The Quake and the House

The 2005 Kashmir Earthquake hit at 8:50 Pakistan Standard Time and literally rocked my five-year-old world. 7.6 on the Richter Scale/upward of 100k dead, with tremors felt from Afghanistan to China....

But those are just brutal macro statistics. On the micro level, the catastrophe dismantled the exquisite architecture of my Islamabad house. Although all photos of the house were destroyed, the memories that were attached to it survive.

Radiant colors....a wooden door...picture frames

I vividly remember the radiant colors embedded in my large garden. I'd like to think that each color combined to represent my mind in various ways. The negative connotations of the bloodshot red only helped me better appreciate the orange, which represented Joy/Serenity/Glee. The wooden door of my house was large and decrepit, but I loved it nevertheless. The scratches etched onto the wood were reminders of the years that had passed...that I only now could revisit in imagination. Picture frames attached to the wall--suddenly just shards of glass buried deep underground the realm where my house once stood nonchalantly.

Uncertaintly...impermanence

In a flash that morning, I learned that uncertainty is laced in every aspect of life, and the only permanent thing in life is impermanence.

If the reader will indulge me, please seek out my second article on the earthquake (SHOW THE LINK)