Mumbai : At a time of destruction, despair and fear in India’s neighbouring country Nepal, FPJ brings to you a tale of three brothers who fought all odds to save and help each other. Bijay Gurung, an advertising professional – who travelled from Mumbai to Kathmandu on Tuesday last week – and his brother Suresh, a student in Kathmandu, speak to FPJ from Nepal where, bundled up inside a tent amidst a ravaged land, the two siblings have had to take several decisions, face adversity and survive in the most helpless of times.
Where were you when the earthquake struck?
Suresh: I was having breakfast in my office where I am a part-time employee when the earthquake first struck at around 11.40 am on Saturday, May 25. As soon as the building started shaking, there was pandemonium everywhere. Completely clueless about what was happening, I ran out of the building and went to the open ground. Although all my office mates had come down, each person was to his own.
People were mindlessly running here and there, there was no logic to what was happening. Samir (and 18-year-old student, the youngest of the three) was in college then. He had also got out of the building and stayed at the open ground. When the tremors stopped and I got myself together I called Samir to check if he was safe. We decided to meet at our residence at 1 pm, which was a few minutes’ walk away.
What happened then…
Suresh: As I walked back home, I saw the destruction everywhere. Several buildings which were present there that morning were turned to rubble. After meeting Samir outside our residence, I made him stay at one place and started contacting all my friends to check if they were okay.
A few of us then set out to take stock of the situation in the city. We live in the Budanilkantha city of Kathmandu. Everywhere there were heaps of rubble instead of buildings. We came across a particular heap of rubble where we could hear people calling out for help. It was an old woman and an old man stuck under all the debris. We got them out from under the stones and called an ambulance, which came in 30 minutes. They had suffered moderate bruises, and there was a gash on the woman’s head, but otherwise they were doing okay.
I then went back home to check on our flat. Except for some cracks the room seemed to be habitable, but Samir and I did not dare to stay inside for long.
I again went out to the city and tried to rescue more people with my friends, but it was impossible for us to do that. There was too much rubble and we couldn’t move it without hurting the people trapped inside. So we gave up on our plans for rescue.
How did that day end?
Suresh: Towards the end of the day we bought several plastic sheets, got some bed sheets and clothes from our house and set up a tent along with other city dwellers in an open space near the road. All mobile networks were jammed and it was impossible to contact anyone at that time.
Bijay: Back in Mumbai, as soon as the news of the earthquake broke, I had started calling Suresh but couldn’t reach him. I did not have any contact with the embassy. I could do nothing but sit and wonder about my brothers, and pray for their safety.
How did you manage with the aftershocks the next day?
Suresh: This time we knew how it will be, so it was not that scary. We held each others’ hands, prayed, and rode it out patiently. What was scary was the conflicting news coming in from various sources. Each new update was worse than the previous one. So even if we were safe, just thinking about my parents who live in a village three hours away, my friends and what could have happened to them made us paranoid.
We couldn’t bear to sit in one place and do nothing, so once the aftershock was over, I set out again with my friends to rescue people. But it was just not possible. As I said, there was too much rubble. It was the most difficult moment for me. I ran back home, broke into tears, and passed out that night. All I could do then was make sure Samir came to no harm among all this. Rest everything took its toll on me.
We also got some rice, vegetables and utensils from the flat and created a make-shift kitchen outside the tent.
When did Bijay get in contact with you?
Suresh: On Monday, we were told by an officer from the Indian Army which was carrying out rescue work that Bijay is trying to contact us. We called him as soon as we got some network.
Bijay: Yeah that was on Monday evening. I had already spoken to my parents who were staying at my mother’s village and they were safe. As soon as I spoke to Suresh and Samir I started making plans to go to Nepal. I went to the airport on Monday midnight to board the early morning flight but didn’t get a ticket. I then arranged for a ticket on a flight to Delhi and reached there at around 10 am on Tuesday. I then took a bus from there to Nepal and reached Kathmandu nine hours later.
At Kathmandu, all the local people were telling me to go back to Mumbai. There was an extremely weird smell in the air, it smelled like death. People told me there’s going to be an epidemic because of the rotting bodies and were fleeing from the city. But I continued on my journey and finally reached my brothers’ tent that evening.
And you have been living in the tent with them ever since?
Bijay: Yes, I decided to stay here and help in whatever way I can. I arranged for Samir to go back to our hometown in Sikkim as he would be safe there. However, Suresh has to appear for his final exams which start on May 15. He cannot afford to repeat a year, as he wants to work in Japan, so we have decided to stay. We will now be travelling to our mother’s village in Dhading, which is a three-hour bus ride away. There too, we have heard, over 500 people have died. We will have to decide whether to take our parents home to Sikkim or let them stay in Nepal.
