Remembering that horrible day: bitter Earthquake Experience as "the Rehearsal of the Death"

"Saturday, April 25 2015", this is one of the unforgettable dates that every Nepali will recall with chilling pain. Yes, this date painfully reminds all of us that bitter moment when we experienced the most powerful and devastating Earthquake and the series of aftershocks that ruined Nepal killing more than 10 thousand people.

It was a pleasant Saturday dawn when I rose from the bed a bit earlier as I had a meeting with one of my friends at 7 AM. When I got out of the home, the weather was as cold as winter, the chilling cold wind was blowing with unusual droplets. I was wondering why weather altered all of a sudden since it was quite normal and there was no any clear sign of rain as well before that morning!

Enjoying the drizzles, I reached Bansbari, met Shittal Lama, and had a brief discussion regarding the forthcoming campaigns and activities of our organization. After the meeting, I checked the time, and it was just 7-15 AM. Since I had plenty of free time on that day, and my hair was getting longer as well. So I decided to go to New-Road in order to have my hair cut.

 

It was around 9-15 AM after having my hair cut, I thought to return home and complete the pending works that I was supposed to submit the office the next day. Hence, I got back to home, had nice meal and took a rest for a while.

Every Saturday, my brother, Bashudev, presents a comedy show on Grace FM 106.7 in Dhulikhel, Kabre. And most of the time, we go to FM together, however, That day, he had gone to present his radio show with a sighted volunteer, Chhavi Devakota, and I was saying to Bashudev that I would listen to his show from home itself. Keeping the radio set on, I started to work on my pending works of my office. In fact, at that time, I was working for an NGO, called, “Action on Disability Rights and Development” and we were producing accessible books for the blind and visually-impaired as well as for the people with print impairment. Our target was to produce 140 books into Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) format.

As I was giving my full concentration on scanning the book of Health as an initial process of converting that into accessible format, I was also thinking of my brother whose radio show was about to begin in just few minutes from Grace FM. All of a sudden, Earth began to dance so bitterly that we were shaken so strangely as if we were swinging back and forth. That was completely distinct weird sound that I’d never heard before! My mind went completely blank that I could not think anything. Aghast! The stuffs began to fall nearby my bed, and I just thought that we would be no more on this Earth. I was so flabbergasted that I even did not care to turn off laptop and left all the scanned scattered pages aside and could not think ahead!

When the  powerful tremor got over, in fearful and haste condition, I including the whole family ran down towards the open air, and in my semi-consciousness state, I quickly dropped a post in facebook, “Oh howl! Big Earthquake ever experienced.. God solace us”

It was like a dream, mind became blunt, the series of terrible aftershocks kept terrifying us. We were just uttering the names of Gods. Telephone network stopped working, we were extremely anxious and tried time and again to contact the friends relatives and specially to my brother, Bashudev, who was in Dhulikhel for his radio show. After few minutes, we were able to contact Bashudev and knew that he was OK there. Hearing his voice and knowing his condition, I was relieved but still concerned that how he would return to home at that very terrible time. Tremor was taking it’s momentum again and again, and we all were afraid to enter into the home. Just desperately sitting on the ground without making any movement, we were waiting for Bashudev’s arrival. News of Earthquake started to spread all across the globe, my facebook timeline and e-mail were filled with posts and messages from friends relatives and well-wishers, internet network was fluctuating, and I could just see some of the posts from the friends. Meanwhile, more terrifying news about damages, casualties started to be reported along with ample of rumors. As time was heading towards dusk, my brother arrived home, which made all of us content and we sighed with relief.

My brother Bashudev described his Earthquake experience with distressing tone. When he was about to enter into the studio for his radio show, he felt the big quake. The studio was on the fifth floor. Everyone in the studio including Bashudev was perplexed on what to do next. The Technician, Suraj Srestha and the volunteer, Chhavi Devakota led Bashudev slowly and they attempted to  step down towards the ground-floor. Building was still trembling, just few meters ahead of them, the broken glasses of windows got dropped, luckily, that did not touch them, and once they passed the pieces of broken glasses while getting down, again, the broken glasses fell just behind them, they were just untouched merely by very little distance. Eventually, they reached down the ground, where road was almost calm and mournful. Vehicles were immobile and they had to wait for a long time to find the bus to Kathmandu. Finally Bashudev and volunteer Chhabi got the bus, which was already packed, struggling to get on, they entered into the bus which dropped them in New Baneshwor. The heart of Kathmandu, New Baneshor area, always sounded with crowd of people and vehicles, that day, was very quiet. Bashudev waited for bus, but he could not get for an hour. Later, he got a bus to Chabel and Chhabi returned his home. From Chabel, my brother-in-law, Ramesh Neupane took him to home on motor-bike.

This is how sharing each other fearful moment that Earthquake hit us mercilessly, we spent the evening. We had no appetite, just wondering what would happen next, we kept thinking the future of the next days.

That day, whole night spent under the moon:( bitter, gloomy, still the petty quakes were being experienced:( began to rain, we were safe neither at home nor in the open sky.. It then felt chilling cold like winter:( weather turned out to be foul, terrible, devastating, no electricity, no good communication channel.. It was so heart-broken moments that I vividly remember even today with the same fearful vibes.

 

It is, indeed, very difficult to describe that dreadful moment in few sets of words. We had pre-Earthquake life, and we had post-Earthquake life as well, but in between, that 40 seconds, for everyone, was the same  phase: The rehearsal of the death! whether one was pauper or prosperous, everyone was in the same phase:  the state of powerlessness and fragility.