wanted to cry out for help. I wanted to shout "help, help".  But it felt it a little embarrassing to shout in English.  "rakshichandi rakshichandi" sounded too dramatic and out of place.  I hadn't the slightest of idea of what was Oriya for help.  The ladies beside me put her two hands in air and started shouting, dont fall on me, don't fall on me".  It was as if I was the villain who was all geared up to take her life.  An old man beside me found it very hard to breathe and was shouting in Oriya. I looked around at others helplessly, and acknowledging there own helplessness.

 With great difficulty, I tried dragging one leg onto the pavement. I succeeded only half.  The pavement was beneath my leg. I couldn't put it down, no space was there. Neither could I put it on the road. No space. I found myself in a precarious situation, with one leg in air and the other on the road. The force was too much to take. And people before me started to fall on their knees. The next 3-4 minutes were going to decide my life. I had an instinctive thought of taking out my cell phone and making last minute...sorry...last moment phone calls to family and friends and tell them 'all the best' for the rest of their lives. Now that mine was being curtailed quite prematurely.

I was on my knees now, like others.  Hoping that the people at the back don't trample on us.  Thankfully, the pavement proved providential.  Some space was created. I dragged myself on to the pavement and sat there. The old man was still stuck on the road with hands outstretched towards me. With great difficulty, I dragged him on to the pavement. He started panting.  As if he had run a 200 meter sprint in eight seconds.

 I heard vigils from somewhere. And I told myself that I am going to live now. I recognized the vigils as being that of the volunteers.  While I was coming towards the temple initially, I had seen twenty thirty stretchers, all carrying trampled devotees, carrying them to hospitals. The volunteers had vigils and were vigling which was a signal for the people in front to move and make space for the stretchers.

These were the same vigils. The crowd was cleared up and the stretcher was placed before us. Instinctively, I sat on the stretcher.  But realized that the old man beside me needed it more than I did. I got up and helped him get on to the stretcher. I put my hands on one of the corners of the stretcher. We took the stretcher onto our shoulders. The volunteers started vigling and the crowd before us was miraculously getting cleared. I knew that this was my easiest way to get out of the yaatra. The stretcher was taken to a nearby medical camp. I found many stampeded (!) people there. The old man was still panting. He was given proper medical attention. I told him that he was going to live now.  He gave me a feeble toothless smile.

I thanked the volunteers who came there with the stretchers. I owed my life to them.   I took the narrow lane and walked swiftly towards the bus stop through the bylanes. It was amazing.  The bylanes were almost deserted and just meters away, you could have seen a lakh heads in one glance. I took the first bus which provided me with a seat to go to Bhubaneswar. I had no energy to stand anymore. I slept the moment the bus started. One hour hence, I was back in Bhubaneswar. Back to the cozy dull normalcy of life. Happy nevertheless.

Tailpiece: The word "juggernaut" has its roots in the Puri ratha yathra.  After googling, I found this paragraph:

QUOTE: History has it that when the British first observed the Rathyatra in the 18th century, they were so amazed that they sent home shocking descriptions which gave rise to the term 'juggernaut', meaning "destructive force". This connotation may have originated from the occasional but accidental death of some devotees under the chariot wheels caused by the crowd and commotion. UNQUOTE. I couldn't have agreed more!