उमेर (Age):
24
ब्यावसाय/सम्बन्धन (Profession/affiliation): मिडिया क्षेत्र (media sector) / गैर मिडिया क्षेत्र (non-media sector)
मिडिया क्षेत्र (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?)
In my rented room at Kathmandu, Koteshwor.
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).
I knew it was a great shock at the initial stage of tremor. Without waiting even a second, I immediately ran out from my room. While running, I fell down on the ground thrice and got injured. Both physically and mentally, it was stressful at that moment.
त्यतिखेर तपाइलाई सब भन्दा महत्वपूर्ण कुरा (सरोकार) के लागेको थियो? (What were your most important concerns at that time?)
While houses were shaking, I only thought about myself. I couldn’t remember anything and felt it was my last day. “The entire Kathmandu is going to be devastated and transforming into rubble”- I thought. When I managed to came out to the open space, I thought about my family, friends, and relatives. Shortly after, I thought about the condition of entire nation.
त्यस बेला तपाईंले के-कस्ता सुचना खोज्नु भयो? तपाईंले आवश्यक सुचनाहरु 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 searched for the information of losses caused by the earthquake but I couldn’t get any information immediately.
रेडियो, टेलिभिजन, समाचारपत्र, अनलाईन जस्ता समाचार स्रोतहरु तपाइलाई 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).
Radio was really helpful in informing me at that moment. Social sites were also informative. They were providing the information as soon as possible. I praised their effort to broadcast information as soon as possible by taking risk. But, in the name of giving information soon, some media, knowingly or unknowingly slipped from their path. They came to propagandize the issue, with rumors of the next great quake. Moreover, in the immediate aftermath, It was not the time to depend on newspapers because it was a mid-day hit. But, days after the quake, most of the broadsheet dailies published news only about their surrounding–Kathmandu.
भुकम्प पछिको हफ्ता कसरी बिताउनु भो? (Please describe how you spent the week following the quake– what you did, etc.).
I spent three nights in the open space. I purchased fast food from shops. I entered my room twice or thrice a day only. On the fourth night, I reached Chitwan and stayed inside home.
त्यो हफ्ता तपाईंको सबैभन्दा स्मरणीय कुरा? (Any memorable facts or incidents during the week, following the quake?)
I was facing a great and a rare earthquake. I thought that we are the earthquake-generation. It, of course, was my most memorable incident.
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?)
We should learn many lessons from that earthquake. How to build our houses, how to develop villages, what provisions to follow while building homes, whom to consult when needed, what sorts of soil is better for building a home, etc.
If you haven’t shared your testimonial on Nepal earthquake 2015, you can do so here.