The Mock Drill

The last few days provoked many thoughts in my mind. A detailed plan for a mock drill was underway ‎to sensitise the official machinery, the manpower and the people at large for the disaster  of earthquake (God forbid!). The momentum had been building up gradually and reached a crescendo on the day of the disaster and check preparedness of emergency response, calamity casualty and catastrophe management as a part of the mock drill. 

 

The table top exercise just a day prior to the D day laid real time situation of an earthquake of 6.2 Reichter scale occurring followed by second and third tremors besides heavy downpour causing total disruption of all communication and rumours being rife with each passing hour on number of casualties, injured etc etc. On the stipulated day of the drill, the feel of catastrophe having already occurred literally made me concerned  with the dire necessity to gather my brains as if on receipt of an exhortation like God's very own: 'uttishthat Parth' to a befallen Arjuna to get going . So I rushed to the Emergency operation Centre with available means of transport and no mode of operational communication; taking stock of situation with a satellite phone and gather all resources, equipments, manpower, machinery.

Amidst the hush hush of sullen evacuees of the office and rush of officers gathering at the EOC, the anxiety was mounting as was the hustle bustle in the staging area from the rescue operations and assessment of the aftermath of the calamity was to be taken care of. There was a seriousness in the whole opearation down to the sites chosen for conduct of this mock drill. The volunteers carrying the mock injured or carcasses, providing first aid to the needy, clearing the mock debris, extinguishing the mock fire and reporting with documentation at the end on facts and figures.

Rest was a routine. The contemplation on the learnings, the black and grey spots in the operation, the frail links amongst the teams, the knowledge dissemination ‎and sharing of experience as a whole in the debriefing session.

Are we really ever prepared for the ‎catastrophe that we are told is going to befall us? Are we geared up for the management of resources left with us to cope with the damper that the havoc is likely to cast on us? Do we really ' believe' in our own ability to overcome what the aftermath of a calamity -man made or natural -has i.e. the capacity to incapacitate? 

Struggling with answers to these questions starring at me I was heading for a school function. 

In contrast to the mock drill of calamity and the dance of death I saw the tiny tots dancing‎ to the tune of 'llife, love,peace and harmony' and 'we shall overcome/deep in our heart/we do believe..' It was like a resurgence, a waking up to a world of positivity symbolising that 'things fall apart and are built again...' and that life moves on as long as Sun is in the sky and shining above us. With lump in my throat I thanked God, for we are blessed and all that we look upon is blessed and also for the drill that was a 'mock' drill and silently prayed: may we learn to face calamities without them actually  befalling or leading to  catastrophes!!