9. Summary of the lesson

"Earthquake" is a lesson written by Mr. M.S. Mahadevan. The story is told by the main character Brij, who explains his life incidents to a weary traveller who crosses his teashop in Garhwal. Four years ago there had been a massive earthquake which destroyed his whole village, called Molthi. It was by sheer chance that he had been in Pauri that night, in his uncle's house. When they returned the next morning, all the buildings were flattened and the whole village was reduced to rubble. It was a devastating sight. All his family members' dead bodies were found except his baby sister Bhuli. He went and scrambled in the spot where his house had stood; he cried for hours together. The army officer seemed bone-tired but was kind enough to start the search again. To everyone's surprise, Bhuli was found alive within two hours! Brij and his sister went with their uncle. Bhuli started schooling while Brij found himself a job at a Dhaba. It weighed on him heavily that he could not thank the army officer before he left. He started searching for the army officer in every crowd. But he did not have any luck. So he started treating tired travellers and strangers whom he met every day. With his savings, he opened a teashop by himself and found peace by helping such strangers.