So Kolkata has been my home for the past two months. It is a great city with good people and with a mighty river to add to its glorious history.
But what happened today wasn't anticipated. Yesterday the earthquake already rocked the whole of northern india and took a major toll on Nepal. Not that it was of much consequence to Kolkata where the trembles were barely noticeable, but as it happened, I was watching Avengers : Age of Ultron today. I was at the forum mall watching the morning show barely an hour into the movie when the aftershock struck.
I always had this feeling that I am very sensitive to changes in altitude and inclination in my surroundings. Often it has happened that I sensed tremble or change of inclination earlier than my friends or people around me did. So when my seat started shaking I knew it in my heart that this was it. After a few seconds, I guess everyone else did too. And looking at those high ceilings above, it was natural to fear it might come down soon. So the panic gradually spread. People were all up and alarmed and started looking at each other for confirmation. Stampede is a very probable thing to happen in such scenarios. Thankfully I was in a seat very close to the exit gate. I rose up from my chair as did some others around me simultaneously and started briskly moving towards the door.
As I ran towards the exit, I noticed an uncle getting up and asking everyone to "stay calm" and "not panic". A silent admiration ran through my heart for that person to be wise enough to be helping others rather than escaping himself which otherwise might have surely lead to a stampede. I barely had much calm left to actually look back and take notice of the situation again. The floor beneath me was shaking and my heart was racing at its top speed. I quickly ran through the emergency stairs hoping to reach the landing, four floors below, before the ceiling came collapsing. The staircase was filling fast with people exiting from all floors. Much to my relief, I got out a few seconds later and came out in the open.
So yeah, crazy day. It would have been such an experience if Hulk's roar coincided with the hall shaking. People might not have even noticed, heh. I missed avengers but I don't mind that much. Haha. In retrospect, I realized that the staff and the workers at that mall (forum mall, kolkata) were very proactive in helping people to find their way to the stairs or preventing them to take escalators. That was very mature and hats off to them. At the same time, I realized that at times of emergency I lose my calm very quickly and panic. I need to work on that.
