Woke up not knowing what I wanted to do. By 7, I has decided to leave with Narendra, to Gorkha. It took us around four  and half hours to reach a tiny. village, where the army had made a base camp for distribution. After an hour of taking pictures and distributing relief, we decided to head towards the Gorkha Durbar.

We were told that Barpak wouldn’t be possible in an old rickty Maruti. A number of organisations were already there and sending aid towards the villages. Saw the vehicles of  Save the children,  World Vision and Norwegian Church Aid Alliance.

I don’t know how one is supposed to remain detached and worry about the image at such times? I don’t think I can ever be a serious photographer.

Witnessed the magnitude of the destruction today as my cabbie Narendra, drove me to Pattan and Bhaktapur. Volunteers from all over the world can be found in all the tiny nooks and corners in and around Kathmandu, working relentlessly with the locals to mitigate the effects of the Gorkha Earthquake.

The displaced can be found in tents, everywhere. Though, the situation is grim, I’ve yet to meet an angry person. There’s a certain calmness about the people I meet. Even as a sixteen  year old, goes through a pile of rubble- which was once her home, she smiles through the pain.

Life returns to a normal pace , for some- the shops have reopened and the streets are crowded. Now, that the gravity of the situation has slightly subsided,  volunteers can be seen leading a helping hand as well as taking selfies, in front of some of the tourist spots. It’s an odd mix of volunteerism mixed with tourism.

I have never felt like a Sardarni because I was never asked to be one. My parents are partially  liberal. As long as I don’t convert, they don’t bother about my flirtations with other religions. But other Sikhs get perturbed by me and I feel a bit akward around them. The fact that Punjabi doesn’t roll of my tounge doesn’t help my cause.
But there’s something I like about Sikhism – Seva. That’s why I head towards the gurdwaras, in tumultuous times. 
There are two main Gurudwaras in Kathmandu one is Nanak Math and the other is Gurdwara Guru Nanak Satsang. Though, the former is a historical landmark for Sikhs, as Guru Nanak Deviji is believed to have travelled here. It’s the latter where the relief was being distributed. The only Sikhs to be seen around were the Sevakars and the recepients were the locals from the surrounding areas, who had been affected by what is called the Gorkha Earthquake.

I waltzed into the airport, with my stuff at half eight, not realising that there would be a formal procedure for carrying relief internationally-  meaning a letter from the government. At the Indigo checkin, I was asked the same question for the umpteenth time. “Are you from an Ngo?” “Nope, I just have very generous friends”, I replied. It wasn’t a lie. During the Kashmir Floods as well as this time around , I just needed to inform my classmates and they arranged for as much material as I could possibly carry. 

The girl at the check in-Ankita, just didn’t know what to do. She called her superior. The man who turned up, turned out to be a really kind soul. He asked me a couple of routine questions, I showed him some of my work from the Kashmir Floods and he gave me the green signal. Jaspreet, allowed me to carry a hundred and thirty seven kgs of excess baggage without charging me a penny.

It was such a tedious task for both Anikta and him, they spent more than half an hour trying to sort out my affairs. They further gave me a reference in Nepal, just in case I got into trouble with the authorities.

Today, as I arrived  another earthquake rocked Nepal. There was utter chaos at the airport. But despite that: whether it was arranging extra trolleys, loading the stuff or locating porters for me, my co passengers  helped me with everything. The kindness of strangers never ceases to amaze me.

Though, they did open up a few cartons, the Nepalese authorities, on their part, let me breeze through with a warning.”You will not be able to do this alone without a local contact. Try to go through an organisation.” “I’ll manage”, I replied.

I’ll see what to do. Tomorrow is another day.

P.S- Thank you Bineeta Grover, Mrs Grover, Shruti Chabbra, Mrs Chabbra, Ankita, Jaspreet and Indigo Airline.