In the memory of 25/11/2009

When another 25th November has reached the doorstep, I remember sadly about the same day last year. 25th November 2009 - That was the day when the worst incident of my life took place. Living in Saudi Arabia, rains were something we hardly witnessed. We nearly burst with joy whenever we were blessed with rains. So when it rained on that particular day, I was very happy. So happy that I never imagined what fate had in store for us. It rained continuously throughout the morning. We decided to go on the terrace to see the rain by noon. I thoroughly enjoyed drenching in rain, but not for long. As we stood on the terrace of our 2 floored flat, sudden realization came to us that water was accumulating on the ground floor and within a moment the complete ground floor was sunk in water. Cars were floating slowly at first. But the current became too strong and big vehicles were just swept downstream. People were drowning.... shouting for our help..... but we were as helpless as they were. I could'nt do anything to save all their lives....... I felt it would be better for me to die rather than stand there and watch them die. By evening, the water level reduced and the place was wrecked...... Bodies lay scattered on the streets..... Cars were on top of other cars and underneath lay more bodies..... This was the scene. We nearly became refugees - staying at our friends house for a month. Later we came to know that nearly 200 people had died in the flood. At first I felt very guilty and full of regret as I didnt save any one of them. I could'nt shake it off. So I came to chess.com thinking that I would get some peace of mind by playing chess. It really worked. A big thanks to chess.com. I felt a lot better after playing chess. But I still hate rains and sometimes I dream about hands reaching from the surface of water in a silent plea for help.................