उमेर (Age):
45
ब्यावसाय/सम्बन्धन (Profession/affiliation): मिडिया क्षेत्र (media sector) / गैर मिडिया क्षेत्र (non-media sector)
गैर मिडिया क्षेत्र (non-media sector)
बैसाख १२ गते भुकम्प जाँदा तपाईं कहाँ हुनुहुन्थ्यो र के गर्दै हुनुहुन्थ्यो? (Please describe where you were and what you were doing when the earthquake hit Nepal on 25 April 2015?)
I was sitting inside a 3-storey house, with my family. We were having lunch.
भुकुम्प जाने बित्तिकै तपाईंले कस्तो प्रतिक्रिया (मानसिक, शारीरिक) प्रकट गर्नु भयो र के गर्नु भयो? (Please describe your immediate mental and physical reaction, and your response following the quake).
When it first hit, it was not as strong. I did realize it was an earthquake but didn’t expect the ground to shake in all direction that way. I immediately stood beneath the door as instructed on TV in the past and prayed to God it would stop. I thought my house would fall down all the while however it didn't. As it stopped, I ran for my life along with my daughter and my husband to an open space.
त्यतिखेर तपाईंलाई सब भन्दा महत्वपूर्ण कुरा (सरोकार) के लागेको थियो? (What were your most important concerns at that time?)
The most important concern was the safety of my family and my mother who lived at the top of a 7-storey house. Also, my concern was how to spend the night and collect all the emergency materials such as dry food, first aid box, pure water and torch light to last at least a few days.
त्यस बेला तपाईंले के-कस्ता सूचना खोज्नु भयो? आफूलाई आवश्यक सूचनाहरु पाउनु भयो त? (What types of information were you looking for at that time? Did you have access to all the information you needed?)
I wanted to know how disastrous the earthquake was as one of the houses in my locality had collapsed. I also wanted to know if there was any news regarding another tremor that might come. Of course, I thought it was predictable. Little, I came to know that it was uncertain. The only access to information at that time was the Radio and the rumors of course. The hoax such as volcanic eruption, the moon gone upside down, the tiger escape and earthquake prediction of 11 Richter scale really scared and confused me. I didn't really get access to all the information I needed.
रेडियो, टेलिभिजन, समाचारपत्र, अनलाइन जस्ता समाचार स्रोतहरु तपाईंलाई जानकारी दिन कत्तिको उपयोगी साबित भए? मिडियाका कुन पक्ष कमजोर, कुन पक्ष सबल रहे? (How helpful were news media such as radio, television, newspapers, online news portals, etc in informing you immediately after the quake and the days following it? Please note their strengths as well as weaknesses).
To be honest, I did not know how destructive the quake had been. I saw only a few houses that collapsed. But because of the media, I was updated time and again about the destruction, about how to be at a safe place and what was going on in the 14 hard-hit districts in terms of rescue and relief. So I must say news media were very helpful in informing all that I needed to know after the quake and the days following it.
Their strengths were,
• They did not make the citizens more worried than they already were.
• The news was constantly updated.
• People were being mobilized in some way or another through the media.
• People were being inspired and made aware of their capacity to help the needy, especially during a time of disaster like that.
• People were also made aware about the possibility of health epidemic and people in my locality immediately became sanitation and health conscious.
The weaknesses were:
• Some news media were interviewing astrologers who ended up making people terrified.
• Some even approved all the hoaxes that I have told you earlier.
भुकम्प पछिको हफ्ता कसरी बिताउनु भो? (Please describe how you spent the week following the quake-- what you did, etc.).
First few days, I stayed in an open space with my family and relatives. During night times, I slept sometimes and sometimes I kept watch. It was the hardest time of the day because the lights were out and it usually rained. Few days after the quake, I visited hospitals along with my daughter to help as a volunteer. I spent most of the time in the green zone at the Teaching Hospital. I found out that the earthquake was indeed the most devastating natural disaster the country had faced. I saw injured people of all ages and I saw dead bodies. I saw enthusiastic volunteers. Also roaming around Kathmandu gave me the idea of the situation that we were in.
त्यो हफ्ता तपाईंको सबैभन्दा स्मरणीय कुरा? (Any memorable facts or incidents during the week following the quake?)
One of the most memorable moments was when a stranger told me about the house that had collapsed. I went to see it with my own eyes. I saw the house had turned into "a sandwich" and rubble was all over the road. Even a car had been trapped inside. That was the moment when I realized I should have run out of my house and not stood under the door. I was lucky to have lived.
बैसाख १२ गतेको भुकम्पवाट हामीले के पाठ सिक्नु पर्छ? (What are some of the lessons that we should take away from the 25 April 2015 quake in Nepal?)
One of the most important lessons I learned was to always have a bag ready with emergency materials, the one you can grab and run in a time like this. Another lesson is the natural disaster like this can happen any time and no future prediction can stop it, hence all you can do stay prepared. And if you have survived a natural disaster then be useful to others; volunteering is important and just to be able to breathe and see one more sunrise is a blessing that we’ve taken for granted for so long.
If you haven’t shared your testimonial on Nepal earthquake 2015, you can do so here.