Latest

Shaken but safe

Prashant Nande and wife Anjali, who moved to the Haitian capital last Feb, survived the earthquake unhurt, while their neighbour’s house collapsed. Prashant recounts for Pune Mirror his experience and also shares the pictures he took of the devastation

Payal Banerjee

Posted On Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 12:45:15 AM

On Jan 19, when I went to the Indian base here, I saw people trying to get back to their lives. I saw stalls selling vegetables, spaghetti, oil, rice, corn and water against the backdrop of giant mounds of rubble.”

— Prashant Nande

This young girl is proof of the horrific disaster she has witnessed

For the Nandes, who had shifted to Port-au-Prince in February last year, in search of new horizons, January 12 was just another Caribbean evening on the sun-kissed island. That is till the clock struck 4.53 pm and an earthquake of 7.3 magnitude shattered the lives of millions living in the Haitian capital.

While the earthquake has rendered over 500,000 homeless and claimed the lives of an estimated 200,000, it did spare several fortunate ones who managed to live to tell the tale, of the devastation, misery, death and survival. Pune’s Prashant Nande and his wife Anjali are among the latter.

Speaking to this correspondent over the phone and Gmail chat from the Haiti capital, Prashant recounted his experience on January 12 and the days that followed. Originally a resident of Chinchwad, Prashant now heads a factory called Plastech Solutions S A and lives in Port Au Prince with his wife.

‘The ceiling next to me collapsed’ “I was in my office working and my wife Anjali was at home 8 km away. It was around 4.53 pm when suddenly we felt vibrations and my desk and PC started shaking.

The next second, I heard a loud noise and the ceiling about 4-5 feet away from where I sat, caved in. I was lucky because if I had been any closer to the wall, the ceiling would have collapsed on me.

I lost no time in running out of my office, screaming. Once out, I saw everyone running out of the factory building which was quickly evacuated.

Save for one worker who suffered a minor injury, everyone at the factory was safe. By then, we had taken the essential steps of switching off the electric supply and propane gas valve.

Everybody was asked to go home. In the next half hour, we felt three-four more tremors, with more sounds of buildings crumbling down.

Phone lines were disconnected and mobiles had stopped working right after the first tremor and there was no way to find out if our family members were safe or not,” Prashant recounted.

‘I could hear people wailing and devastation all around’
He continued, “I quickly headed home, praying for my wife’s safety. On the way, I saw devastation all around.

Buildings and houses had collapsed and people were running helter skelter. I could hear people wailing, trying to find loved ones buried under the rubble.

The collapse of the structures had blocked the roads, there was debris all over and it was not easy to find my way home. A cold shiver ran through me each time I thought of my wife, Anjali.

Then I saw her, standing outside our house with the maid and the housekeeper. I could see a similar anxiety on her face.

I had never been more happy to see her. I had met my wife nearly two hours after the quake struck the city and we hugged for a long time, tears rolling down our cheeks.”

‘My neighbour next door was trapped under her house’
“Anjali informed me that she had been reading on her bed when she saw everything around her shaking. She had immediately run towards the door and saw the maid who had fallen on the kitchen floor.

Taking the maid’s hand firmly in hers, Anjali managed to run outside. I noticed that my house was still standing, save for minor cracks.

However, our next door neighbour was not so lucky. I could hear him crying out for help.

His house had collapsed with his wife trapped inside. I remember the wind was howling outside and we were still getting tremors.

We were scared about the ground collapsing from under our feet. For the next three or four days, we stayed out on the road for fear the house would collapse.

We’d go inside only to use the bathroom. Everyone was doing the same.

People sat on chairs out on the road, holding hands of their loved ones,” he added.

‘They were getting back to their lives despite the quake’
Prashant then informed, “Finally on January 19, I went to visit the Indian base here. On the way, much to my surprise, I saw the people were trying their best to get back to their lives despite the chaos and havoc all around.

I saw stalls selling vegetables, fruits, spaghetti, oil, rice, corn and water against the backdrop of collapsed buildings and giant mounds of rubble. It was hard to miss the courage from the faces of the people.”

Life after
“Those who had lost their homes have built temporary shelters on open spaces on the road side, while some have gone to the rescue camps. About 40,000 dead bodies have been taken out and the necessary action taken.

Rescue stations and volunteers are busy clearing the roads and the rubble. The antiseptic sprays and chemicals are being sprayed all over to guard against any kind of epidemic breakout.

I met Atul Gotsurve along with Indian Commander, Shrikant Kishor at the Indian base. There are lots of Indian soldiers.

There are 11 policemen from India and all are safe. I also met two sisters from the Mother Teressa Foundation at the Indian base.” “Inside the factory too, everybody is trying their best to get back to work.

Telephone and other communications lines have started functioning, from late Sunday evening on; and the only method of communication for the past four days has been the Internet.

Air services are yet to resume, people are fleeing the city to go to remote areas, the stench of the dead hangs thick in the air and there is anger since the aid is reaching very few people despite the magnitude of help pouring in from the US and rest of the world.

But thank god, by the grace of God, life has started going back to normal in Port-au-Prince. We were relieved when we finally spotted Prashant online: brother Pradeep Nande, Prashant Nande’s brother who lives in Chinchwad and works with Suaan Techmechs Pvt Ltd in Bhosari, said, “At around 5 am on the morning of January 13, I got a call from my sister in Boston who informed me about the earthquake in Haiti.

She said she was unable to contact Prashant and Anjali. The whole family was up and we switched on the TV.

Seeing the ruins and the destruction only worsened out fears for our brother and his wife. Their 19-year-old son who lives with us and is studying engineering was obviously as anxious.

Finally, late in the evening, I spotted Prashant online and he wrote, ‘God is great, we are safe’. We all sighed a huge breath of relief.”

	Mail this article Print this article Translate this article	Rate me....
	Share Share Share Share

Contribute/ Share your Opinion

Latest

Shaken but safe

Contribute/ Share your Opinion

More