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A story based on the recent quake in Nepal

Three days after the devastating earthquake hit the country he was able to contact someone from his village. The first sentence he heard was news of his grandmother's death. After he heard the news he packed his bag and set off on the journey towards his birthplace.

Due to landslide caused by the earthquake, the roads were closed. The only way to reach his village was by hours and hours of walking. He saw many houses in ruins and people trying to build temporary shelters with whatever they had. He just tried to ignore what he saw because he did not want to imagine his village, his birthplace as a big pile of stones and mud.

As he reached near his village there was uneasiness in the atmosphere. It was difficult to breathe, his legs were shaking. He felt as if something was squeezing his heart.

He entered his village and saw few houses that were not standing anymore. People were helping each other out to make shelter. He felt happy that people of his village were helping each other out and working rather than complaining about not getting help.

The regular way to his house was blocked because of the houses that fell down during the earthquake. He made his way to his house through wheat field. As he reached where once stood his house his mother came running towards him and hugged him tight. Tears were rolling down her eyes as well as his.

After talking to his family members for some time, he went to take a tour of his village. He saw everything damaged or destroyed except for one thing, it was the smile on people's faces. Those smiles, which they had in the happiest moment of their lives, were still on their faces on this dark hour of time. They were saying that all was not lost. Then he realized that the pride Nepali people take in their history was not just for a show. This ability of people to smile in their darkest hour was indeed proof that Nepali people are brave and resilient.

After that he went towards his school, the place where he learned to read and write. He was just staring at damaged school from ground. Few of his friends joined him.  No one spoke a word but they were all thinking the same thing. After few minutes he broke the silence and said, “Let's make a promise that our future generation will not see the devastation that we have seen.” Everyone agreed with him and returned to village with new vision and ideas to rebuild their village.

It is true that we can neither predict nor stop natural disasters like an earthquake, but we can prevent loss of lives and damage of property if we take preventive measures. So like those guys in the story, let us together promise that the structures that we make today will not be the cause of death for our future generation.