We storytellers love to believe that a story can teach anything, to anyone. So if you’re wondering how to tell your child what an earthquake is and what to do when one happens, here’s something that might help you.

Riya felt her bed tremble. “There goes Sarthak again.” she thought and peered over the edge of her bunk bed. Her 2-year old brother was sleeping peacefully on the lower bunk.

As she watched him, the bed trembled again, this time harder. The window-panes rattled too and as she looked up the yellow night light stuck to their ceiling-fan shattered. Sarthak sat up scared and cried, “Mamma, Riya!”

4-year old Riya quickly climbed down the bed. Her mother had told them the story of the big giant who lived many kilometers under the earth; the giant who hogged like Bakasura, the voracious giant, and burped huu…uuge burps. His name was Bhaksha. Bhaksha would eat for a 100 years and let out a huge burp that rattled all of the earth above. When Bhaksha had a healthy meal like salads and fruits, he burped lightly, and the earth moved only a little. But when Bhaksha ate a lot of junk food, oily food (like those pakoras that the vendor in front of their house sold) and sweets, he would belch and burp loudly, so loudly that the earth above moved such that trees and houses and anything tall would come crashing down. The grow-ups called it an earthquake.

Mother had told Riya this story when she was 2 years old, and Riya had hoped that Bhaksha would never ever eat junk food. But if he did, Riya knew what she had to do. She grabbed her bag from under the bed and took Sarthak’s hand.

“Don’t worry Sarthak, Bhaksha ate too much,” she said, pulling him towards the door.

Her mother rushed into the room at the same moment, carrying a backpack. She scooped up Sarthak into her arms and all three of them ran towards the main door which father had already unlocked. As she ran, Riya saw a huge crack had appeared on their living room wall. Within seconds they made it to the parking outside their house.

Now they just had to sit there and wait till Bhaksha finished burping.

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According to a report by US Geological Survey year, the number of significant earthquakes (4.0 and above on Richter scale) have been increasing every year. 2015 saw 102 significant earthquakes globally. The disaster management experts at the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs recently released a warning of an earthquake of 8.0 magnitude and above, which may strike the Himalayan belt, specifically North and North-East India. Social media, as usual went berserk, with people sharing articles about the MHA warning to an extent where it became the trending topic on most of the popular social media channels.

Our stories tell us, “Prevention is the best cure.” So the team at Tell-A-Tale felt it prudent to stop spreading panic, and instead come up with something that will help people #beprepared for such a disaster, in case it (God forbid) strikes.

So here’s what our team is doing, and we hope you do so to:

1. Prepare a Survival Kit

The kit should contain

a torch with 10 batteries,

a bottle of packaged drinking water,

a small empty bottle,

a t-shirt (preferably full sleeved),

a pair of slippers,

a packet of tiger biscuits

a bar of high calorie chocolate

2. Keep Essentials at One Place

Keep your passport, wallet with money in it (cash no cards, remember ATMs and electricity may or may not be available), laptop and phone (along with their chargers) always at one place. If possible club with Bag containing (1). Ideally a laptop bag (backpack style) should be able to accommodate all of (1) and (2).

3. Stay Charged

Keep your laptops and phones fully charged as far as possible. Even if you are out at work or in your car, keep your phone on charging.

4. All Things Accessible

Keep 1 and 2 within 5 seconds reach ALWAYS. Most earthquakes are at least 5 seconds long, and you may not get more than 3 seconds to escape. Yes you may be ridiculed, even called paranoid, but better prepared than not.

5. Memorize the Basics

It is surprising how most of us barely remember beyond 3 phone numbers from our phone book. Memorize phone number of at least 5 people whom you can call in case of an emergency (friends or relatives). If you have children, make them learn the phone numbers of at least 5 relatives. Also, make sure at least 2 of them are from a stabler tectonic plate.

6. Know and Teach the Basics

Do you know what to do in case of a disaster, specifically an earthquake? Great, now teach your children what to do in case of an earthquake too, even if they are just 2. If you explain properly, they will understand.

We can’t control our fates, we don’t know how true the warning is, but we can try our best to ‪#‎beprepared‬.