Shaken, Stirred and More!

Was watching the thriller 'Se7en' last night and this one particular scene grabbed my attention. Little did I know that 12 hours or so later, I would find myself in a somewhat similar situation.

The scene I am talking about is where, Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman are having this intense investigative discussion looking into the murders happening around them. All of a sudden, the entire house begins to shake. As all other men would have reacted, MF was startled and ready to take cover. But BP calmly tells MF that it is the sub-way and everytime where is a train passing, the house trembles. He cusses the estate agent and continues the discussion.

I never in my wildest dreams ever imagined being in a similar situation ever. Let alone today. So after I reached office at about 11:30 today, i was just getting settled. Logged onto gmail, said 'Hello' to Abhishek, Joel and Vasanth. Then a quick 'Later' so that I could complete my work tasks. It was about 11:40 now.

And then sometime soon, it happened. Earthquake!!!

What started as a small push, soon the stuff on my desk was all moving. People were standing and panic was creeping in. I did not know what to do. I was on the 8th floor. 15-20 seconds into the quake and it got more intense.

The first thing that came to my mind was, "This is it! It is all over.The building is going to come down I thought!" For a moment, I was blank with that thought of the anti-climax.

I followed my colleagues and they were headed to the fire exit. I went a few steps and realised I had forgotten my wallet and cell. Ran back to the seat and seen that the impact had dropped chairs in my cube to the floor. Quickly, grabbed my belongings and headed to the nearest exit.

All the running that I have been doing on the treadmill finally paid off. Was able to cover the 8 floors with ease.

Reached the assembly point on the ground floor. Nothing had come to ground yet, luckily. It was 12:00 PM now.

The first thing I thought about at the assembly point was the co-incidence of me watching that scene in the movie yesterday night and me going through almost the same experience.

And just like the movie, gladly there were no injuries.

As for what went through my head when I seen the floor move, I thought about my family. That should be our priority, should'nt it? The earthquake just makes me realise how unpredictable life can be. Anything could have happened, anything can happen.

So the simple solution to always have a happy ending is:
Be good. Do good. Feel good.

No matter when your life comes crashing down, atleast you collapse on a good note, is'nt it?

Good Luck and Take care,
Ashley