January 26th, 2001
Ahmedabad
Early morning 7:00 AM, and I was really excited about that particular day. The simple reason being I had just recovered from my broken and dismantled ankle and was allowed to play cricket after a long break of 6 months. And 26th January being a public holiday, there is just one thing to do. A cricket match at the maidans. In the excitement of play didn’t sleep well all night and was there at sharp 7:00 AM. I just could not wait for the match to start and take the bat in my hands. Yes I was a bit nervous because I was playing after 6 months and I really didn’t know how I would play that first ball being bowled to me. Being a friendly match, the umpires are from the respective teams so my friend was watching me play. I could feel the adrenalin rushing from my stomach till my throat as the ball came nearer to me. I played, and missed. Man I never was so nervous in life. I played a couple of balls and then got into my normal mood of scoring runs. After some time, I was tired, exhausted, I was out of match practice. I was at the other end of the batting side, talking to my friend (he was umpiring), and suddenly I felt so uneasy. I felt giddy and shivers running from my feet till my throat. I immediately turned to my friend and said, “Man, I am not feeling well, I don’t think I will be able to continue”. He replied, “Vandan, me too!” And I just gave him a smile thinking he is just kidding as usual. However back of my mind I was thinking what was happening to me. I could not even imagine in my wildest dreams what was coming and what we were going to experience. All this happened in I would say fraction of seconds and I could hear a huge roar coming beneath the ground as if thousand army tanks rolling in the war field. I felt as if the earth is just going to tear apart and something that is trapped within it is just going to come out whizzing. With all the ground shaking I was struggling even to stand and when I saw up, I could see the building swing likes swinging towers, and the vehicles parked moving up and down as if you were sitting on a roller coaster ride. After about 2 minutes it all settled down. And all of us who were running here and there got together. No one of us there could even utter a word; we just didn’t know how to react to the situation. After a long silence I spoke, “it’s just a small earthquake I think, let’s get on with game, we will see this news tomorrow in the newspaper. And I think we all are the lucky ones to experience it this way”. Man I was so desperate to play that day.
I was at the safest place to be during an earthquake. I finished the match, satisfied after playing for a long time and now ready to go home and crash; and not only me but no one among us was unaware of what we are going to experience.
I dropped my friend and on our way, we saw each and every person in the city outside their homes. It’s strange that how we reach to the smallest of things in life; all are out talking, discussing giving scientific reason even though you have no clue about the subject. “It was just a small earthquake I exclaimed and what’s the big fuss about it”.
We reached my friends place and her mother came running towards him and just hugged him. I was surprised to see that, and I am still clueless on what’s going on. Both of us quite surprised, looked at her and she said, “Vandan its better you go home as soon as possible”. I still have no clue on what has actually happened and I still was pretty sure that people are just over reacting. My friend calls me on my cell and on receiving I hear “Are you alright? Where are you?”
Listening to her voice made me think again but I just ignored thinking, people are seriously over reacting.
On my way home, thinking about how people were reacting, I noticed a 10 storied building, on the main road vanished. “Where the hell did that go??” An earthquake of 7.9 on the Richter scale is not a small one. The building had collapsed, sunk right into the ground. All 10 floors of the building just vanished and all that I could see was a pile of dust. This was serious, now I know why people were reacting so vaguely. I just could not wait to get back home. I had goose flesh all over my body and all sorts of imaginations running in my mind. Just could not wait to see my mother.
Home sweet home, standing right there in its place and cracks all over the building. Mom was so relieved seeing me and headed straight for me. Imagine being trapped in a closed room on the top floor and then begin swinging and you have nowhere to go. Indeed I was at the safest place on earth during an earth quake.
No one had words to express the feeling they experienced. No one was in a state to think what to do next. The grief, people were in was tremendous. Every soul in the city, having a house would not want to go in, just because what they experienced was terrifying and what they were seeing around was disturbing. The day went by rather disturbed, but with no clue in mind on what to do next.
I headed for a walk in the evening to see how bad it had got and the only thing I could see was, people just gazing their houses, built with so much care, emotions and dreams. It indeed is one of the prized possession a person can have. But what I was about to witness was even more disturbing. People still trapped under collapsed buildings and government running out of cranes and bull dozers it was up to the people around and their bare hands.
At 2:00 AM, another jolt a tremor and the entire city was back on the streets. Days went by and people spent sleepless nights outside in the bitter cold just to make sure they remain safe. Reconstructions and repairs were going around everywhere in the city, and people still continued to remove debris for survivors. Everywhere we had mixed feelings, feeling of happiness to see survivors fighting as long as 7-8 days, feelings of sorrow having lost their loved ones, they life possession, and some people everything.
People who lost their homes were in relief camps, there was enough food and medication available but not enough warm clothes to cover themselves. Everyone was trying to help in whatever manner they could. Enough help came in forms of coming food and fruits, but not warm clothes. And most important we needed more people who could help remove the debris.
Time went by and people got used to the aftershocks and tremors, and then it was just a matter of time, when everything was normal once again. People of Ahmedabad had experienced the unexpected.
It was heartening to see how much India has achieved in such a short period of time. But the test for everyone will be the next stage - the rehabilitation and rebuilding of hundreds of thousands of homes, schools and hospitals. It will take at least four to five years. And it is not just the bricks and mortar that need to be fixed. We need to implement a programme offering emotional support and crisis counselling for people struggling to cope with the psychological impact of the disaster.
Everybody thought about the people of Gujarat, their recovery and an end to this gloom that prevailed for at least 2 to 3 months. But in Gujarat there was no such collective mood of despair. I didn't meet anyone who thought of themselves as a victim. Maybe it's cultural, maybe it's religious, maybe it's just the way it is, the people have no choice but to get on with things as best they can. But whatever it is that's inside them, fatalism or the belief that their lives are in the hands of a higher spirit, it seems that even if you take everything away, there's still something left: their belief in themselves.
Ahmedabad
Early morning 7:00 AM, and I was really excited about that particular day. The simple reason being I had just recovered from my broken and dismantled ankle and was allowed to play cricket after a long break of 6 months. And 26th January being a public holiday, there is just one thing to do. A cricket match at the maidans. In the excitement of play didn’t sleep well all night and was there at sharp 7:00 AM. I just could not wait for the match to start and take the bat in my hands. Yes I was a bit nervous because I was playing after 6 months and I really didn’t know how I would play that first ball being bowled to me. Being a friendly match, the umpires are from the respective teams so my friend was watching me play. I could feel the adrenalin rushing from my stomach till my throat as the ball came nearer to me. I played, and missed. Man I never was so nervous in life. I played a couple of balls and then got into my normal mood of scoring runs. After some time, I was tired, exhausted, I was out of match practice. I was at the other end of the batting side, talking to my friend (he was umpiring), and suddenly I felt so uneasy. I felt giddy and shivers running from my feet till my throat. I immediately turned to my friend and said, “Man, I am not feeling well, I don’t think I will be able to continue”. He replied, “Vandan, me too!” And I just gave him a smile thinking he is just kidding as usual. However back of my mind I was thinking what was happening to me. I could not even imagine in my wildest dreams what was coming and what we were going to experience. All this happened in I would say fraction of seconds and I could hear a huge roar coming beneath the ground as if thousand army tanks rolling in the war field. I felt as if the earth is just going to tear apart and something that is trapped within it is just going to come out whizzing. With all the ground shaking I was struggling even to stand and when I saw up, I could see the building swing likes swinging towers, and the vehicles parked moving up and down as if you were sitting on a roller coaster ride. After about 2 minutes it all settled down. And all of us who were running here and there got together. No one of us there could even utter a word; we just didn’t know how to react to the situation. After a long silence I spoke, “it’s just a small earthquake I think, let’s get on with game, we will see this news tomorrow in the newspaper. And I think we all are the lucky ones to experience it this way”. Man I was so desperate to play that day.
I was at the safest place to be during an earthquake. I finished the match, satisfied after playing for a long time and now ready to go home and crash; and not only me but no one among us was unaware of what we are going to experience.
I dropped my friend and on our way, we saw each and every person in the city outside their homes. It’s strange that how we reach to the smallest of things in life; all are out talking, discussing giving scientific reason even though you have no clue about the subject. “It was just a small earthquake I exclaimed and what’s the big fuss about it”.
We reached my friends place and her mother came running towards him and just hugged him. I was surprised to see that, and I am still clueless on what’s going on. Both of us quite surprised, looked at her and she said, “Vandan its better you go home as soon as possible”. I still have no clue on what has actually happened and I still was pretty sure that people are just over reacting. My friend calls me on my cell and on receiving I hear “Are you alright? Where are you?”
Listening to her voice made me think again but I just ignored thinking, people are seriously over reacting.
On my way home, thinking about how people were reacting, I noticed a 10 storied building, on the main road vanished. “Where the hell did that go??” An earthquake of 7.9 on the Richter scale is not a small one. The building had collapsed, sunk right into the ground. All 10 floors of the building just vanished and all that I could see was a pile of dust. This was serious, now I know why people were reacting so vaguely. I just could not wait to get back home. I had goose flesh all over my body and all sorts of imaginations running in my mind. Just could not wait to see my mother.
Home sweet home, standing right there in its place and cracks all over the building. Mom was so relieved seeing me and headed straight for me. Imagine being trapped in a closed room on the top floor and then begin swinging and you have nowhere to go. Indeed I was at the safest place on earth during an earth quake.
No one had words to express the feeling they experienced. No one was in a state to think what to do next. The grief, people were in was tremendous. Every soul in the city, having a house would not want to go in, just because what they experienced was terrifying and what they were seeing around was disturbing. The day went by rather disturbed, but with no clue in mind on what to do next.
I headed for a walk in the evening to see how bad it had got and the only thing I could see was, people just gazing their houses, built with so much care, emotions and dreams. It indeed is one of the prized possession a person can have. But what I was about to witness was even more disturbing. People still trapped under collapsed buildings and government running out of cranes and bull dozers it was up to the people around and their bare hands.
At 2:00 AM, another jolt a tremor and the entire city was back on the streets. Days went by and people spent sleepless nights outside in the bitter cold just to make sure they remain safe. Reconstructions and repairs were going around everywhere in the city, and people still continued to remove debris for survivors. Everywhere we had mixed feelings, feeling of happiness to see survivors fighting as long as 7-8 days, feelings of sorrow having lost their loved ones, they life possession, and some people everything.
People who lost their homes were in relief camps, there was enough food and medication available but not enough warm clothes to cover themselves. Everyone was trying to help in whatever manner they could. Enough help came in forms of coming food and fruits, but not warm clothes. And most important we needed more people who could help remove the debris.
Time went by and people got used to the aftershocks and tremors, and then it was just a matter of time, when everything was normal once again. People of Ahmedabad had experienced the unexpected.
It was heartening to see how much India has achieved in such a short period of time. But the test for everyone will be the next stage - the rehabilitation and rebuilding of hundreds of thousands of homes, schools and hospitals. It will take at least four to five years. And it is not just the bricks and mortar that need to be fixed. We need to implement a programme offering emotional support and crisis counselling for people struggling to cope with the psychological impact of the disaster.
Everybody thought about the people of Gujarat, their recovery and an end to this gloom that prevailed for at least 2 to 3 months. But in Gujarat there was no such collective mood of despair. I didn't meet anyone who thought of themselves as a victim. Maybe it's cultural, maybe it's religious, maybe it's just the way it is, the people have no choice but to get on with things as best they can. But whatever it is that's inside them, fatalism or the belief that their lives are in the hands of a higher spirit, it seems that even if you take everything away, there's still something left: their belief in themselves.
