Assam lies on a seismic fault that is wide and disastrous. Mild tremors are common. Once in a while, the earth gives an involuntary shudder as if imagining something frightful. The old bungalow creaks, lightbulbs sway and people forget what they were saying.
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The earthquake that hit Assam the first summer I was in Aynakhal measured 6.5 on the Richter scale.
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There was not a single sound, not a single firefly.
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Aynakhal 24th April 1946
Dear Dadamoshai,I know you must be worried hearing about the earthquake. The epicenter was thirty miles from Aynakhal. But we are all safe.
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“There's a big male rhino creating havoc in Dega. You know the earthquake we just had? It's common for wild animals to get disoriented and wander into tea plantations after one of those. We just chase them out when that happens.”
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This was the life of a tea garden blessed by a rainbow. Not many other gardens in the Mariani district were so lucky that year. The tea gardens to the east of Aynakhal suffered a freak hailstorm that sliced off the tops of every tea bush, cleanly as if with a razor. Within a few hours the entire year's profit lay wilting on the ground. Other tea gardens were still recovering from the earthquake or embroiled in labor problems. But for Aynakhal it was a year of abundance.
Teatime for the firefly de Shona Patel 2013 Harlequin
C'est curieux: j'ai préparé ce billet hier soir dès que j'ai vu l'article de lapresse, directement repris de AFP et je l'ai mis en lien avec le titre. Or ce lien n'est plus valable ce matin. L'info apparaît encore là https://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/fort-tremblement-de-terre-au-tibet-20200727
l'eau bout comme un gazou
je me fais du thé
et je vais boire à ce mystère
la terre est en misère
et la vie est bien belle
Michel Garneau 1988
