Their quaking stories

Eduardo Soteras Jalil, 39
Journalist

I bought a ticket to Nepal three weeks ago and was looking forward to some time in the mountains. It was supposed to be a time off, as I usually work under a lot of duress. The initial plan was to go for trekking in the Langtang for a few weeks after arriving on Wednesday, but I have been absolutely saddened by the news of the earthquake in Nepal and the landslide in Langtang. I have been working with Langtang for a long time now and the two visits that I previously made in Nepal, one in not more than two years ago. So I wanted to be here as I felt that the earthquake and the landslide in Langtang are personal, something very close to me. I’ll be writing about the earthquake and how the people have been affected. I really hope that the Nepali people get over this trauma.

Babita Karanjit, 44
Housewife

A house collapsed in my locality and took two people with it. It was an old house, and a woman passed away then and there. Her husband sustained injuries, but went back to their village for her last rites. Another was an old woman who ran a small hotel. She died on the way. It terrifies me, especially knowing that my two children were watching TV that day. My husband was in the grocery shop that we run. I don’t know what we had to do. Even after we got out of the house, we were running from one spot to another; the big houses had never been a bigger threat to our dear life. We stayed at a local school for a night, but moved out in the open fields because every movement, every sound served as a reminder of that day. Even now, we go inside our houses only when we have to eat and hurry out after that. Though it has left us frightened, I was very happy to get help from neighbors. We have been helping each other for food, shelter, and even protection against thieves. We share, and make sure we all are okay.

Pooja Rajkarnikar
Volunteer

The past few days have been pretty stressful, but I have tried to do what I can. I was scrolling through Facebook yesterday when I saw a plea to medical students to volunteer. It asked us to come to Bhrikutimandap for Operation Relief. I instantly called the person up. Today we went to see that the quake-hit areas were infection proof. For that, we used the chlorine solution to disinfect those places. It’s been a tiring day, but we covered a lot of places, starting from the Adarsha Madhyamik School, risking a walk to the narrow alleys and streets, around Chyasal and all the little localities. Even yesterday, I went to Sakhu, where my maternal uncle’s house is, and it was completely devastated. Although the quake has wrecked many houses and taken many people, we can’t think that nothing can be done.

Sushmita Rai, 26
Farmer

My husband has been working here for the past seven, eight years and last Friday, I came for a sightseeing of this ancient city. I had a couple of relatives with me who wanted to see the great Dharahara and I thought that it was a great idea. So on Saturday, we went there. We were pretty excited. When we reached the gate, we just couldn’t find the entrance. We went all around the place, but we didn’t see any door or anything that could get us inside. We were frustrated. I was pretty hungry, and so were my relatives. They said they knew this great place near Mahaboudha, where we could eat momos. We were on the way when earth shook. I was confused. The place my husband had been staying all this time is in danger. So we came to Tundikhel. They said you needed a group of at least 20-25 people to get a tent, so we spent the night under the open sky. Only on Wednesday, did we get some beaten rice and noodles as relief.

Pete Rausch, 49, and Bikash Pradhan, 32
Businessmen

We have been friends for a long time, and it was at the Third World Restaurant in Mangalbazar that we first met. We were at the Third World Restaurant when things changed. We had just arrived and were choosing the perfect mats to sit on. Everything shook and we thought that we needed to get out of there before anything happened. The temple collapsed, and everyone was panicking. We scurried to find the open space, away from the dust and anything that looked threatening. We went behind the museum only to be greeted by a locked gate. We panicked and broke the chain with a metal rod and stayed there for 2-3 hours. Next, we went to Thamel to check on our family. There have been people who have lost their family. It’s sad that government is mobilizing slowly. But what I’m concerned about is the financial aid. I think it should be monitored properly. Especially after visiting Nagdaha yesterday, where a few close friends live, we think that rescue hasn’t been able to go everywhere. Nagdaha desperately needs help from everyone. In a couple of days, we are going to buy basic necessities and hopefully, help people as much as we can.

Karan Bajracharya, 21
Student

For a moment, I thought that I was dead. It happened too fast, and even running didn’t seem to do the trick. But then, something fell in front of me and I saw the light. I didn’t waste any time, I ran. All of us were in the house and barely managed. My mom almost got stuck in there. I was out, and asked my mom to jump from the house, which she did. Her leg is fractured. Though the front of the house stands, its bricks, dust and debris behind. We couldn’t get anything out that day. I was so scared that I even left my phone there. People did come to inspect the house, and I hope something is done so that we have a roof above us. It’s dangerous, of course. But I had to see if things could be retrieved. I went to the first floor and retrieved what I could. That is all we have now.

Vikee Maharjan, 30
Store Owner

If it had been the start of the new session, when people would throng the bookstores to get books for new school year, then I wouldn’t be living today. Everyone in the store would have died. Luckily for us, I was the only one in the shop that day. I was about to close the shop around noon, when it happened. I knew that I had to get a cover, and I jumped across the shop barrier, to Mangalbazar, expecting safety in the open space. There was a lot of noise, and as I came to find out, it came from the temple collapsing. There was dust everywhere and yet, I stayed at the motorcycle parking area for the next hour and half. I went to live with an acquaintance at Bhaisepati after that, and came here only yesterday. My shop was dismantled, but there’s no big loss.

Monica Bajracharya, 25
Student

It was a normal weekend for me with my family until things started moving. I ran out of the house and asked my mom, who was waiting for the quake to stop, to come out as well. We stayed outside after that. The local people managed everything, and things weren’t so bad, except for the regular tremors. But the next day’s earthquake brought the roof down. It has been dangerous to be there since. We came home, shivering in fear, yesterday. We weren’t exactly short of necessities, but thankfully, the tanker came in today to bring us water. We had to be careful during those days as there was the fear of thieves, but people have been doing their best to guard the place. I went around and was horrified to find the temples in complete ruins. I don’t think even if we do reconstruct it, it’s going to feel the same.