Nepal Quake – Hell in Heaven

Nepal, a neighbour that’s ngoas Indian as India can get, yet a character unlike India. It’s a place that has a special place for me and the reason I have been here for times unknown. Struck by a natural calamity that was one of the most devastating in the recent age.relie

Oindin 25 April when the earthquake hit I was at my home in Delhi with my parents. I sitting on the bed and felt the tremor. Told my mom. It was a strong one and lasted for ages. At that very moment I had the thought, considering the magnitude the epicenter must have been anywhere in Nepal, Afghanistan or southern India. I hoped it was not Nepal as it would be devastating knowing the topography and preparedness. Checked twitter and found the quake was of 7.8 magnitude (some people say it was 8.1) and the epicenter was in Barpak in Gorkha district about 70 km off Kathmandu. I knew that the fury was unfurled. The first day news said around 600 casualties and some damage to property. I knew it couldn’t be true and the reality will be known in times to come considering the remoteness of villages in Nepal.

My fear came true. Nepal was shattered and taken further years back in comparison to us. Read about it and saw pictures of the devastation. Couldn’t fathom what it would be like in Kathmandu and Nepal. The distinction as I believe Kathmandu is not even half close to the gorgeous other part of Nepal. I decided I had to do my bit.

On 16 May we took a flight to Kathmandu. The route from the airport to Courtyard made me think did they really exaggerate the quake? No damage was seen. Reached Courtyard and saw cracks in the hotel walls and stairs. People were sleeping in the outside and they had a fear unknown to me. I still didn’t understand the devastation. Went for a walk in Thamel (the main tourist locality in Kathmandu). Everything was shut. It was like a dead city. Got back to hotel and had a quake measuring 5.5. The scare continued.

We walked to Durbar Square. A big school was razed and temples severely damaged.

High School at Durbar Square

Temple at Durbar Square

Kathmandu Durbar Square

Was late at night sitting with a bunch of people discussing their experiences. Some were in Kathmandu and one was at the Everest Base Camp during the quake. There was a strange calmness, the one that gives you a chill down the spine. That’s when I realized what the quake did. It had shattered the people more than the structures. Made them believe how tiny we are when it comes to gods fury. People were waiting for something bigger and more devastating.

We drove down to Bhaktapur the next day. It’s one of the ancient city of Nepal. Famous for its durbar square which houses some beautiful temples and monuments. We passed through relief camps built in public parks and even at the Kathmandu Golf course. Hundreds staying in tents living on supplies by the government and the NGOs. Read an article in the local newspaper, someone at a relief camp termed life at the camp as a picnic yet the thought of future scared her. Bhaktapur was not the same this time. The beautiful Durbar square was broken. Ancient temples got razed. Monuments were down and those still standing have been marked as unsafe to enter.

Street at Bhaktapur

Warning outside a museum in Bhaktapur

We went walking around Bhaktapur. There were lanes were 7 out of 10 houses were down. People had lost their houses and families. They knew nothing about how they would stand back even closer to where they were before. There was a strange sadness and gloom. Was driving back and saw people smiling and waving at me. Realized the sadness was my inner introspection.

I was ready to walk out and meet people. Walk out of my comfort and know the reality. Help them with whatever I could. Walk out to a learning I never thought I would get at a calamity struck zone. Walk to a new life for them and for me.

Met a bunch of guys doing some humanitarian work through an NGO called ‘Khusi Hona’. They sounded true and invited us to join them in aid distribution at a relief camp at Bhaktapur the next day. It was the start.

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Revolution first hand!

People gathered to protest at Jantar Mantar

Protest stage

The people revolution.

I was recently talking to someone from Tunisia and could feel a distinct happiness in her voice. The happiness of getting an identity of being from a free country. It was the joy of being independent from a corrupt head of the state for whom ruling was more of a play than a profession. I thought of the time when we got free, the moment which defined the lives of all of us to a big extent.

The Jasmine revolution was a bold step taken by the Tunisians to throw a man who has ruled them for more than 20 years. A revolution in an Arab nation itself was a far sighted dream. Thereby paving the path to the change in the Arabic world order, a change which can wipe off a lot of stigma attached to that part of the world and bringing it more closer to the rest of the world.

The Jasmine revolution has already spilled over to the other countries and expectedly should lead to a fall of power in Egypt very soon.

I was wondering if this revolution is just the beginning of a new world order. Would the revolution bring down the dictators, dynasties and governments which have been exploiting their countries to death? Would we see the fall of the military Junta in Myanmar and the change of regime in China? Will there be a change of dynamic in the over exploited African Nations?

I was then thinking that the people who revolted in Tunisia and those revolting in Egypt did not belong to a political group. They were people like me and most of us who are not politically connected. They didn’t start the revolution on the behest of any political party or a leader. The people revolting in Egypt still don’t have a leader, they are just looking for a change of the tyrannic regime. Can we in India ever revolt against the government or an establishment without a political inclination or without the support of some political party. Can we have a people revolution?