Mail by Rajan Khatiwoda May, 16, 2015
Dear all,
Kathmandu (people) once again have become abnormal. Aftershock/shock (however now I don’t believe so much on what Geologists predict) was 5.5 and epicentre was in again Dolakha. Although it was not strong but was strong enough to destroy already several times hit structures and terrify already weak our mind. There have been some houses again collapsed at my area but no human destruction since all are alert and staying outside of house. Situation was becoming normal and people, who still have their houses standing, were planning to move in their house from today. Again, everybody is out. We had already donated all our temporary house stuff, this afternoon, to an orphan home near by. Thus, we are taking shelter at this very orphan-home with 25 orphan children rescued from different places tonight. We had booked a truck for tomorrow to supply aids to village but the truck driver is now sacred to go there since rocks are rolling down from the mountains. Let see if we can find a brave truck driver tomorrow. We tried if we can get helicopters but they charge 1500 euro and carry only 800 kg of aids which means 20 packs of rice. From today they started taking out the death bodies of buried people in my village. They could not start taking death bodies out because of continuous dry-land sliding. 25 people (officially reported but we do not know the exact number yet) of my village have been buried there. My some childhood friends also have been buried. It is really really hard to believe that such a thing happens all of a sudden. What to do? I don’t want to even pray for better anymore.
Best, Rajan
Mail from Rajan Khatiwoda, May 13, 2015
Dear Christiane,
Thank you very much for your kind words and wishes. It helps a lot to make ourselves mentally strong. The beautiful morning has arrived already. We are under hot sun at the moment searching for shadow under some small trees but as you know we people are so stupid that we cut all the trees around. There is a chicken farm near by. Now we are thinking to occupy it letting the chicken go out to the nature. Kathmandu is still not as bad as out side of Kathmandu beside the mental fear since rescue teams are also coming on time and food and other necessary aids are also distributed well compared to other places. Hospitals are also more or less free. US helicopters are time and again flying over us bringing several injured people from Dolakha, Rasuva, Nuwakot, and Sindhupalchok. I request you to try to help more to Langtang, Tsum, Sindhupalchok and Dolakha or similar projects for immediate relief. They are at the moment really in need of immediate help. I have uploaded some videos which we made yesterday before quake and some videos are made after the quake was over. We had gone to Home Hermitage Nepal (Roberta’s project) after the quake since the lady there told me that they are in need of money to make a CT scan of one of the injured old man. I had made appointment yesterday to meet Puspa Basnet to give the sent donation but I cancelled the appoint because of the shock and as they said they have enough means of survival at the moment since they are getting very good support from everywhere. I will go there probably tomorrow and hand in the donation. I was uploading some videos but internet is too slow thus upload was failed. Ill try to upload later. More soon.
Best, Rajan
On Wed, May 13, 2015 at 10:35 AM, Brosius, Christiane <brosius@asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de> wrote:
Dear Rajan Thank you again for your words. It is an unspeakably gruesome situation – but despite this, please do not give up hope, Rajan. Since we are meeting later today, we shall try calling you. Meanwhile, we will try to find out people who go to Nepal and can bring things, but I fear it might take a few days. Please don’t let fear eat up your soul. With my best wishes, also to your family.
Christiane
Mail from Rajan Khatiwoda, May 13, 2015 12:18 AM
Dear all!
Early good morning! Its 3 am now here. We all are sleeping under the empty sky since there was nothing to make a shed. We whose house were still useable had already donated tents, plastic and such things to the badly affected victims. We are feeling many after shocks. Sometime us army helicopter passes by our sky making big vibration. Everybody starts saying aayo aayo pheri aayo. We are very freezing since nature is also not doing favor to us. There is thunder and slight rain. We have covered ourselves inside jackets and pull over. Us helicopters are continuously bringing injured people from Dolakha and Sindhupalchok. One us helicopter is missing in Dolakha. Internet on mobile is working. We are now trying to prepare tea. Now nobody has hope that we live. Everybody is psychologically very weak and pessimistic. They are imagining of pralaya (final destruction). Everybody asks me why I came to the mouth of death from a safe place. My mother now is bit better. I and my father are trying to make her normal. We are desperately waiting for shiny morning. You find many typos since my hand is shaking out of cold and mental fear. Lets hope morning will bring some energy.
Mail from Rajan Khatiwoda, May 12, 2015
Dear all,
As I informed before there was again big shock 7.3 around Sindhupalchok and Dolakha and 6.8 in Kathmandu. We were inside the Patan office during this time. When the building started shaking we all ran out but stairs of our offices are so narrow and so it was very hard to go outside while shaking. We managed to come out but it was still shaking that we could see from outside. Just 10 minute before the earthquake, we were making a kind of documentary near Char Narayan temple in the Darbar square. Now this has behind it has been collapsed. There was not much further destruction in Kathmandu this time as compared to Dolakha and Sindhupalchok. All remaining houses including concrete house have been collapsed killing many people. Now the two big US air-force helicopters and other helicopters are carrying people from there to Kathmandu. Bhaktapur is also once again highly affected killing some people and injuring many many. The situation is so chaotic. Now almost everybody thinks that Nepal will be completely destroyed. Some people starting doing shanti puujaa to open the way to go to heaven. Today after the big aftershock, we (Yogesh and me) could manage to go to old peoples home (Roberta’s place) and we gave them 1000 Euro. Since our donation is meant for immediate relief and they are extremely in need, I though I should do it today. I wanted to change Euro into Nepalese currency but no shop was opened after the aftershock. She said that she will change it since there is Hotel Ganjong and its money changer near by. I have made some photos and videos of Patan and the old hermitage before and after the big shock happened. Another shock just came. Write you more soon….
Mail from Rajan Khatiwoda May 11, 2015
Subject: kathmandu is so depressive now
Dear All,
Nepal is very depressive at the moment. It already starts from the airport. Thousands tons of aids are lying on the ground of the airport here and there but no systematic distribution is there. I shortly went to the Guhyeshwari this evening. The main entrance of it has been closed and all sattalas and houses around the temple are cracked. The white building (Rajarajeshwarighat) where former King Gyanendra’s mother wanted to live instead of Narayanahiti also has been badly cracked. The Pashupatinath and around are not considerably damaged apart from a few small bell-styled (ghanti-shailii) temple. Finally my mother is very happy and fine seeing me personally. According to her, she cannot believe that she is all alive. She with her five friends had been buried under the collapsed house but they were rescued by the local people within 20 minute. Now she is so scared that she continuously feels earthquake. I taught them little bit about what earth quake is and how it happens. Before, they were believing that the tortoise (Skt. kuurva, Nep. kachuvaa) who has carried the earth on his shoulder is moving little bit because of the heavy weight of the earth. It is so funny that all my family and neighbour (including very learned pandits) did not believe what I explained. They all did not let me speak anything about how the earthquake happens. I had to believe what they concluded. One well learned Brahmin who did his Acharya from Baranasi and is my grand-father (cousin of my own grandfather) concluded that earthquake happens because of a big matsya (fish) which is playing around on the womb of the earth. When this fish shakes its ear-glands, the earth is shaking little bit, when it shakes its tail, the earth is shaking bit more and when it shakes whole body, the earth is shaking very strongly. This much is the update for today.
Good night, Best,
Rajan