Dear Friends, And here it comes once again - another tremor of magnitude 7.4 (on the Richter scale) which you must have surely heard of. Although we had been experiencing aftershocks even to this day, this tremor was almost as violent as the first intense one of 25th April, which destroyed much of Nepal and damaged so much of our buildings. This time, the tremor lasted for more than 20 seconds. Children were studying in the school and elders were working in their respective places. As soon as we sensed the slightest of vibration, we alerted everyone to move to the open place. Luckily no one was injured, but this earthquake took a toll on our buildings. While we were running for our lives, we could see bricks and chunks of walls falling from the upper floors of the kitchen complex. Today's tremor had increased the magnitude of the damages already caused earlier, with widening of cracks and adding many more. We were deeply frightened at the sight of cowshed and boys dorm complex which was shaking more violently than ever, our hearts lost all hopes as we thought this would be the last moment we could see that building standing. Luckily we had moved all the boys to temporary shelter until repair/reconstruction. Today's major earthquake has rendered this building completely unsafe to reside, as it may come down any time. We have lost a complete 4-story building with a total floor space of 5000 square meters. And with this we are at a serious need for a proper shade for our cows, the pashmina workshop and rooms for the boys to live in. The remaining structure will have to be destroyed and a new one constructed in this place. The mill and the reception building that were unscathed during the last earthquake have suffered quite a lot of damage this time. Severe cracks on the walls are prominent on both buildings as well as some of their walls have dislodged from their original position. Repairing all these buildings is now an additional task. In the past days we have been preparing ourselves to overcome the deeply instilled fears and trying to return to a more normal -like life. And the new tremor brings all our confidence and strength crashing down just like the walls. This latest disaster has heavily compromised safety of life and we are in a situation of constant fear. Recovering, Repairing and Reconstructing is a herculean task. But with The Divine Mother's Grace and Your loving support there's no calamity that we can't cope with. Thanking You With Love and Light Ramchandra Das and all the children of Sri Aurobindo Yoga Mandir Donate to the Ashram Earthquake Relief Fund HERE. These are three stories by Ashram graduate Rishi Bhandari about three children who were at the Ashram/orphanage and graduated. The first story is about himself. Rishi Bhandari It was the summer of 1998 and Ramchandra, founder of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, had gone to pick up his bag from a village in far Terai at the home of one of his acquaintances. He got his bag and got ready to travel back to Kathmandu in the morning. On the doorstep he saw a frail looking woman in her mid twenties with a five year old boy. As she saw him she said, "Ever since he saw you yesterday evening he has not let me sleep at night, constantly asking me to let him go to Kathmandu with you." Ramchandra's eyes opened wide, but he thought to himself, "Well, this kid will certainly run back to his mom." He talked to some of the villagers and learned that this woman's family lived in a cowshed of some other family. Her husband was in India working as a laborer in an iron rolling mill. He would toil in the factory for the day and later spend his time and money drinking. They had two sons and a daughter, and Ramchandra saw that they all were malnourished and underfed. When it came time to leave, Ramchandra picked up his bag and got ready to leave, the little boy followed him. He smiled and held the boy's hand; he was ready to let go of the boy's hand if he wanted to go back to his mom. The boy followed Ramchandra, didn't look back, and has never looked back. Now Rishi is a young man of 22, currently studying biotechnology and also helping the children at the Ashram with their education. He has travelled to Australia, Korea, New Zealand and India to the....... Read more here |