Early Saturday morning, the shift just started and we were planning for the weekend. Suddenly someone exclaimed, “EARTHQUAKE!” I couldn’t feel any vibrations, but then it was there, our 17th floor office began to sway like a cradle in the wind.

The panicky ones rushed for the lift, but thankfully the liftman was a sane and calm man, he asked everyone to take the stairs and maintain calm. But chaos reigned. The quake might have been a mild one and wouldn’t have caused any damage. But human nature would have definitely resulted in a few casualties. The afternoon news bulletins would have the details.

I walked down till the 12th Floor and felt that the vibrations had receded. Now as I’m typing this post with trembling fingers, my colleagues, a little shaky and jittery are returning to their workstations. Everyone has the devastating Gujarat earthquake of January 26, 2001 in mind.

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