Easter Holidays in Maldives..and what do you know...
Its been ages since my last post, I 'think' I was busy. Maybe it was my Internet Connection. :S
Anyway, I decided to come back home for Easter Hols, so I arrived on the 26th in Male'. Barely 4 hours ago, I heard that there had been an earthquake in Sumatra. It's now 2 am and I still can't sleep. Strangely I was downstairs at the time of the quake, at about 9.40 pm, but I didnt feel it, although my brother in law and cousin upstairs said that they did. Either way, I'm just grateful that we haven't heard about a tsunami on its way, or one having struck Indonesia.
It's just a coincidence, that I happened to go back home just two days before the asian earthquakes, twice. One of my friends actually told me not to go back. Hehe. How was I supposed to know? :)
When the news first started to spread in Male' there was a widespread concern, as people scurried for their phones to call relatives and friends. And the ever reliable Dhiraagu Mobile Services made sure that half the calls didnt make it through to their destinations. Typical. They disgust me. I immediately looked around online for any reports, while watching BBC out of the corner of my eye, while my family was dialling madly on the phones. I admit, so was I. Scared, a lot of people were. And there was reason enough to be. It had been only 3 months since the last disaster, and I think that this was the news that all those survivors had been dreading all this time.
There was an expectant wait, as everyone in their homes crowded around the television, continuously switching back and forth between BBC and CNN (the local TV station just telecasted the CNN reports until they had received a statement from the President asking for people not to panic) trying to get any information about the possibility of a tsunami. Maybe it is a miracle, that there hasnt been any reports of massive destruction as of now. The last time I DIDNT expect huge waves, they came. We were all being just careful. When I looked around my street, I saw people hurrying to carry sandbags out to their front doors, to try and block any icoming water. It would have been but pitiful in the face of a tsunami, but it was all the protection that we would ever have, not being a country with any ground higher than a couple of feet above sea level.
In the midst of all this, I remembered the conversations I had with an Italian couple I met on the plane journey on my way home. They had been frequent visitors to the Maldives, and were horrified at the news of the tsunami in December, while they were in Rome. They were coming back because they loved Maldives so much. I can't imagine what they would think when they got the news about the Sumatran Earthquake, after having thought that most of the risk had long passed. They must have been so worried, as were countless other thousands.
I can only know now that just for now, we are safe. Hopefully tomorrow will reveal itself as a safe day too. I shudder to think what might have happened, if a tsunami had come thundering into all these coastal villages and communites dotted along the asian coastlines, while they were peacefully sleeping at two in the morning. Here's hoping that it never happens. I guess now we have to learn the lesson that nowhere on this world, can we be safe from the unknown suprises of Nature's destructive power.
Anyway, I decided to come back home for Easter Hols, so I arrived on the 26th in Male'. Barely 4 hours ago, I heard that there had been an earthquake in Sumatra. It's now 2 am and I still can't sleep. Strangely I was downstairs at the time of the quake, at about 9.40 pm, but I didnt feel it, although my brother in law and cousin upstairs said that they did. Either way, I'm just grateful that we haven't heard about a tsunami on its way, or one having struck Indonesia.
It's just a coincidence, that I happened to go back home just two days before the asian earthquakes, twice. One of my friends actually told me not to go back. Hehe. How was I supposed to know? :)
When the news first started to spread in Male' there was a widespread concern, as people scurried for their phones to call relatives and friends. And the ever reliable Dhiraagu Mobile Services made sure that half the calls didnt make it through to their destinations. Typical. They disgust me. I immediately looked around online for any reports, while watching BBC out of the corner of my eye, while my family was dialling madly on the phones. I admit, so was I. Scared, a lot of people were. And there was reason enough to be. It had been only 3 months since the last disaster, and I think that this was the news that all those survivors had been dreading all this time.
There was an expectant wait, as everyone in their homes crowded around the television, continuously switching back and forth between BBC and CNN (the local TV station just telecasted the CNN reports until they had received a statement from the President asking for people not to panic) trying to get any information about the possibility of a tsunami. Maybe it is a miracle, that there hasnt been any reports of massive destruction as of now. The last time I DIDNT expect huge waves, they came. We were all being just careful. When I looked around my street, I saw people hurrying to carry sandbags out to their front doors, to try and block any icoming water. It would have been but pitiful in the face of a tsunami, but it was all the protection that we would ever have, not being a country with any ground higher than a couple of feet above sea level.
In the midst of all this, I remembered the conversations I had with an Italian couple I met on the plane journey on my way home. They had been frequent visitors to the Maldives, and were horrified at the news of the tsunami in December, while they were in Rome. They were coming back because they loved Maldives so much. I can't imagine what they would think when they got the news about the Sumatran Earthquake, after having thought that most of the risk had long passed. They must have been so worried, as were countless other thousands.
I can only know now that just for now, we are safe. Hopefully tomorrow will reveal itself as a safe day too. I shudder to think what might have happened, if a tsunami had come thundering into all these coastal villages and communites dotted along the asian coastlines, while they were peacefully sleeping at two in the morning. Here's hoping that it never happens. I guess now we have to learn the lesson that nowhere on this world, can we be safe from the unknown suprises of Nature's destructive power.
posted by pureonyx at 2:31 am
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