Nothing beats Nature. It was believed by science experts that a ‘major’ earthquake would hit Nepal in the near future. But, the dilemma with the ‘future’ is that it comes too soon. The national monumental landmark ‘Dharara’ is gone. More than 8000 people lost their lives.

As we were just trying to cope with the April 25 quake, suddenly another major earthquake hit us. It is saddening, also terrifying to see Nature’s fury. Our nation is experiencing utter destruction at a scale which is unimaginable.

Most people took shelter outside their residences. Many were in fear of more aftershocks. Thousands lost their lovely homes.

Listening to people’s stories, their sorrows, and sharing suffering is now going on. I cannot resist talking about my sick mother who ran for her life. It is so difficult to talk with our friends, whose relatives have been killed by the earthquakes. It is difficult to imagine the plight of those who are hard hit by the big earthquakes. In the heat of this moment, many of us lack clean drinking water, food, and proper shelter. The people are in desperate need of relief materials.

The recent news that the government is going to release billions of dollars is misleading as nobody eats paper money. In fact, politics, and politicians intervene in matters related to the general public and the relief efforts are taking a long time. They have failed to mobilize the relief efforts properly.

It is also important to remember that we are not alone. People from around the world are stretching their helping hands and everybody’s thoughts and prayers are with us. The Nepali diaspora have started contributing through friends, family and neighbours to those struggling to cope with the devastating situation back home. Every penny, cent and paisa are valuable at the time of crisis. My colleagues have raised millions of euros to donate for relief efforts. Just a few weeks back we sent thousands of euros and deposited them in the PM Disaster Relief Fund.

Doing small things can make a big difference in people’s lives. Some are building mobile apps to keep public informed about earthquakes (e.g. ‘Nepali Earthquake Info’). Some good people are working through charities and NGOs, and INGOS. Others have donated truckloads of rice, noodles and medicines.

Together we can overcome this great quake crisis. It is not something new for us Nepalis, we have seen this happen before, and we will rebuild our country again.