The Inferno.....

March 29, 2016, a day that should have started quite normally, turned out to be rather unusual. At 11 a.m., we were in Bishnupur, at our grandfather’s place. Sitting in the cosy bed and watching TV, my brother and I suddenly heard someone shout, “Fire, fire!” To be very honest, we did not pay any attention to it until my mother dashed into our room and exclaimed, “Bimalanagar is on fire!” My Dadu (grandfather) did not waste a moment and hurried out. At first, my brother and I did not realise the seriousness of it. Suddenly, the TV went off, my Maami turned off the gas cylinder and the main switch of the house immediately. We could only see black smoke coming out from the opposite side, behind the Kali Mandir. Then boom… a cylinder blast! People from our lane started running towards the affected area to survey the situation. Then again, boom!

My mother tried to contact Dadu and call him back home, but it turned out to be a futile attempt, as he had left his cellphone behind. Panic grew as moments passed. Another cylinder blast was heard. That blast shook our house. My brother was almost in tears. As the clock ticked, I could hear more and more people chanting God’s name. Suddenly, Dadu came rushing back, informing us that the fire had by then devoured almost nine to ten houses, and no fire brigade had arrived yet.

Very soon, we could see flames that could easily engulf all of Bishnupur. An unknown fear gripped us all and I could hear my heart beat. I was shivering, even though it was quite hot. Suddenly, we heard the sirens of the fire brigade at around noon. But we could also hear cylinder blasts at a distance. There was every possibility of parts of combusting cylinders flying into our area. Then there would be no rescue because there were many cylinders in our own houses. But we were assured that the flames would not spread to our area, as a building in between blocked out the flames from spreading out into our area.

Now I shifted towards the window and looked at the road. People were still running about to rescue people in that area. I could only hear chaos, sirens and blasts. At 1 p.m., we were assured that everything was under control. Dida (grandmother) and Ma went downstairs to see if the affected people could be helped in any way.

I could hear people streaming into our lane, wailing like helpless children. I saw a lady who was wailing and screaming because she could not save any of her valuable stuff.

As time passed by, the blasts finally stopped and only cries could be heard. A lady who was not at home during the incident, on realising that she had lost her house, dashed inside one of the houses. Crying helplessly, a boy talking to his friend lamented that his whole house had been gutted.

A house behind ours had an open yard, where many people had gathered and lunch was served to the affected people. No one had been reported dead up until then, except for a small girl who was not to be found anywhere. The whole incident was a nightmare. Some of the affected people were able to bring out their important documents and other valuables, but some were left only with the clothes that they were wearing.

I had never witnessed such an incident. We got to know later that there had been 22 cylinder blasts, 20 to 25 houses had been burnt down, along with objects valued at over several lakhs. Around 150 people lost their homes that day.

But the bright side was, I also witnessed people with extraordinary valour, who put their own lives in peril to help others. Organisations like Bharatseva Ashram, Ramakrishna Mission and other NGOs donated all necessities. They brought along hope in the lives of the affected people.

We can only hope and pray that God saves everyone from such an ordeal.