An earthquake on a Ritcher Scale of 6.2 reduced 52 villages to rubble engulfing an 18-month-old baby in its aftermath. She would not have lived had it not been for the efforts of a lone man who could not ignore the beseeching eyes of a hopeful father. SHAlINI SAKSENA brings you an emotional, inspiring and heart-warming tale from latur

Time:    3.56 am

Place:    latur district, Maharashtra

Date:     September 30, 1993

A loud rumbling came from the depths of the Earth. The ground shook, People woke up with a fright. More rumbling and shaking made people run from their homes only to see houses around them falling like a pack of cards. The Jawalge couple stood rooted in fear. And then it struck them. In their flight, they forgot their baby girl sleeping on the cot. They tried to run back to their house. To their horror,  there was nothing left standing — just a pile of bricks, mud and pieces of wooden planks that had tumbled down from the hillock.

Three days later, a unit of the Army was given marching orders. Their job was to carry out rescue operations in earthquake-hit latur district and look for survivors if any.

“The earthquake came on September 30, 1993. We were asked to move a day or two later. It took us two days to reach Mangrul, the place where this incident took place. We set up camp at Killari, a place on the outskirts of Mangrul. We were shocked to see the village. It was total destruction. Not a single building was left standing. locals and a few other organisations from nearby areas had already taken out around 40 people who were trapped in their homes. There was a stench of decaying bodies and carcasses. The general consensus was that the people who had been rescued on day one and two were the only survivors. No sounds were heard from underneath the rubble. It was presumed that they were all dead since humans tend to make a sound if alive,” Colonel Sumeet Baxi says who had just joined the Army six months back and was part of the search and rescue mission back then.

Baxi and his unit got down to work but hope that there would be any more survivors were slim. This is because four days had already passed. Sniffer dogs were used to try and find survivors by international organisations which had flown in to help the people in the region. The general consensus was — no more survivors.

From dawn to late into the evening, rescue workers toiled, digging out dead bodies so that their relatives could perform last rites. After a hard day’s work on October 6, Col Baxi returned to camp. He had just freshened up and had sat down to eat his dinner when he was told that a man was waiting to see him. The man in question wanted to urgently speak with Baxi.

“I had not even taken a bite when I was told that a man wanted to urgently meet me. The other members in the unit told me to finish my dinner and not give in to the fancies of villagers. But I just had a gut feeling that I had to meet this man. I got up and went outside. He told me how he had left his 18-month-old daughter inside his home. He wanted me to look for her in the impossible debris. I told him that there was no way she would have survived for six days. Also, we had thoroughly checked the rubble and the chances of the baby being alive were nonexistent. But this young father looked at me with such beseeching eyes that I could not turn and walk away,” Baxi recalls.

So Baxi went back to the spot. The Jawalges were from a humble background. Unlike the other houses that were on top of the hillock, his house had been at the bottom. When the earthquake came everything tumbled down — on top of Jawalge home. But with the help of the father, Baxi was able to find his bearings — where the main entrance was, where the cot was and most importantly, where was the baby sleeping. This information helped Baxi once he entered the house. With the help of a few jawans, he removed a few wooden planks and debris to make enough room through to slide in. Those days, he tells you, he was slim and could squeeze into a tiny hole.

When he slid inside, he was surprised to see that almost everything was in its place. Of course, the iron cot was overturned and a wooden beam had fallen on one of its foot posts twisting it, in a manner that it perched on an earthen pot. There were a few pieces of rocks that had tumbled into the house. Baxi removed them and the matka. And to his surprise, he felt a cold body. Baxi tried to find where the head was. This time he heard a cough. The18-month-old baby had rolled under the cot and slid behind the matka in the space that had been created by the beam and the foot post.

“This gap saved the baby’s life. Of course, God played his part too. I had no time to waste. I knew that the situation was precarious and I had to move fast. So I shouted to my men who had come with me that the baby was alive. A few men who had come with me also crept inside to assist me. I think that was a mistake. The news spread like wildfire and within minutes hundreds of villagers had gathered over the top of the debris of the house. That proved to be catastrophic. The weight of so many people on the already loose soil led to a landslide. It filled up the small hole that had been created to get inside. We were trapped inside — this time there were three men and the baby,” Baxi recounts.

 The news that an officer, a few jawans and the baby were trapped inside reached Killari camp. Meanwhile, inside the house, Baxi and the baby remained unharmed as they were deep inside. But the jawans sustained injuries after heavy boulders fell on them. The landslide caused the villagers to panic but the jawans outside swung into action. The people were removed from the spot quickly. A message was sent to the camp. The entire battalion from the camp came out to help. It took them around 45 minutes to clear the debris from the hole from which Baxi had entered. All this time Baxi cradled the baby in his arms.

“I held her close to my chest. She had her tiny fist tight around one of my fingers. I had to crawl back the way I entered. All the while protecting her with my body. My only thought was ‘I have come so far, God don’t let anything happen to her now’,” Baxi says.

A cheer rent the air and the miracle baby was handed over to the parents who had tears of joy running down their cheeks. The father had been turned down by so many people on the grounds that the area where his house was had been checked and rechecked many times over and there was nothing.

“When he had come to me on the night of October 6, he had tears in his eyes; begging me to have a go once again. I couldn’t ignore that. I went more for his satisfaction than on the belief that his baby would be alive. But God had other things planned. I know that the baby had to live, I was the instrument that God used to save her,” Baxi says and tells you that he has somewhat changed since this incident.

“I am more practical now. What has to happen will happen; one can’t run anywhere. Agar mann ka ho toh achcha, nahin ho toh aur bhi achcha. Because this means that there is someone out there who is looking after your welfare,” Baxi shares. His advise to people who find themselves in a similar situation is to always keep the element of hope alive.

“One has to understand that once the incident has occurred, there is no longer an element of surprise. The next step is to get your bearings and take cover. Rescue operations take time. Don’t panic. Easier said than done, but keep an upbeat mood. However, if you find yourself in a totally hopeless situation, try and help yourself. There will always be things around you that one can take advantage of,” Baxi opines.

He did not panic when the landslide happened because he realised that if God had kept the baby alive for so many days, He was not going to let anything happen to her now. “I knew that I was safe because of the baby. This kept me grounded and helped me take the right decision and moves which was vital here,” Baxi shares who is now a firm believer in destiny having witnessed it firsthand.

He tells you that before this incident, he was told miracles happened but never believed it. “Unless things happen in front of you, there is always scepticism. But after this incident, my belief has changed into faith. More so, because of yet another miracle that took place a year back,” Baxi tells you.

Destiny played its hand again. This time it took Baxi to a Pune posting where while going through a clerk’s papers, he came across the name Mangrul. On further inquiry, he found that the person was well aware of the rescue of the 18-month-old baby back in 1993. It was then that Baxi came to know that his miracle baby had a name — Priyanka and that she was by then married. Baxi expressed a desire to meet her.

A day later he got a call; ‘Hello, this is Priya. Baxi was zapped. He didn’t know anyone by that name and then it struck him. They had a long conversation. Priyanka expressed a desire to meet the man who had saved her.

“It was an emotional meeting. I couldn’t imagine that the baby whom I had pulled out of the debris and covered in mud had grown up to be such an accomplished woman. It was great to meet her family. I came to know that her father had passed away two years back. That was sad news. I would have loved to meet him. I met her younger siblings — a brother and a sister — that was nice. I am glad that she is happy and well-settled in life. Destiny has played its hands so many times. I have no option but to go with whatever God has planned for me. I don’t run because I know I can’t hide anywhere from what is in store for me,” Baxi says.