How would you prefer to die?? charred in a fiery inferno or the gravity assisted concussive death?

To watch those poor souls who took the leap from windows of the Stephen House as they came crashing down on the pavement just so to escape a death by fire, filled me with a myriad of thoughts whose essence still eludes me. What would I have chosen, had I been in their shoes?

 Exactly a month earlier we witnessed a similar tragedy at the Carlton Tower, Bangalore. Now, its easy  to draw parallels between the two incidents interestingly these accidents share the same date of a month i.e the 23rd. Almost similar negligence of fire safety measures, late emergency response, politicos milking the situation, the brave common man leading the rescue efforts while authority sheepishly shrug their shoulders of any liability etc. For us, denizens of Kolkata, turning on the idiot box to grab the latest breaking news, these events/accidents barely touch upon the eventuality of us getting trapped in similar mishappenings. You see, the Grimm Reaper has this trick up his sleeves, of catching one off guard; a surprise that he throws so aptly that you don't get the time to react.

In India, he doesn't even have to get his timing right because everywhere you look(don't mistake it for a paranoia), you can discover scores of deathtraps set for unwary victims. I won't dwell on the loopholes cuz there are simply too many to cover. 

 Simple hydrants and fire extinguishers are obviously ineffective against such raging fires. We must consider other more potent safety measures...cuz its prudence in assuming that fire brigade would never get to you in time.

* Fire escape chutes: must for high rises and apartments...Really effective for evacuating safely multiple victims rapidly. These cost quite a fortune but pays even by saving countless life in such dire circumstances.

* inflatable Rescue  cushions: Cost effective solution for saving people who jump out from a couple of floors above ground. These can be deployed really fast, could have saved so many people who died hitting the ledges and pavement trying to escape being burnt alive. Reports indicate them to be available with the fire services but kept in a godown somewhere in kolkata at an undisclosed location (Even the fire fighters don't know where!)

* Retractable escape ladders: Could have made a lot of difference for those who had to use cable TV wires and curtains to rappel down. The rescuers would have found them handy as well.

* Automated Rappeling line for gently lowering victims down high rises:

Much better than those unreliable nylon ropes they put to use yesterday.

 * Fire Sprinklers: critical in arresting small fires before they can grow into a wild blaze. These are a standard in homes abroad but here in India, we can so easily give' em a miss.

well, i do know this...writing this post ain't gonna rustle even a leaf. Just so to lessen my guilt of being latent to do anything about it made me dig up this stuff . I have complete faith in the 100% desi "Chalta hai" spirit that these measures won't be there, in may God forbid, future fire accidents.