The aftermaths of Baisakh 12 have been long behind to already be recorded in history books. Yes, it was disastrous, and the images of it will not be forgotten for at least one generation. May be the fact of its official record in the social media will make it last even longer. The dead ones just went with it, but those Nepali who lived it will always feel their feet shaking, and the heart pulse increasing. The Great disaster, it bought us the tragedy we had long predicted that would destroy Kathmandu. It did.
The most affected was Sindhupalchowk, a death toll nearly double the count of the capital, in addition of the recent landslide it had been through. The villages and the town areas, the people with all kind of dreams, all got the same fate. Barpak village in Gorkha, the epicenter, was like swept away by the quake, no house remained. The hospitals were filled with the victims and the dead bodies. Well these facts are well recorded in the official books and the photos are all available in social media.
Then comes the international aid. The huge aids, in the form of money, in the form of food and shelter materials, all came within. That one act I remember the most that was all over social media, Discouraging the foreign aiders to transfer funds to PM relief fund. And I think it kind of did performed to some extent. But at the end, the locals were also collecting money in the same fund. It takes time, but it’s always the government who are the responsibility holders.
Also my sympathies to the lives lost during aid distribution, specially to the American team helicopter that crashed in Sindhupalchowk, and another helicopter incident that took the life of Pilot Subek Shrestha, who was on the way to rescue mission. The fates of human are so strange, nature just showed an upper hand, but what wrong had we done? I hope their services will be well remembered by the Nepali people. It may take time but we have to rise again in the dreams of a better Nepal.
The Earthquake gave us a place in the international media; the football clubs were wearing T-shirts with “Support Nepal” and all. The international citizens aiding the Nepali students and NRNs’ in fund collection. The international media like BBC and CNN covering the footages of Nepal. I found it quite bad, that of all the things, it was this disaster that made us known in the world. We cried in the country and those who were taking the pictures were giving us an international identity.
After the quake almost swept the capital and the nearby area, the most it could and taking as many lives on the way. There are now plans and promises of an upgraded city. Government is already ready with the budget that might exceed some Ten Billion rupees. Also the laws are added. But will they be implemented? Will the tall houses that were constructed by attaching some cash in the construction papers, finally lower to the level they must have stood? Is the government ready to take strict action without discriminating who owns the house, whether it be a common man who worked through his life, or some corrupt politician, business man who got through the short way?
Even more than government, are we ready? Can we all say that the houses must be brought down to the levels?
The answer to these questions will probably shape how Nepal is going to look like for the times to come. Because the real estate will get only higher with time, but if it is managed, it can hit more effectively. But should we talk about money and economy over the human lives? How many times have we done that?
That’s another thing the quake taught us, no matter how much money one got, or how tall house he/she owned, all came down to the road for sleeping. The place most of people thought for low-lives. May be it showed the standard of human life, where everybody can be treated equal.
But that was just for some times, many people who were residing on roads, and on those tents of Tudikhel, will never try to remember that afterwards, but we know what happened, and under similar circumstances, those thing will repeat. But the question for us now is will we stand to change the nation now? Will we change in ourselves?
Swarup Rajbhandari
Tripureswor, Kathmandu
Studying BEIT at NCIT