8:46:00 A.M.,
Friday,
26th January 2001.
The day the world for the people in Bhuj, went upside down. The earthquake which took place there devastated the city and its many people in almost all terms that included me. The horrifying experience was perhaps the one, which nobody could forget for their entire life span. Many people lost their near-ones and dear-ones. The loss suffered by this calamity could not and can’t be made good ever. The death of thousands of people within a span of 1 & half minute, and the tragedy of humanitarian loss of this magnitude was never witnessed by me, before in my life. I was shocked and avowed for few days. With the passage of time, people say, you come to terms with the terrible events of one’s life; but one may never ever forget it.
In the morning at around 8:46 a.m. the floor below me started to shake. I was just reading newspaper, was the first to alert all family members. Nilma was talking to Akshay, my son, barely 6 years old, and my daughter, Urja, 1 & half years old was sitting nearby. It was sheer luck that I noticed it first. I picked up Urja, asked wife to get hold of Akshay. The floor was shaking very lightly but as we all four collected together the shaking intensity increased and went on increasing like anything which was never ever experienced, heard or explored or experienced. That made me scared as one usually looses the courage and temper. With grace of God, I was quick in dragging all of them in the passage our rented flat on 5th floor.
As slowly the intensity of vibration below the surface was increasing, we stood near the staircase as somehow I felt that this could be a strongest area as it housed an elevator, so that part of the building would be stronger here though I had no logic or knowledge to back that of my idea.
No sooner we reached there, we experienced one of the most critical time of our life. The building of 7 stories, started to shake like a small boat in a stormy sea, with a sound of 100 Boeing Jumbo Jet Planes hovering over the sky. It took around 7 big shakes from East to West, before settling. At every shake, either to East or to West, we prayed that the building would not go down from either East or West side. Our eyes were waiting for the imminent collapse of my building and beginning of my journey to eternity. The death was never ever so close and so certain. As Nilma started shouting and chanting NAVKAR MANTRA loudly, Akshay was crying and worried because his parents were scared. Little angel started crying because her brother and mother were crying and shouting. As the Building was doing a balancing act on the roars of the earthquake, I saw the cables of the elevator snapped and it went down crashing from 3rd floor.
As I looked out of the staircase window, which was going to the building terrace, overhead water tank of Hotel Janta Ghar came crashing down. (Later on I learned that around 7 to 9 people were killed there.) Within few moments of the beginning of tremors, it got dusty. The dust was getting into the air due to collapsing structures, buildings etc, but mainly because the tremors were so powerful that people saw the wave of dust getting up in the air along with the speeding tremors coming from the East direction, which passed through several Kilometers below land surface at a magnitude of 7.9 on richer scale.
The nightmare lasted for around 90 seconds, then the earth shaking stopped, I was happy because I had made it in the finals of death race challenge with the mother-nature. Just a few seconds ago I was so certain about my death, took sighed of relief of getting through the worst experience of my life.
The first thing I did was to get back to our flat. Shut the valve of the cocking gas cylinder and switch off light main-switch. (In fact the lights were cut automatically, because of snapped electrical cables.) My legs were trembling as I had lost all that courage and all that made it impossible for me to look around from my window once the earth shaking stopped. All the occupants of the building had been shouting and the scenario was very-very scaring and absolute chaotic.
After around 90 seconds, it stopped; we slowly went inside our flat. Everything was in mess. Fan’s fins were bent, T.V. trolley was broken, save the T.V., everything was on the floor, and kitchen was in total mess. All glass jars with all the stored spices & other stored food material was on the floor. They were so mixed up that we had later on only one option, pick it up and throw. My P.C. monitor was on the floor and was broken completely.
We reached our bedroom, Nilma got one piece of cloth and collected all the valuables from the cupboard locker, bundled it in that cloth and made our way out of our flat. We came down of our building flat by taking staircase steps. As we stayed on the last floor of the building, BHAVIKA PALACE, we perhaps experienced the shakes with more intensity due to our height from the ground. There was complete mess. The street leading to Meher Ali Chowk was completely blocked. As we took other small lane, I lifted few big stone lying in the way and made way for four of us. Somehow we came out on the road leading to Meher Ali Chowk, but then again we felt that we were struck. We were unable to find the way leading to Bhuj Bus Depot. So we tried it from the Panch Mukha Hanuman Street, but the debris of the damaged or fallen buildings scared us as Akshay & Urja were still sobbing. It was good that Urja understood little, but the fear on our faces made her scared too, while Akshay was just sobbing. (For many more months to come, my both children along with their cousins played game of Earthquake. That was the psychological damage it even had on their minds).
On the way to Bhuj Bus Deport, which was at walk able distance from my home, I saw people who were completely covered with debris of their building as if somebody had thrown wheat flour on them. I came across few known faces; we just exchanged each other's well being and asked about each other’s family. We then heard that one marriage party which had come to the community centre of WAGHAD BECHOVISI got stuck in the building which collapsed and many were killed and injured. (See the destiny, the bridegroom, Bhavesh, became my good friend as we travel together to reach to our offices almost every morning.) As I reached VANIAYWAD Chowk, we saw my estranged brother-in-law, Jayant Thacker; we just exchanged inquiries as to be it okay in his family?
We somehow came out of that street as we had in mind the home of my father in law. Somehow we got an auto rickshaw from the bust stand and reached our destination. On the way to HINGLAJWADI, where Natwarbhai, my Father-In-Law & family stayed, the unimaginable devastation I was just witnessing on my way to MANGALAM, were he stayed.
People were just running here and there. I met my cousin Paragbhai, near the DADA-WADI. He was on his scooter and informed me that my Aunty, Vasantben, was trapped in the house in Mehta Street. (She could not be saved as it was not possible to reach to her and due to no medical help; she left for eternity in the afternoon that day.)
The scene was of that absolute chaotic. People were clueless. Few images captured in the mind will go with me to my grave. What I saw was, precariously held portions of damaged buildings, men, women and children running here and there without any clue, children crying, trapped people shouting for help, loved ones pleading everyone who passed from them, who were not in position to save them. I saw a father caught between dilemma as whether to save his daughter whose leg was badly crushed or his wife who could be saved if she was given immediate medical help. But he needed help to pull his wife out of the rubble first, while the daughter was just lying in front of him. (I saw him crying next day, when he said he lost his wife and his daughter’s leg had to be amputed in the military hospital.)
On way we learnt that few buildings had completely collapsed and inhabitants, present at the time of Earthquake had all been buried alive. (Many of them were rescued later on, though.) People were just running here and there. I was so scared that my legs trembled for most of that day. People were bringing in news and I had no courage to take pictures of that devastation.
It took approximately 30 minutes to us to reach to Natwarbhai’ s house, from the time of tremors. Their house was damaged very badly too, but the structure was intact because of the material used in the construction. The news was coming in that once the crowded places and dream houses of many people had come down crashing. A milkman, coming from KALYANESHWAR WADI, was so scared that he was hardly able to speak it properly, said that GOKUL building had completely collapsed and those inside must have had been killed, we just shooed him away, saying not to say it to other people and stop spreading rumors. He swore on his children, that he himself had seen the completely collapsed building which was converted into the huge stack of debris. This building housed approximately 70 families.
People in HINGLAJ WADI were just on the road. Our close relatives like us, had started pouring in at Mangalam, where Natwarbhai stayed. Natwarbhai has had been an icon in our family and commands tremendous respect. Though he is my Father-in-law, but I have learned some of most important lessons of my life by staying with him. Slowly I was regaining my composure. I was so shocked & scared that my legs were still trembling. It was an experience where the floor of the house, which you are so sure of support throughout your life, was shivering. Slowly approximately half an hour later, people did start a minuscule rescue operation of their own. But then came the big after shock. It was so huge that I thought those who were saved in the first tremor, would suddenly again the land shook. It was the second shock of the morning. But it did not last long, nor was the intensity anywhere near to the first-mother of all tremors.
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