Earthquake
Experiences are something which can be un-limited and they can be good as well as bad, but one such incident which will always remain very close to my heart would be the how nature cracked a joke and the earth laughed resulting in an major earthquake.
I thank my stars to be still alive and penning down my experience of the earthquake. Thankfully, the epicenter was hundreds of kilometer away from Delhi and NCR still the shocks were more of a nightmare.
The day being a Saturday and I being at my aunt’s place at NOIDA to enjoy the weekend woke up to the sounds of my younger cousin’s beautiful voice, as he sang some songs. Somehow, I managed to drag myself out of the sheet that enveloped me and groped for my all time companion, my sweet little mobile phone, to check up on the time. It was almost nine o’ clock and was a little later than my usual time of getting up. Slowly, I managed to pull together my unkempt hair to a tight bun and walked out of the room to greet every body a nice morning.
With sleep still bordering my eye and not ready to leave them for a few more minutes I looked for my brush and paste. My aunt kept asking me, “Will you have tea?” “What will you have for breakfast?” “Have you brushed your teeth?”. It seemed as if, I am in an interrogation cell with some cop throwing at me questions that had no end.
I left my aunt standing in the kitchen with all those questions un-answered and rushed to the bathroom with the supplement of the newspaper, to start my daily ritual. Just to take a detour and give you and insight of why I call it a ritual, because it’s a routine and everyday job. I usually enjoy my time in the bathroom, I like to sit on the pot and go through the newspaper and ponder over the main news item and laugh over the comic strips. I love to read the gossip about celebrities and the scandals. So to comeback on the main story, I did the same thing. I unhurriedly brushed my teeth, cleaned my tongue (I know, it sounds as if I am wiping clean the floors of my house!!!) and got ready for the loveliest part of the day that I enjoy. With the paper in my hand I planted my self on the pot only to realize that it shook, yes, it was shaking! The first thought that came to my mind was “may be my head is reeling”. Then I brushed aside the thought but still the throbbing of the floor and the walls did not go and then the thought struck me, it hit me like a jet of icy cold water, It was an earthquake!!! I heard my uncle shout from outside, thumping the bathroom door at the same time. I jumped from my “self named throne”, with all the guts that I could muster, I put on my clothes, opened the door, only to find every body in the house running outside, I rushed along them, my cousins taking the lead, my aunt and uncle barefoot following suit and poor me, in a frustrated state covering up the end.
As we went out, there was a mad rush; people form other flats, uncles in their night pajamas, lungis, aunties in their nightgowns, and children in what ever they wore; some in bathroom slippers like me and others all dressed for office; all kept running down the stairs. Within a few seconds almost everybody was outside.
The moment we reached outside, as if by some remote control, the shaking of the earth stopped; it was all as usual. I thought that god has played a very impolite joke on me, just when I was about to enjoy the loveliest part of my day, he played a prank and forced me to run outside scared to death, only to stop it immediately I was out.
I can never forget this incident, which almost had me at my wit’s end. I had to resign myself thinking that it was a bad time, which passed off with out much mis-happening. Thankfully, with god’s grace again I could resume with my ritual, when everybody came back and everything fell back into normal routine.
I thank my stars to be still alive and penning down my experience of the earthquake. Thankfully, the epicenter was hundreds of kilometer away from Delhi and NCR still the shocks were more of a nightmare.
The day being a Saturday and I being at my aunt’s place at NOIDA to enjoy the weekend woke up to the sounds of my younger cousin’s beautiful voice, as he sang some songs. Somehow, I managed to drag myself out of the sheet that enveloped me and groped for my all time companion, my sweet little mobile phone, to check up on the time. It was almost nine o’ clock and was a little later than my usual time of getting up. Slowly, I managed to pull together my unkempt hair to a tight bun and walked out of the room to greet every body a nice morning.
With sleep still bordering my eye and not ready to leave them for a few more minutes I looked for my brush and paste. My aunt kept asking me, “Will you have tea?” “What will you have for breakfast?” “Have you brushed your teeth?”. It seemed as if, I am in an interrogation cell with some cop throwing at me questions that had no end.
I left my aunt standing in the kitchen with all those questions un-answered and rushed to the bathroom with the supplement of the newspaper, to start my daily ritual. Just to take a detour and give you and insight of why I call it a ritual, because it’s a routine and everyday job. I usually enjoy my time in the bathroom, I like to sit on the pot and go through the newspaper and ponder over the main news item and laugh over the comic strips. I love to read the gossip about celebrities and the scandals. So to comeback on the main story, I did the same thing. I unhurriedly brushed my teeth, cleaned my tongue (I know, it sounds as if I am wiping clean the floors of my house!!!) and got ready for the loveliest part of the day that I enjoy. With the paper in my hand I planted my self on the pot only to realize that it shook, yes, it was shaking! The first thought that came to my mind was “may be my head is reeling”. Then I brushed aside the thought but still the throbbing of the floor and the walls did not go and then the thought struck me, it hit me like a jet of icy cold water, It was an earthquake!!! I heard my uncle shout from outside, thumping the bathroom door at the same time. I jumped from my “self named throne”, with all the guts that I could muster, I put on my clothes, opened the door, only to find every body in the house running outside, I rushed along them, my cousins taking the lead, my aunt and uncle barefoot following suit and poor me, in a frustrated state covering up the end.
As we went out, there was a mad rush; people form other flats, uncles in their night pajamas, lungis, aunties in their nightgowns, and children in what ever they wore; some in bathroom slippers like me and others all dressed for office; all kept running down the stairs. Within a few seconds almost everybody was outside.
The moment we reached outside, as if by some remote control, the shaking of the earth stopped; it was all as usual. I thought that god has played a very impolite joke on me, just when I was about to enjoy the loveliest part of my day, he played a prank and forced me to run outside scared to death, only to stop it immediately I was out.
I can never forget this incident, which almost had me at my wit’s end. I had to resign myself thinking that it was a bad time, which passed off with out much mis-happening. Thankfully, with god’s grace again I could resume with my ritual, when everybody came back and everything fell back into normal routine.
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