It's been bothering me for a while and finally thought that
I did pen this down. It's been over a
decade now and I think I was at the safest place when the earthquake rocked Gujarat
and my city of Ahmadabad. It's
extremely difficult to let go of some memories and this is one of them.
I knew it was an earthquake, I could feel the ground rumble
and the earth roar in all its might. I
noticed everyone running and I stood there standing and telling myself, it is a
playground, unless the earth tears apart, you are safe.
Those 30-45 seconds was an experience but what later followed was
something that I'll remember all my life. I think it was about a couple of hours later I
realized the magnitude of the earthquake. Who knew what did 7.8 on the Richter scale meant, I don't live in an earthquake zone.
I had left home early morning at around 6 AM without telling my mom where
exactly I will be at; I think it was the first time I missed telling her. On my way back home, all I was thinking is
"wow what an experience", when I noticed something odd on a route
that I have taken for 14 years; I felt something was missing. I always observe people on the streets while
traveling and today there were too many of them and it slowly occurred to me
that entire families were on the street.
The earthquake wasn't a mere small one...
And it hit me real hard... buildings that stood on streets
that I have seen all my life that I spent in Ahmadabad were missing. At that moment I could not think of anything
but to get home, but I was scared. My
apartment building was 20 odd years old and was constructed when there was a
scarcity of cement. Every turn that I
took that got me closer my mind was getting even more restless. I just wanted to be home...
As I got closer to my place, I notice my neighbor waiting
frantically on the street. I did not
want to talk to anyone, in fact I just wanted to turn and go back. I stopped for a while, she noticed me and
started walking towards me. I did not
move an inch and as closer as she got I noticed her puffy eyes and her
expression did not look that great either.
She stops by me and says, go home, mom and dad are fine, they have been searching
for you and are worried. I cannot
explain that feeling at that moment, I just went home...
The aftershocks kept us alert for the next few weeks and that made me realize how it would be on the 3rd floor with the earth rumbling and the apartment swinging all over the place. Over the few days rather weeks, the news kept coming in from friends and family and it wasn't great to be at the receiving end. It's been a decade and every year I try to get in touch with my friends...
