Spice of Life: Tremors of togetherness as quake blurs fault lines
A couple of others and I followed his fatalistic statement. It was only in the lift that we smelt alcohol in his breath. Probably, he was rushing up to complete his unfinished drink.
Tuesday night was like any other in our 11-floor high-rise builder’s apartment on the outskirts of Chandigarh in the urban jigsaw puzzle of Zirakpur. The cheery voices of children playing late in the park could no longer be heard. The environs were cool and calm.
I was near the glass-paned windows of my ninth floor living room, completing the last chores of the day in a night gown before stretching out on the bed with a book for a late-night read. Pulling the curtains on the view of the fields and distant lights of other apartments, I sat down to send the last few goodnight messages. Suddenly, the window panes started shaking furiously and it took me some time to realise I was witnessing an earthquake.
By the time I put down the phone and stood up, the glass panes had stopped quivering but there was a commotion outside of dogs barking loudly and people calling out to each other in the corridors as they rushed for the lifts.
The first thought that came to mind, as it does to most old folks, was thank God the children were away and safe in a Himachal village.
Then came the thought that should I go down just as the neighbours were doing. The first reaction was the tremors were gone but then the niggling doubt that they might return led me to hurriedly wrap a shawl around and head out.
I locked the door and found two neighbourhood kids stopping their huge dog from attacking the two sheep dogs an eight-month pregnant lady was carrying while trying to stop the lift. In the rush, she took a tumble but managed to get into the lift.
Down in the parking lot, panic was writ large as people had gathered in large numbers.
There was a mood of less-seen camaraderie all around. The older women were checking out the lady with the two dogs in her arms and a baby in her womb. Fortunately, nothing amiss had happened with the fall.
It was nice to see neighbours, who otherwise scorned at one another, looking amiable as they waited together in the cold night for a good 45 minutes. I was shivering and wishing I was back in the flat, but the tremors seemed to have brought a togetherness and we all felt it was safer down.
Finally, a man in his fifties took the initiative, much to the annoyance of his teenaged daughter. “Come along, jo hona hai, hoke rahega (What is to happen will happen).” A couple of others and I followed his fatalistic statement. It was only in the lift that we smelt alcohol in his breath. Probably, he was rushing up to complete his unfinished drink.
Anyway, nature was kind and all’s well that ends well, albeit with the Shakes-pearance drama of fear, suspense, doubt, and a happy ending.
nirudutt@gmail.com
The writer is a Chandigarh-based senior HT staffer