He’s getting on in years but still retains his verve when describing the two tremors.
He is still a farmer, but his most important position is that of high priest of the Khaling Rai religion. He officiates at Was festivals, funerals and healings.
His house has been damaged and he is too old to repair it. He is counting on Majam Lal to rebuild the school. He remembers Maken Ful, whom he once cured…
I’d left with a friend and on the way back, behind Aananda’s house, it started to move. I couldn’t walk any more. I sat down on the ground. I could see the houses moving. The walls of the school building near Aananda’s house fell down. But fortunately it was Saturday (a public holiday in Nepal).
On 12 May, I was in the house built near the sacred site of the Khaling Rai. When the tremor started, I got out of the house. At that moment, a 20 cm stone fell at my feet. If it had hit me, I would have died. The second tremor was much stronger than the one on 25 April. There was a lot of noise, landslides and ground movements. I sat down on the ground in the sacred place and held the sacred tree. I was lying on the ground. All I could think about was saving my life.
After the second earthquake I went back home to get news of my son and daughter, who live in the village. At first I didn’t think my house was damaged, but when I looked more closely I saw that there was damage. That’s when I thought about my neighbours. It was the same for everyone. Then I tried to find out what had happened to my animals, and how to give water to those up in the village. But I couldn’t get up there. I was afraid they were dead.
After that, the people got together and took the most important things out of their houses. All the families lived together in an area previously reserved for animals; it became our temporary home. We stayed there for a month and a half. My son helped a lot to save lives.
When the villagers gathered after the earthquake, I spoke to the people and stayed there. My son went to see the others. After the first earthquake, people were talking. But I can’t remember what they were talking about. I was shocked. After the second earthquake on 12 May I was also shocked, because even though I was safe, after the stone fell at my feet, I remembered that my parents had told me that after a big earthquake there could be aftershocks. The second aftershock was so strong that I told the others that we were all going to die, that it was the end of life.
Why the tremors?
Kabare thought that Buma (the god of the Khaling Rai) was angry because people had done wrong, that they hadn’t respected Buma, that they hadn’t sacrificed animals, that Buma didn’t want the house built near the sacred place. He had been asked for his opinion on the construction of a house for foreign tourists. He had given his consent. But when the earthquake struck, he realised that Buma was not happy.
But when he heard about the disasters in Kathmandu, Namche and elsewhere, after all the deaths, he thought that Buma, their local god, wasn’t powerful enough to cause all those tremors. It wasn’t Buma, but the great god above Buma who had done this because he was angry. He doesn’t know the name of this great god, but in 1934 it was already this great god. Not everyone has the same opinion on these causes, but it’s his.
When I think back to those times, I get very scared. When I think of the earthquakes, I’m shocked, I hiccup. For a month, when I was sitting down, I trembled thinking about that day. For me, there won’t be any more earthquakes.
In my opinion, although the police have classified my house as uninhabitable, I don’t want to destroy it. I don’t have the strength to rebuild it. It’s the young people who have to think about change. I can’t think it.
I don’t think we can offer anything to the great God to stop an earthquake, or to prevent another one. It doesn’t come from our hand, but from his.
However, in the future, we must avoid building houses with stones, because it’s dangerous. As for the way to build, I don’t think you should build with more than one level, and on top of that you should put metal sheets or wood. But that’s expensive and impossible for me. I’d like to know how to build earthquake-proof.
But finally, I’d like to thank you for the studies you’ve done on the village, for the clothes you’ve given us, and for having enabled my grandchildren to go to school thanks to your actions.
Marc Béchet – November 2015
