Big Trouble in Little Kingdom

For over 200 years they have protected us, fought for us and with us, guarded us, took us up the stairway to heaven – to the Sagarmatha or Everest, all this while tolerating us calling them names such as ‘Shaab Zee” and “Aay Nepali” and ‘Gurkha’ etc, etc, and have yet stood smiling because they loved us, they were fond of us and they wanted us to visit ‘Āphnō ghara’ , Their Home and enjoy their food, love, hospitality and warmth, which is really all they had to offer. (And, NO, they never did offer us drugs or booze or other sins! We took them there.) And as we speak today, our so called brother and sisters in Nepal are torn apart by the fury of Mother Nature disguised as an Earthquake that hit Nepal three days ago.

The Nepali folks are very strong. They have faced hell and high water, quite literally, by fighting for us and the British and the ‘almost-Godsend-like’ people, the Sherpas, who have helped us in climbing the Mount Everest and in saving countless lives in the face of daunting challenge – climbing the Everest, unflinchingly and without raising one eyebrow. I cannot remember one single occasion when a Nepali brother or sister has backed away, has not done his or her duty or has walked away from responsibility. I do not know of any Nepali who has ever expected money in return for a good deed. All they ever wanted was our love and respect. That’s just the way they are! And all this while they were thousands of miles away from their homes and left their family and friends behind.

Today it is our loyal and ever devoted Nepali brothers and sisters who have borne the brunt of a quake, by far the biggest one since the last century and they need us now. As the tragedy unfolded before our eyes on television during the weekend, I saw our neighbors in Nepal looking distraught, scared and helpless. I saw the fear in their eyes and that feeling that the next one could be bigger. I saw them being worried for their children going hungry without food or water. Under no circumstances can I even remotely feel what they are undergoing and pray that I never have to. As I scanned the news channels, all I could see was face after face of men women and children who were in a state of shock and of those whose lives were uprooted from the ground up.

The brave people of Nepal have always have had a love hate relationship with the Earth being the home to the largest mountain peak in the world and have always respected nature and protected the environment. They are the ones who have learned to love the land they are living off and yet nothing would have prepared them to face a difficult situation and a challenge posed to them by the earthquake. The people of Nepal are God fearing and they offer prayers to Lord Pashupatinath for their safekeeping and those of their sons and daughters who are away from Nepal. Maybe the earthquake might have shaken the very belief of the people as to ‘why me?’. But I am positive that even tough shaken, their faith will not vanish and the feeling that God will turn things back to normal soon will resurface and Nepal will rise again like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

When I started writing this piece, I thought about the help I could offer the people of Nepal. But the more I wrote and the more I thought, I realized that the people of Nepal want us to stand by them in this time just as they have stood by us during our times of need. My Nepali neighbors would want me to put my hand on his and her shoulder, like SRK did and tell them ‘Main Hoon Na’. That apart they need our medicines, our doctors, our food and anything that can help them return back to their lives. Of course, the scars left by the Quake and the devastation will leave its mark on the people of Nepal and it will take a very long time for the wheel to turn full circle. I do not know when that will happen or how it will happen, but it will happen definitely, such is the strong resolve of the Nepali people, as we have seen through the years.

On my part I will be doing whatever is possible to help my Nepali brothers and sisters in whatever small or big way I can. I haven’t thought how but no matter how big or small, in cash or kind, I am going to chip in to help them in time of need as they have through the years for us all. But before that I will go to my building security who is a Nepali and give him a hug to let him know that he is not a foreigner here but my brother and that I am there for him just as he is there for us. (His family’s safe as of now but without rations, water and medicines etc.) Just an assurance will ensure that he smiles a little, something he has not done ever since the story of the quake back home broke out.

And as I end, I can hear myself humming the tune from Avril Lavigne’s song- Keep holding on, which goes like this,

‘You're not alone

Together we stand

I'll be by your side, you know I'll take your hand

When it gets cold

And it feels like the end

There's no place to go

You know I won't give in

No I won't give in!’

Dedicated to the Brave People of Nepal and in fond memory of those who lost their livesin the 2015 earthquake!

(The Author’s close relatives which included women and children were stranded in Kathmandu when the quake struck and only managed to return home after three painfully long days. The stress and trauma felt by the people there was recounted to the author by them first hand)

Partha Sadhak

Tuesday, 28th April 2015

Mumbai