I read the book "The Life of Pi" by Canadian author, Yann Martel and I have extracted a very interesting passage on one of Pi's methods of escape; the story is that he being a survivor of a shipwreck on how he (Piscine Molitor Patel) got through his ordeal..... 
"One of my favourite methods of escape was
what amounts to gentle asphyxiation.
I used a piece of cloth that I cut from the remnants of a blanket.
I called it my dream rag.
I wet it with sea water so that it was soaked but not dripping.
I lay comfortably on the tarpaulin and
I placed the dream rag on my face,
fitting it to my features.
I would fall into a daze,
not difficult for someone in such an advanced state
of lethargy to begin with.
But the dream rag gave a special quality to my daze.
It must have been the way it restricted my air intake.
I would be visited by the most extraordinary dreams,
trances, visions, thoughts, sensations, remembrances.
And time would be gobbled up.
When a twitch or a gasp disturbed me and the rag fell away
I'd come to full consciousness,
delighted to find that time had slipped by.
The dryness of the rag was part proof.
But more that that was the feeling that things were different,
that the present moment was different from
the previous present moment."
"One of my favourite methods of escape waswhat amounts to gentle asphyxiation.
I used a piece of cloth that I cut from the remnants of a blanket.
I called it my dream rag.
I wet it with sea water so that it was soaked but not dripping.
I lay comfortably on the tarpaulin and
I placed the dream rag on my face,
fitting it to my features.
I would fall into a daze,
not difficult for someone in such an advanced state
of lethargy to begin with.
But the dream rag gave a special quality to my daze.
It must have been the way it restricted my air intake.
I would be visited by the most extraordinary dreams,
trances, visions, thoughts, sensations, remembrances.
And time would be gobbled up.
When a twitch or a gasp disturbed me and the rag fell away
I'd come to full consciousness,
delighted to find that time had slipped by.
The dryness of the rag was part proof.
But more that that was the feeling that things were different,
that the present moment was different from
the previous present moment."
WARNING: No one should try this method of escape ... no matter what and we do not hold any responsibility of any eventuality. It is just something extraordinary that the writer of the book "concocted" - I hope, and which a blogger felt like sharing with others!! So be warned.
And, nevertheless, I still find the description very extraordinary and fascinating........
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