18 April,2010 02:47 AM IST | | Hemal Ashar
Icelanders, descendants ofu00a0 the Vikings, show characteristic composure even as Southern Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption continues to cause chaos in the skies
Even Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had to take a detour from his two-nation US and Brazil tour yesterday.
Former Mumbai resident Prerna Desai, who has been living in Iceland's capital Reykjavik, says, "Life goes on as usual." The Kemps Corner resident married an Icelander six years ago. "For us, it was like the earthquake that shook Latur; Mumbaikars felt the tremors but were not affected directly."
Currently, they have no government directive for safety measures from ash fall. Sometimes, people are told to wear masks.
The internal communications manager with a multinational gaming company adds, "The air disruption has had the greatest effect. Staffers flying to different destinations have had to re-route. My colleague has been marooned in Copenhagen since Wednesday, but we are hoping that will change soon."
In fact, the region affected is in the hinterland. There are a lot of farms there and the very efficient Icelandic Rescue Services have already evacuated people. There is a lot of trepidation that the Katla volcano might erupt.