Random Thoughts

A 5.2 magnitude earthquake shook the St. Louis area at 4:37am today. It wasn’t strong enough to shake the bed, but it did rattle the roof and windows. When I woke up at the sound of the earthquake (and Deepa’s shouting), it sounded as if an overweight mouse was bolting across the attic. My immediate thought was that it is an earthquake. Deepa was in denial and tried to convince herself that it was probably a huge truck passing by (on Deauville Ct at that hour?).

It was déjà vu for me. Memories of the 1993 Latur earthquake that shook Maharashtra and took about 10,000 lives filled my mind. It was around the same time in the morning and I was staying at the Lobo Mansion in Byculla (Bombay). It felt much more than a mere mouse in the attic. The beds shook for a good 45 seconds. We jumped out of bed and were on the verandah in no time. That was my first experience of an earthquake.

Funny thing about earthquake is that it doesn't last long enough to feel the fear during it. What you feel during those seconds is a certain kind of curiosity. The fear comes afterwards thinking about what could have happened, if no major damage happened. If it ends up being a tragedy, the dominating feeling can’t be fear any more. Our earth is a very vulnerable place. A natural calamity is a very near possibility in almost any part of it any time. When you look at all those forces that are going on in the universe, it is not a remote possibility that the whole earth could get sucked into something or would get smashed against something. Sometimes I think natural calamities are nature’s way of cleaning up man’s ego. It reminds us of our helplessness to act against the bigger scheme of things.

Most interesting remark came from the seven year old while I was taking her to school - “I don’t want to be in this world. It is too scary here”.