It was a sunny Saturday morning, and each one of us had our own plans as it was a weekend. Some were being lazy and enjoying their holiday, while some were on a hike to the nearby places making the most of the day. We, as a KTM Drive team, were off with a list of things we were to purchase for the kids of Disabled Newlife Center. During the last event we made them write what they wanted to become when they grew older and one thing that they wished for. Their list was immaterial and we were amused to note that pencil boxes were favourites of many. We purchased all their gifts and were set for our event. As we were leaving the weather changed and the wind’s force was strong which made me grab my jacket for the ride. With the change in the climate, the signs of heavy rainfall were prominient. We had no idea about how things would change drastically and the disaster which was in store for us.

We left for Disabled Newlife Centre which is situated in Gokarna. We took a different route to avoid the traffic and as we reached the stretch behind the airport, the bike started unbalancing. We thought the tyre was punctured and I got down leaving it to the rider. As I stepped my foot on the ground, the road was quivering and the buildings in front of us started swaying to and fro. It was the most frightening moment of our life. People were screaming and running without any control over balancing themselves. Everyone was running to the open ground and with that I saw the water tank on the terrace of a far away building collapse. It felt like watching a slow motion movie as the vehicles came to stillness, while others were about to skid because of speed. All of us settled on the ground after the first huge shake and it left us clueless.

We have all experienced earthquake but this was the scariest, the 7.8 Richter scale for more than a minute made everyone fear death. We did not understand on what was happening as the aftershocks was stronger. The people who were in their houses ran towards the ground as the second big shake hit us. These situations are helpless and the most one can do is try to connect with family. The network congestion wasn’t helping but the news was all around internet. As we checked twitter, the news of Dharara, the nine storey building had collapsed which made us imagine the damage and innocent lives of people lost. Since it was a Saturday lot of visitors would have wanted to go the tower through which the view of the town can be seen clearly. As news came after the other we could see the flights being landed.

After two hours of wait, when we felt the tremors had lowered, all of us rushed back home. On our way , there were lot of destruction and the roads felt live never before. Everyone were on the streets with a fright of an unexpected calamity. I had a sigh of relief when I reached home and saw that everyone was fine. This was 25.04.2015 for me!! I am sure each one of us has their own story to share.