I found that her family was sleeping under open skies after the mega quake shattered their house. They had to protect their two small children from the likely rainfall that evening. Again I asked, "Don't you need rice and other stuff distributed there?" She looked at her people who were collecting relief goods and said, "Roof is more important for me. If there is no food, we can eat grass and vegetables, but if it rains, we have nowhere to take shelter." Her statement is emblematic of the quake victims across remote villages.The earthquake has killed nearly 8,000 people so far and devastated nearly 400,000 houses. Equal numbers of tents are needed to provide to the people who have gone homeless. However, it was revealed that Central Natural Disaster Relief Committee headed by the Home Minister had not even few thousands tents in its store. The government is planning to buy tents from neighboring countries in the second week. A lot of money and relief goods have been accumulated in Kathmandu but it has not reached the needy.
After the Saturday tremblor, things are not same and cannot be. It has made us realize where we are. Hundreds of thousands homeless people had to sleep under open skies and we are not being able to provide them tents even in the third week. We completely failed to make a plan in anticipating such calamity. Now, with reconstruction, we need to build the national unity. How far we will succeed presents a challenge.
The support from the whole world extended to us in these trying times is quite overwhelming. So much compassion still exists. Humanity isn't dead. Isn't it a matter of happiness, pride and glory to be a human being and living among fellow beings?
Nepalis are quiet and peaceful by nature. Usually, after such devastation a state of anarchy prevails everywhere. However, our people remained calm and quiet. So many of us are volunteering for help and reaching the victims in most of the affected villages. Lord Buddha established the trend of detachment with property or other belongings two and half millennia before. The trend is still inherent in Nepali culture, no matter whether one is Buddhist or not. The ideal is deeply rooted and it has been the foundation of Nepali mindset. The victims have already begun their normal life by erecting small huts and working in the fields like Goma Majhi I talked to in Dolakha.
I had gone to Majhi village along with a group of volunteers. What I saw was that even though Goma Majhi and villagers were financially challenged, they maintained the detachment with their property and kept calm. They have an inner strength, a resilient quality to recover from adversity. Like a strong, grown up tree, they could face typhoons and still keep their head high. Fredrick Nietzsche's doctrine of amor fati, i.e., not only accepting the fate but also loving it reflects in our culture as well.
We accept everything happening to us as karma or fate and quickly return to our normal state. We don't blame others, because we understand everything as Lila, play of God. It is all the cosmic dance of Nataraja, Lord Shiva. Since we put the blame on fate for adversities which we cannot fight, we are less resentful. This is what makes easier for us to spring back to normal life quickly.
Though Nepali society has lots of praiseworthy qualities, we have some drawbacks as well. Our cities are overcrowded and villages are almost empty. Will this disaster bring people back to villages from the crowded cities? Will the stench of death make us conscious of the impermanence of this fleeting existence?
With reconstruction, we desperately need to build national unity. On what basis could we achieve this? What will inspire our politicians to stop thinking only about power and start thinking above the level of party politics? Now is the time to start planning to uplift our nation. We very much want to change our mindset and rethink how we can work as a nation rather than engage in meaningless talks.
The author is the vice-president of Ethics and Virtue Institute, an NGO
netra.acharya@gmail.com
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