The Earthquake

There was a lot of anxiety in the hill town of Kalimpong. According to the seismic calculations, as the area fell in the epicenter of the earth's crust on a fault line, there was a probability of an earthquake of a severe intensity in the near future.

         

It was the summer of the year 2005. Already the public had been notified. Preparations had been made and we were informed by the government what emergency steps had to be taken. We lived in a cottage surrounded by apple trees covered with pink and white flowers which made them look ever so pretty. My father, a retired octogenarian, spent his time mostly in the garden and the result of his hard work was beds of multi-colored flowers, a feast for the eyes. Just a little above us, upon the slope lived another family, a young man, his mother, and a distant aunt. The man in his early thirties used to work in a Five Star Hotel. He looked smart and handsome and seemed to be from a refined and cultured family. I found myself watching him often. I liked everything about him, how he walked, how he smiled, and how he drove. I think these were the symptoms of what we term ‘Falling in love.’

It must have been a Thursday. All of a sudden there was an ear-splitting booming, rumbling, crackling sound. Then there was an explosion followed by more rumblings and roaring. The earth shook in spasms. Boulders, cascading soil and debris came scuttling down the mountain slope in a massive landslide, covering everything in its way. The entire area was just a heap of rubble where once had stood cottages in their prime beauty. The atmosphere became suffocating and breathing became difficult. Nothing was visible because of the thick dust in the air. The frantic traumatized men, women and children had all poured out of their houses, clinging on to each other in the hope of last-minute survival. This was the backdrop of the whole tragic story.

I had been cooking at that time. My father had asked me to fry an egg for him which he usually enjoyed with his crisp toast for breakfast. The frying pan flew out of my hand as I tried to steady myself. The burner slid off the counter and the wooden floor got ignited. The whole place was in flames. I clasped my father's hand and shot out of the cottage as fast as I could. The whole structure of brick and mortar was collapsing and rocks and stones came catapulting down the slope to cover everything under a thick layer of rubble and soil.

I looked around me in a daze. I just could not grasp the enormity of what had happened. I could see people buried under the wreckage, limbs jutting out and waving frantically, signaling to save them, or mothers like frenzied animals running up and down in their endeavor to get help to save a dear one. Before I could realize what was happening, there was another and another aftershock and people shrieked in fear. At that time my eyes fell on the site where the gentleman's cottage had stood. There was nothing remaining of the cottage, only a few broken pieces of furniture. My heart stopped beating for a moment and then it started racing. What had happened to the inmates of the cottage?! I ran towards the heap of rubble. As I came near, I heard the muffled sound of a woman sobbing, and another crying out for help. Children were shrieking in fear. I ran back to get some help but as each person had someone to rescue, no assistance was available. But being determined to do what I could for them, with the broken leg of a chair, I tried my best to extricate the victim who was buried. After much hard work, I managed to see the person's face, though it was covered with mud. Very feebly she asked for water. I looked high and low but could not find any. Next, there was another unfortunate victim, who was imploring pathetically to take her out from under the heap of rubble as she was suffocating. Again I started the whole process. The old lady had fainted by the time I got to her but I saw her opening her eyes as soon as she could breathe in some fresh air. Next, there was another person who had been groaning and moaning with pain. He could not be seen or identified as only his partly exposed hand was visible but from the stripe on his shirt I could make out it was no other than the man with whom I had fallen in love with. I found myself trembling. With my mouth pressed to the ground, I asked him whether he was very much in pain and I heard an indistinct muffled ‘yes’. Even when in such a situation his foremost thought was for his parents and with the greatest difficulty I could make out ‘Ma’ and ‘Aunt’.This trait in him made him even more endearing. I told him that I was going to get help so he should not worry. I could not waste time and so I hurried to get assistance for digging them out by hook or by crook. Luckily at that time, the Red Cross Rescue team arrived. I informed them that an aged lady needed immediate help and another victim was in extreme pain. They came with their pick-axes and shovels so as to extricate the ones who were buried without injuring them. With three people at the job, they managed to do so within ten minutes. The ambulance was waiting so both the ladies got immediate medical help. Then they tested with their special gadget, how deep they would have to dig for the next casualty. This time they used their shovel as well. Unfortunately, they had to remove first the cupboard which had fallen on him and then try to take him out from the rubble. This took so long that the time seemed never-ending. Besides he was in so much pain, that the waiting period had become intolerable. With a lot of back-breaking hard work, the men were able to lift him out. It seemed he had broken a bone since he was writhing in pain. They managed to pick him up without causing additional discomfort and they took him immediately to some hospital nearby. There was pandemonium all around. People were crying at the loss of their property, some were beyond consolation because they had lost a dear one, or the wounded and the injured were calling out in pain. On the whole chaos and confusion were rampant and it was a scene marked with sorrow and distress. Blood flowed in streams and mangled limbs were strewn on all sides. The sight was so horrendous that it defied description. The victims were all evacuated to shelters or to hospitals.

For the next two months, my daily routine was to visit the hospital and look after the two ladies and the gentleman. He seemed indeed very grateful to me and my daily visits to him paved the way for a close friendship which made him even dearer. In the end, I could not stop myself from expressing my love for him and my wish to marry him, though I knew according to the traditions handed down, it was the man who proposed. He looked at me sadly for a long, very long time and then said very gently but deliberately, that that could never happen as he was already married, and had two children, who were then living in London. My whole world came crumbling down like my cottage in the earthquake.