I remember how scary and terrifying that night was

Article # 110
Dated: 25th February 2022

The problem with rumor is that it spreads like a wildfire. People don't use their brain if the rumor is true or not, they believe in it and they take their part by spreading it ahead. One such rumor spread in my area when I was a kid. I was a kid so I didn't realize if it was true or not, when I saw my parents believing in that rumor, I believed it too.

I don't remember the day exactly but it was the month of February in the year 2005. I was only 14 years older and I was in the 8th class. It was the time when telecommunication was not advanced enough in our country, especially in rural areas like yours. I remember only one tower of a Paktel telecommunication company was deployed in our village. And we didn't see a tower other than that. Mobile phones were not advanced enough and people used to have Nokia 3310 that was not easy to break and we used to call it brick. 🤣 My dad used to have a cell phone and we also had a landline number by that time.

I remember I was sleeping when I heard my mom receive a call on landline and I heard she got scared while talking on the telephone. It was my uncle who called to inform us that a huge earthquake was about to strike us. Who does not get scared after receiving the news of an earthquake?

I woke up right after I see my scary mom and she went to wake up my brother. It was winter and the time was 4 AM. My father even spread the rumor by contacting our relatives to inform them about the earthquakes so they can also save themselves by leaving their rooms and spending the night in the open. Everyone was terrified and I thought that's it, the world is about to end and doomsday is about to start. It was a freezing night, my dad took me and my brother to perform the morning prayer.

We Muslims pray five times a day but honestly, only a few are able to perform the early morning prayer. Because it's not easy to wake up from insufficient and then leave the warm bed and perform the wudu with water on cold nights.

Mosques are usually full in Friday prayers because Friday prayers are more important in Islam. But I remember the mosque on that morning was even more full than the Friday prayer. There was no empty space left in the mosque. Luckily our Islamic scholar was educated so he gave a sermon after the prayer. He told the people that there is no way the scientists can predict the exact time and place of the earthquake. Our people found his talk very relaxing and everyone was calmed after his speech.

I remembered this whole incident after watching the 2012 movie again.

Then the life started to become normal until we witnessed a devastating earthquake on 5th October 2005. It was so disastrous as thousands of people lost their lives to it. After this earthquake, people in my area started their speculations as they believe it was the same earthquake that was rumored to happen a few months.

Unfortunately, nobody can shut the mouth of fools.

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