Tremor in MICA... of the unusual kind...
March 8, 0000 hrs
15 people on the top floor of the library. Working on thesis, pretending to work on thesis but actually chatting, pretending to chat but actually working on thesis. The lighting is dim, the laptops are working overtime. The carpeted wooden floor absorbs all the noise except the gentle whirr of the AC, the tapping on keyboards and a few notes of music escaping from headphones.
There's a tremble.
Who's stomping up the stairs, we wonder? And there's no hostel room upstairs...
There's another tremble...
Stop rocking on the chairs guys... it's a wooden floor.
There's the third tremble...
Dev says "It's an earthquake."
Huh?
Oh, time to run out of the library...
... and then come back to blog about it.
People are mostly giggling.
"The thesis should be cancelled - we're traumatized."
Vocabulary takes precedence over concern.
"Where do you think is the center?"
"Epicenter, silly."
There's some concern...
"Does no one want to save their laptops? We don't have earthquake insurance."
Husbands call up wives.
"Go downstairs... go and stand on the main road. It's dangerous."
The speculators place bets.
"5 on the Richter Scale, I'm sure."
"6 I'm betting."*
Mine's-bigger-than-yours.
"It's my 2nd earthquake."
"Haan? (smirk) I've experienced so many. At least 6 I think."
The quake rookies just shudder.
Mild seismic interruption... Myriad reactions.
We weren't in Ahmedabad in 2001. But others were... and for them, it was a scary deja vu.
(The right answer is 4.5 on the Richter)
15 people on the top floor of the library. Working on thesis, pretending to work on thesis but actually chatting, pretending to chat but actually working on thesis. The lighting is dim, the laptops are working overtime. The carpeted wooden floor absorbs all the noise except the gentle whirr of the AC, the tapping on keyboards and a few notes of music escaping from headphones.
There's a tremble.
Who's stomping up the stairs, we wonder? And there's no hostel room upstairs...
There's another tremble...
Stop rocking on the chairs guys... it's a wooden floor.
There's the third tremble...
Dev says "It's an earthquake."
Huh?
Oh, time to run out of the library...
... and then come back to blog about it.
People are mostly giggling.
"The thesis should be cancelled - we're traumatized."
Vocabulary takes precedence over concern.
"Where do you think is the center?"
"Epicenter, silly."
There's some concern...
"Does no one want to save their laptops? We don't have earthquake insurance."
Husbands call up wives.
"Go downstairs... go and stand on the main road. It's dangerous."
The speculators place bets.
"5 on the Richter Scale, I'm sure."
"6 I'm betting."*
Mine's-bigger-than-yours.
"It's my 2nd earthquake."
"Haan? (smirk) I've experienced so many. At least 6 I think."
The quake rookies just shudder.
Mild seismic interruption... Myriad reactions.
We weren't in Ahmedabad in 2001. But others were... and for them, it was a scary deja vu.
(The right answer is 4.5 on the Richter)
posted by DeepBlueSea at 10:35
5 Comments:
"It's my 2nd earthquake."
Kinda echoes most Bbayites... the previous one at Bhuj shook us similarly...
Yet to meet somebody who's seen SIX :D
OK, this is dead serious - next time you're caught in an earthquake, don't ever leave a building if you're inside it. If you're already outside, stay outside, as far away from surrounding buildings as you can. Most people who died inside a concrete/brick building in an earthquake died from chunks of masonry falling on them as they were entering or leaving. Buildings are designed to withstand the shock. Even if they do collapse, let the building absorb the impact instead of you. Just get under a heavy desk or other item of furniture to protect yourself from falling debris - it's much safer than the risk of being drilled lengthwise by jagged concrete.
A - hmmm... six... six-pack... what's the difference?
Anonymous: shudder
he he - thats what i'e term live reporting on a blog - btw, does mica train u to be a journo - u'll be a better one for sure :)
nice one......
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