With the ongoing blockade for over ninety days,

There are many who are suffering without pay,

With the fights, chaos and struggle at the border,

There are thousands whose lives have been out of order.

Kathmandu has winters like never before,

What is happening on the outskirts, is so sore,

People have been dying from frost and cold,

Even the numbers on papers aren’t printed in bold.

It has been hard for families to cook meals,

The transformers blow up so does the bills,

The electricity is off for more than twelve hours,

It gets hard to use the induction cookers, on the power.

The struggle is not just for switching lights in the dark,

The infinite lines of vehicles near the petrol pump parked,

Our life has not just been revolving around these,

There are countable gas cylinders, medicines and trees.

When there is no stock of gas or electricity to charge inverters,

Residents are cooking on wood burners  for starters,

This is complicated and hard in itself, as the wood is scarce,

In conclusion, to eat a hot cooked meal at each household is rare.

What more could the consequence be, with the school closed not free,

When would the government rise and stop to spree,

How can we tolerate this nuisance that’s prolonged?

With our lives on stake, passing each day and break of dawn!!

Last few events at Ktm Drive has made me realize that there is so much to give, and the more that I have gotten involved in social activities, it feels that we have been doing such less work. There are kids who are struggling to live another day, physically challenged who have never experienced a full functioning body, many who cannot afford one time meal, and some who have never seen their parents.

All of this makes me wonder how granted we have taken our life and very few of us are grateful about the things and people we are blessed with.  It makes me reason on how God could be unfair giving people so much pain. Aren’t all of us from the same creator, then why do we have such inequality?

There are many children who do not eat food without watching television and situations when parents are feeding their child are a common sight. Some waste a part of their meals and are the stubborn lot who do not value food. It is not just about children but adults are a victim too. We are deeply tangled in our lives that we miss out on the basics. We might be complaining about how tough the times are, and things which are not going as per our plan while there are some who do not know the meaning of a chart, because they do not have many days to plan their life. The most that we can do is give our time at these places, to these people. Helping the less fortunate by giving them eateries, stationeries, and puzzle books is a great idea but it would be a “cherry on the cake” if we could spend time and explain the kids on how to solve the puzzle. This is when the real act of giving comes in. They desire the time that we can give so they can share their stories, play games and feel connected with someone they have just met.

There are two incidents which shook my heart and left a deeper impact in my journey. One was meeting HARKE, this kid is about 9 years old. We met him at Disabled Recreation Center, while we were sponsoring the kids from the organization for their education.  He did not look at us and was really scared because it was his first day. On getting to know his story, he was playing with his friends in the village and thought the electricity wire was a rope. He got electrocuted and lost both his hands. He was taken to the school where the other kids study, named Gokarneshwor Mahadev, but the principal suggested it would be very hard for Harke to adjust to the environment. We looked out for his treatment after that, but to our dismay, it could not be done in Nepal. There is a Korean team who has made a documentary on him and we hope that he gets back what he has lost. The next time when I visited DRC, which was after 4-5 months, he was happily smiling and flaunting his Spiderman costume. He played carom board with his leg and smiled at me for making him drink the juice that we offered.

The next one was when we visited the Kanti Bal hospital on Christmas day. The day went deep, thoughtful and content. As we got wishes to them, we were Santa for
the kids suffering from cancer. They were in different stages of cancer and each one of them was differently diagnosed. One of them was 8 months old and had no idea on what was happening as he smiled and played. He was suffering from blood cancer. Ankita, who had lost her hair cried in pain when the chemo session started. My thoughts went blank and I wondered these gifts were nothing on the suffering they had been going through. It was hard to see her cry, as much as we distracted her, the ache was hers and we could do nothing about it.
There was this other kid who had come from Bara and his parents did not have money to pay in for the next therapy session. We could help them with one cycle, and hopefully we could do it for the rest too.

These incidents left me amazed and I marvel how life turns up for some and why do we ponder over the smallest things in life. It is sad to accept that we want a reminder now and then to appreciate the significance around us, to learn that we have no problem breathing, to realize that we are able enough to help the less privileged.  We need to understand that there is way more to giving than just giving.

As I was travelling to work I saw a lady carrying two huge plastic bags and waiting for a public transport to get to her destination. I was wondering if we were going on the same route and I could drop her off. As I was about to ask her on where she was going, she showed her thumb asking for a lift. I stopped and she told me she was headed to Chabahil, while I was off to Durbar Marq. Since she was waiting for a vehicle since the longest time she hopped on to the bike and asked me to drop her to the junction which was the same road for both of us. In the 5 minute ride we spoke about the crisis situation, and how it is affecting each family in Nepal and how hard has it become to stay alive. This is not just her story but every other citizen in Nepal is being affected on some or the other level.

For the ones who do not know what is happening in Nepal, we are going through the unofficial blockade which has been running for the third month now. The blockade has caused supply shortages of fuel, gas, medicines and much more. The prices have increased on an enormous rate and the inflation has gone up to a much higher note. As the winter season has begun, it has become worse on families who are not able to meet the increase rate on the gas cylinders and neither able to afford induction heaters. Though, majority of families have purchased induction heaters on the highest price, they have not been able to use them completely because of the electricity schedule. During situations, where people are not being able to pay for induction heaters, they have been eating one meal a day to save up on the usage of gas. The gas prices have gone four times and there are many who are ready to pay that amount and that too is short of supply. The lines of gas cylinders can be seen in every other lane and they are chained with one another to maintain the queue. Individuals have marked their cylinders and some have been waiting for hours in line with the hope of getting a filled gas cylinder.

To add to the whole misery, the load shedding is running for ten hours a day. Preparing a meal has become extremely tough when a gas cylinder is empty, and there is no electricity. There are areas where the electric transformers have exploded because the load of appliances could not be taken, making the whole vicinity dark for couple of days.

We are a very compromising and adjusting lot, but isn’t it too much?? How long are we going to challenge ourselves to manage another day for the basic necessities of life?? Hasn’t the everyday schedule already become tricky?? What about the people, who have been earning through their daily wages, how will they match the rate of inflation?? We cannot begin to imagine how the villagers are surpassing the cold when the capital of the country is freezing?? Aren’t we going back to primitive era while the other side of the world is on advancement??

These are the everyday discussions and talks that happen in each locality and community. Each one of us has crossed the level of tolerance and has no idea on how worse can it get. As much as many of us are not encouraging black marketing, we have become bound to purchase and accept that the solution to the situation is buying products in five times the original rate. The level of traffic in the city states clearly how people have been buying fuel in black, the prices which have varied madly in past few months.

The government has definitely not maintained its role and the system is haywire. Families are cooking meals on wood which has increased indoor pollution and the “less greener place” is moving towards no green. Irrespective of that there are some who have been making the most of the situation by getting in to the black business, but let us warn them, that because of them there are families who have not been able to cook meals and feed their children.

Every sector is badly hit, factories are shut, hospitals are going through rough phase, airline frequency has reduced, the hotel industry has low business and is not being able to give services, the schools are hardly open and people are being fired from their jobs. Waiting in line for minimum of ten hours for petrol near the petrol pump is common and so is lining up near the nearest store for a gas cylinder. Locals have no option other than sitting on the roof of the buses to reach their destination and the public vehicles are running double the occupancy. Petrol is freely available everywhere except the petrol pumps and the realization that every other vehicle on road is running through black petrol has become guilt free. There are disturbances in the border, with almost fifty people who have lost their lives in the protests till date. The scenario is worsening and if not taken care of, this crisis will surely push millions to poverty.

The last sets of saplings were to be given out before the plantation season was over. We were contemplating on conducting the event at the departmental store and giving free saplings to the consumers who visited the store or giving it at Euro kids to the naughtier lot.

Since the idea of adding younger greeners was selected, we went to the Euro Kids, Bansbari branch around 10.30 in the morning. We were three members from the KTM drive. As we were looking at the space and garden of the kindergarten, we saw the green shrub that we had planted last year. It stood tall and beautiful.  It made us proud and we started calculating the number of trees that we had planted so far. More than thousand saplings had been given out as we had drives at the malls, shopping centers and more than twenty schools were covered with “green event”. The green event was very simple. We made different groups of one class and asked them what green was, how a plant needed to be taken care of and why was

it so important. In the end, we gave one sapling to each group and they would plant it in the school premises with our guidance.  On one of our last events when we were planting saplings, the coordinator gave us a better idea on how could awareness be spread to a larger group. He advised us that we give saplings to the kids individually so they could plant it at their home.  We loved the idea and decided the same for our next events.

The day of the event had started. We saw the kids running towards us. It felt like they were out from the cage and had no idea on what was going to happen. They were really happy and excited. As they kept jogging around, it surely was a task to get them form a circle. Since we were three of us, we managed with the help of the teachers. Two of us (Shilpa and me) were explaining about roots, leaves, colors and how a sapling is to be planted while the other member (Neha) was entertaining the kids and making them play games.

Some of them were very smart and knew everything about the plant. It was amazing to see their energy and enthusiasm. We made two groups, one who had garden at their house and the others who would plant on the school grounds. It was a fun event for them as they had studied about plants in their previous classes. There was a lot happening amongst the kids. One showed us the whole process of plantation, which the other said that plants are required as they give out oxygen. I was surprised on hearing the information they shared with us. One of the kids said he did not want to plant as the sapling was dirty and the others wanted to play with the soil and dirt.

We made the kids name their plant and told them that we would come and see how well they are taking care of the tree. They promised us that they would plant with their family members.

We bid them goodbye and it made us realize once again how kids have the power to change the aura around, the mood and the innocence being spellbound. It left each one of us wanting to be a kid once again – carefree and relaxed.