My Earthquake Experience; Near Death and Eternal Love

This is a short story describing my experience during the 7.8 Magnitude earthquake that hit Nepal in 2015.

It was a normal Saturday morning of a typical wedding season in Nepal. It was one of my closest friend's wedding ceremony. I took a bus to Chhetrapati, where my friend was housed and from where the wedding procession was to begin. It was located in the area where I grew up. I spent almost twenty years of my life there and although I spent some of the best days of my life there, I also suffered a lot. There was always lack of drinking water and the security situation was abysmal. The area also had some of the narrowest alleyways in Kathmandu city. Most of the passages were so narrow that even  motorcycles had difficulty navigating them. After I reached his home, I helped my friends who were decorating the wedding vehicle. We started for the destination after an hour, where we would enjoy our meal , finalize the marriage according to Nepali customs and return back to his home with the bride and groom in the car.

Everything was moving on swimmingly and we were enjoying the meal when suddenly I heard shouts and cries everywhere. The entire banquet hall started to shake vigorously. Walls started to crack and bricks fell off them. My mind went numb for a while and I didn't realize that it was an earthquake initially. After a few seconds, realizing that it was one of nature's curses, I began to step towards the nearby table. I tried to hide below the table with my eyes focused towards the ceiling of the hall and its heavy decorative pieces, perhaps fearing that if the ceiling fell off, there was no way we could survive.

After the shaking had stopped, everybody started to run outwards of the hall. I also started running to get out  when I saw few elderly women crying and falling down on the floor. Despite my pleas, they didn't want to get out. They were too afraid. I begged them telling that it was too dangerous to stay there. When they insisted on staying out of fear, I dragged one of them forcefully. She slowly stood up and I took her out of the building. Others followed , with few young wedding attendees helping them.

When I went outside, I saw that the road was filled with people. Most of them were crying and shouting and some of them were immediately trying to contact their loved ones. Upon seeing that the bridegroom didn't have his shoes on him, I rushed inside the building. That was one of the stupidest things I have ever done and I am still finding it hard to understand why I was risking my life for my friend's shoes!! Perhaps, my head was still not clear after the initial state of shock.

I tried calling my mother. But all the phone lines were very busy. Although I felt a little at ease realizing that my parents were now in a very well built house with open surroundings, I was still somewhat worried. One of my friends, Sujan, whose house was nearby started to run towards his home fearing for his loved ones. I ran after him hoping that I could help his family and the other people of the area. Most of them were familiar to me and I still had a lot of love for the place since I had spent most of my childhood there.

Initially, I was extremely afraid to enter the narrow gully of that area. After a few minutes, I swallowed my fear and started running furiously. After I got the confirmation that all was well with my friend's family, I started towards the house where my family had spent twenty years as tenants. Everybody was out in the open at a small field near the house. I started to console the crying people and requested everyone not to worry and that the danger had passed.

However, my own fear was difficult to control after an aftershock of the earthquake hit the area. My old house started to shake and  some of the older houses in the area began to crumble. After the shaking stopped , I stayed there for a while still trying to contact my family.

Few of us decided to head towards more open areas. On the way, I finally started to realize the magnitude of destruction. It was mind-boggling. Most of the houses near the roads were destroyed. I didn't dare to go near those houses. After walking for a while, I got a phone call from my father. He told me to talk to my mother and the relief in my parents voice was obvious. I was also relieved that my family was safe.

Believing that most of the roads and bridges must have been destroyed, I thought that my journey towards my home would be a long one. So, I bought a bottle of water and few food items , took out my coat , tied it round my abdomen and decided to help anybody in need along the way. When I heard that one of the most famous buildings of Nepal, Darahara, was damaged, I decided to head towards that area to help. However, the road towards Darahara had been sealed as the damage in that area was immense.

Buildings immediately outside the banquet hall

Destruction near my old home

I returned back and started heading towards my home. Luckily, I found a local bus after walking for few minutes. Everybody in the bus was chatting about their Earthquake "experience". After I returned home, I saw that everybody in that area was staying in the nearby football ground with a huge speaker broadcasting news from Radio Nepal, the only communication service that was working alright at that time. I ran towards my father and mother who were sitting there, shell-shocked. They raised a smile after seeing me.

We started talking about our experiences. My father told me that my mother had fallen down in the house immediately after the earthquake shouting my name, "Subash, Subash!!". My father had to drag her towards the ground and she was almost unconscious. She had feared for me realizing that I was in a very congested area of Kathmandu.

I feel lucky to have somebody that holds that level of love for me. When everybody was running for their own lives, my mother's first thoughts were about me. I finally understand why people believe that nothing can buy love.  That was real love for me. Nobody will ever care for me so much. I feel extremely lucky that I am alive and will get to spend time with my caring and loving family.

Reviews

[J.A. Marquez]

Wow, incredible. This story is touching. Thank you for offering a window into what is happening in the world. We have news coverage and social media, but it is rare to read a first hand account of things like this. I am glad things are okay for you. When you mentioned your mother calling out your name I teared up. I could not imagine being separated from my children in a time like that. Just amazing.

[Subash Dhakal]

Thank you for your review.