History repeats itself

Many many years ago, when the luxury of maids were not available in every home, a little girl about two years old was playing with the waters in the bathroom where her mom was trying to wash the day's clothes. Those were the days when the electric heater was still considered a luxury in a little Karnataka town. They lived in a little township, where houses were few and the afternoons were quiet. People would be sleeping in their homes away from the scorching summer sun. Frustrated at being disturbed by her daughter, and the limited supply of water soon running out, the mom lifted her daughter and placed her outside the bathroom. She then quickly shut the door and locked herself inside. The daughter was upset, cried a little, threw a tantrum outside and then realized her mom would not be able to see her. She started fiddling with the latch outside the room. The mom finished with her washing, was about to carry the bucket load of clothes to dry them out in the terrace. Little did the mom know that she'll be stuck inside for over 2 hours. Her daughter had managed to lock her from outside!!!
The mom tried to explain to the little girl to unlock the door. The girl by then had started crying loudly. It was impossible to pacify her and the mom cries out aloud to through the window. In the local language, she calls out for help. But there is no one around. The roads are deserted and empty. Not a soul in sight. It would be about five-six hours before her husband would arrive home. Thirty long minutes later, the mother is desperate to stop the child crying. And she decides to cut open the door in the bathroom. Now that's not a job for a labourer or a carpenter, not for a lady in her early twenties alone at home.
When electric heaters were not available, hot water would be produced by burning logs of wood in a huge anda (pot). The knife used to cut logs became the mom's tool. She used all her strength and managed to cut to remove a square panel from the bathroom door just below the latch. She then put her hands through the hole in the door, unlatched it and hugged the crying daughter. All of this cutting took about two hours and all this while the girl had been crying. That led to her falling ill the next day. And I have to appreciate the mother for being so brave, thinking and acting quickly, saving herself and her daughter that day.
When Aditi was about 5 months old, my in-laws came to live here for a few months. And my MIL has narrated this story more than once, how her daughter was troubling her, how she locked her out, and how she ended up being locked and finally cutting through the door with a rusted log- cutter knife. I would be in awe, never in my mind did it cross at that time that I would be stuck in a similar situation. Never ever...
We now live a very comfortable life and thankfully have child locks and emergency dial numbers! This happened about seven months ago, Aditi was just over two, and she knew that we locked ourselves inside the bathroom. It was a Saturday morning and Prashanth was away at work doing a long day. I got ready to give Aditi a bath. She wanted to use the toilet, so I put her on her seat and left her on the toilet to go and select her clothes. Within a few seconds I hear the girl banging the door shut. I turn around and run towards the bathroom, but she's already locked herself inside. And is happily saying 'Don't come inside'. And unfortunately I had shut the bathroom windows as it would be too cold otherwise.My heart skips a beat or a few may be. I was not sure what to do. thankfully the girl still thinks its her game and continues to laugh happily. I have never operated the child locks before, so I had no idea what to do. I panicked. I rushed to my neighbour, whose was locked. I came back and tried calling Prashanth, although I knew that there would be no signal inside the theatres. I left him a voicemail and went back upstairs to the bathroom. By this time, Aditi was considerably scared and started crying. Finally an idea struck - call 999 - the emergency helpline and I was put through to the fire service. I explained as patiently as I could and they tried to calm me and asked me to calm the child. I told them that they could break any door/window in my house - just get the child out. As I stood trying to explain the situation to Aditi and asking her to open the door, an idea struck me. No, I was not aware of child locks being fitted to all doors here. I was glad that the tool box was not in the attic. It was easily reachable and I reached for the flat headed screw driver. I managed to unlock the door by turning the child lock around and hugged the child. Oh what a relief! I quickly also called the fire service and told them that I had unlocked the door. A few minutes later after both of us were done with our hugging, I left a happy voicemail for Prashanth. And it reminded me of the time when my MIL was stuck in a similar situation. Thankfully I was outside and could call for help. That was definitely a much better state than being stuck inside - without access to a phone/help.