They were on a tour of Gujarat and Kutch with three other couples. They reached Gandhidham, near Bhuj, on Republic Day morning. Gandhidham is about 25 km away from the epicentre of the earthquake that hit the area that day. Their train was on time but was held back at the entrance to the station for about half an hour. That's when they felt it; their train compartment started shaking and wobbling; they thought that the train had derailed, but when they got down, they realized what had happened.

They picked up their luggage and hoofed it up to the station, where the bus from their resort had come to pick them up. As they traveled from the station to the resort, they slowly realized how complete the destruction was; virtually all the buildings they came across had collapsed. Not knowing what to do, they continued along to the resort. When they reached there, they found that the rooms that had been kept ready for them had caved in.

If the train had been on time, they would surely have been in those rooms.

They were completely cut-off. The telephones were dead, there was no electricity and the mobiles would not work. A small bus had come from Ahmedabad independently to be with them while they were touring the surrounding areas and to eventually take them back to Ahmedabad after three days. They got into the bus and decided to get to a larger city. The first thought was Jamnagar, but a little on the way they realized that the devastation was so absolute it made no sense going there. They decided to drive all the way back to Ahmedabad.

Nature had left nothing standing. Villages and small towns were completely destroyed and flattened and the people were out on the roads, wandering aimlessly, not knowing what to do. The entire situation seemed a little surrealistic, like a scene from a movie like the "The Day After".

Many bridges along the way had developed cracks and they had to turn back quite a few times from the main roads. Somehow through small roads and with a little luck, they landed in Ahmedabad at night.

On the way in the evening, near Mehsana, they were finally able to get through to us to tell us they were fine and my wife was able to relax for the first time since we had heard of the earthquake and its aftermath.

Ahmedabad turned out to be another nightmare. Collapsed houses, dead people, uncertainty and terror. They went to a relative's place only to find that the neighboring building had collapsed and a lot of their relative's neighbors had died. They then moved to a hotel with rooms on the third floor, where the hotel proprietor took a statement from them in writing saying that he would not be responsible if something happened. They slept in their day clothes so that they could make a quick getaway if necessary.

The next day they decided to drive into Mumbai, but luckily they were able to get tickets in one of the extra flights from Ahmedabad. They landed late at night yesterday and told us their whole story. They are still trying to come to terms with their entire experience and I suspect it will be some time before they really settle down.

In the building where I live, everyone knows someone who has lost a friend or a relative in the earthquake and I suspect that not a single Gujarati family in Mumbai is untouched by this tragedy.

It is scary and humbling!

When nature decides to flex her muscle, there is nothing you can do. And she shows no mercy. There is no special treatment for the children, the weak, the infirm and the handicapped. The stronger, faster and luckier survive, the rest are doomed. Maybe in the future we will be able to tame nature, but as of now we really don't seem to have much with us, when she decides to rage.

I am an agnostic and almost an atheist. But for the last two days, each time I switch on the news or pick up a newspaper, I intuitively start praying for those affected, hoping that the toll does not increase further. Maybe all of us should do the same, if we are not already doing so.

That's probably the least we can do!!