Lhendup G Bhutia April 26, 2015
mid.day
Now, with cracks appearing on the same Boudhanath Stupa, Lhendup G
Bhutia says this has become a human tragedy for
Nepal
Around 11 kilometres from the centre of Kathmandu is the holy town
of Boudhanath, a centuries-old chorten or stupa around which a
bustling Buddhist town has grown. When I was young, my late
grandfather who lived in Nepal would take me there and tell me that
when the world will be coming to an end (a very Christian idea for
a Buddhist, I know), I should try and find shelter in Boudhanath.
The stupa, he used to tell me, would protect us.
I spent most of April 25, trying to frantically connect with my
aunt, Tenzin Choden, and her family members in Kathmandu. No one
answered the telephone in her house and an automated message on her
cellphone informed me that her number does not exist. I learnt
later that cellphone connections were down the entire day. I tried
other distant relatives and friends in Nepal too. But up till now I
haven’t been able to reach anyone.
As I waited and tried to connect, social networking
sites were filled with images and updates of the destruction in
Nepal. But all I had from my relatives was silence. I couldn’t help
but think most about my aunt's two young boys, aged seven and
four.
Eventually, someone from my family was able to get
through to my aunt late in the evening. She said, in between sobs
and frequent disconnections that as the trembling began, she and
the children had run out of home to a school ground which is at
some distance. But, the tremors were so frequent and so long, that
she kept falling down as she ran. She has no clue how long they
would have to stay in the ground or in what condition her house is
in.
I unsuccessfully tried calling her again. And one of
the last visuals I saw on Facebook late in the evening, put up by
someone in Kathmandu, was that of the Boudhanath stupa and the long
crack across its tip.