I ain't no hero...

Last Friday was as usual, with people just lazing around. I had absolutely no mood to work and was thinking about that night's trip. It was around 11 am when the power dripped. It was just a spark - which was not unusual here :). We are used to occasional sparks and power drips. As usual, we turned on the generator and continued. When one of my colleagues was late, I told him that he missed a good show. Soon we heard a boom! And the fireworks started. For few seconds, I didn't know what to do. We were just staring at the fire, hoping that it would stop. It was throwing more sparks and growing. I was thinking that soon fire engines would come. Then I fumbled with the extinguisher. Felt bad for knowing how to operate that. One of my colleagues pulled of the safety pin and the lever also :) No way to use that. Fortunately we had asked one of the office boys to turn off the generator. In between, another colleague turned on the other extinguisher. Luckily it put off the fire. I asked others to evacuate. What I remember now is a lot of sparks, someone crouching behind the desk and fumbling with the extinguisher, someone shouting to do something, and someone starting the extinguisher and a lot of smoke. People evacuated then. Few of us ensured that all systems are isolated. No major loss. After it was all over, it was only funny. Seems one of my colleagues was imaging choppers to come on our rescue. Another colleague was holding the hands of a female from the other office while evacuating, thinking that it was our admin! True heroes of the day were the colleague who put off the fire, the office boy who shut off the generator and another colleague who mobilized the efforts by getting near the fire and isolating the systems.

After all the hungama, I was talking to another colleague whose face still had the traces of fear. I told him that only during such situations, are heroes born. Some kin

We were then analyzing the cause, prevention mechanisms, and how to respond to such situations. May be we should have evacuated as early as possible. May be we should have learnt how to operate an extinguisher. May be ...

We had a good lunch and I chose to change my mood by ordering whiskey. Too bad not many were in for liquor during lunch.

When I rewound the whole incident later, I felt that may be I shouldn't have fumbled with the extinguisher. May be I should have reacted quicker. Then I realized that I ain't no hero. Like the mythological squirrel, I pitched in what I could. And I am happy about it.

Truly, heroes are born out of testing situations.