That might look like a glass on a table , nothing more than that. But to me , it was the indication to duck under the table at the right time. March 11th was not just another day in Japan for me. I woke up 20 minutes later than usual , my husband did not join me for lunch and instead got home packed Indian food from a restaurant near by. It was around 2 pm that I managed to receive my parcel and until then i was fervently reading "Keeping Faith" by Jodi Picoult though it was not something that I would do so early in the day.
After lunch I resumed reading because I needed to find out whether the custody of Faith White would go to her mother or her father. No sooner than I placed the book on the table , I felt slightly dizzy , a feeling that I had experienced a couple of days earlier as well. With doubt in my mind , I looked at the glass on the table. It stood perfectly still , but not the water inside. After a couple of seconds , the tremors increased to the extent that all my doubts were transformed into a single, obvious conclusion - it was an earthquake ! Immediately I called up my husband and confirmed it with him and ducked under the table. In what appeared to last for 1-2 minutes , all i remember was holding the legs of the table and chair and chanting God's name. When it was all over , I managed to grab my jacket , a bottle of water , some money, passports, some bread and buns and filled a bag and kept it all ready under the same table where I had been shivering just a while ago.
Then I thought it had calmed down and coolly updated my status on Facebook that I just experienced an earthquake in Japan. And at the same time I was talking to my mother on Skype and updating to her about the incident. Then i went over , on Skype, to my mother's aunt and uncle who live in New Zealand to share my experience with them in a hope to reduce my anxiety. They have experienced many quakes there since the episode at Christchurch and that was what prompted me to write about it in my earlier post "6.3" !
I was trying to calm myself down through the conversation and then suddenly the water on the table started showing signs again ! I quickly moved the laptop to face the table and went under it. For the next few seconds , I was trembling with the building , holding on to the chair and table again , but this time while taking to my relatives on Skype. They saw the room literally jumping up and down and they could see how badly the quake was affecting the place.From under the table , I could not see them , but I heard their voice and it was a huge comfort for me.I did not feel alone.Once it subsided , the door bell rang and there stood my husband who ran from office to meet me. We quickly took the bags and went to his office which is just a couple of minutes away from home. We learnt from his colleagues that there were Tsunami warnings and so we decided to get back to the safety of our homes.
When we got back home , we realised that though the earthquake was of 7.2 intensity , nothing at our home fell off its place or broke. Every single glassware and the most delicate items remained intact. We quickly filled the bath tub with water and also a couple of utensils were used to store water. We were preparing for the worst , but thankfully we had the electricity , gas and all essentials.
The rest of the day we were occupied in contacting our families in India and assuring that everything was alright. The news channels shocked everyone in India and scared our parents. It took a couple of phone calls to calm them down , but we still could not convince them that we were safe at home. So many well wishers and so many prayers , I guess that is what helped us get through safely. We know that on the other side of Japan there were many families which needed to be evacuated from their homes , people were stranded in the stations or had to walk for half a day to get back to loved ones.
We were also trying to contact friends in Tokyo to check if they were alright. The phones were not reachable , but later during the day , much to our relief, we learnt that they were also safe.
What we experienced still haunts us like a nightmare. The slightest rumbling sound and shake brings back all the fears of that fateful Friday afternoon.
When even the slight tremors stopped by midnight we managed to catch up on some much needed sleep. The next day , we decided to meet up with fellow Indians to share our experience and also to assure the ladies that there was nothing to worry. What started of as just a meeting turned into a serious game of cricket and throw-ball. 3 hours later , we were all so distracted and we could then bring back our spirits into being more cheerful and not to be afraid all the time.
Life always throws us a lot of unexpected events and thats what makes life so interesting. How we deal with it and how we cope with it is what makes us strong.
Our prayers with all those who are affected by this terrible incident. Hope the nation recovers soon.
We were shaken , but we are not stirred away by fear - Isn't that how Bond , James Bond would have preferred ? !
As I save this post , I turn to my table for one glance at the glass of water. This time just to quench my thirst.
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