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21 Earthquakes in 24 Hours Amid a Deadly Pandemic. No, I’m Not Okay.
What it’s like to be an Indian in today’s times.
Living in Assam, a northeastern state of India, I’ve grown used to earthquakes.
The geographic location of Assam, according to plate tectonics, perched precariously on the easternmost projection of the Indian Plate, leaves the state prone to earthquakes of moderate to very high intensity.
Whenever there was an earthquake back in college, my classmates from other parts of the world used to wake up drenched in sweat, heart palpitating to the rhythm of the shaking world. But I used to laugh it off, knowing it’s almost a monthly occurrence, not even bothered to leave my bed and run out of the room.
I was used to earthquakes. I knew the shaking wouldn’t last forever.
But the morning of April 28, 2021, was different.
I was woken rudely from my sleep at about 8 AM. The whole room was quaking violently. My bottle rolled off the bedside table and clattered to the floor, spilling water on the floor.
“It’s just an earthquake,” I told myself, willing my thumping heart to calm down. “It will be over soon.”
I started counting in my head — a trick my father had taught me as a child, so I…
