Nepal floods: A tea break saved five friends from Raipur, then came an unexpected Rakhi surprise

A routine tea break turned into a life-saving decision for five friends from Chhattisgarh who were travelling through Nepal when devastating flash floods swept through the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river valleys on August 26.

The men, all aged between 50 and 60 and residents of Raipur's Mana Camp area, had reached Nepal for a holiday. They were around 50 km from Kathmandu's Pashupatinath Temple when the disaster struck.

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They had left Raipur on August 21 and arrived in Nepal the next day. The group had hired a car and planned to visit Pashupatinath Temple, Manakamana Temple and other tourist spots. But their journey took a frightening turn on Wednesday morning.

A tea break that may have saved their lives

At around 9.30-10 am on August 26, the five friends stopped at a hotel in Malekhu town in Dhading district for tea. That decision proved crucial.

Narayan Sen, 53, who runs a salon, said they were told at the hotel that a bridge further ahead had been washed away by the floods.

"We were lucky that we stopped for tea on August 26 when the flash floods struck. If we had left 10-15 minutes earlier, we might have got trapped," Sen told PTI Videos.

The hotel was owned by an Indian national, who helped the stranded travellers by arranging food for them as the situation around them rapidly deteriorated. Soon, the men began seeing the scale of the disaster themselves.

Cars, bodies swept away in the Trishuli

The friends watched the swollen Trishuli river carry away vehicles and debris. They also saw bodies being swept along by the powerful current. "We saw cars being swept away in the Trishuli river. Bodies and a lot of other things were also being carried away by the current. We were scared," Sen said.

The group moved to a higher location in Malekhu and spent the night inside their car. Local residents and officials helped them remain safe as the flood situation remained uncertain. Dinesh Singh Thakur, 55, a police head constable, said the group initially noticed people at the hotel becoming increasingly anxious before they understood what had happened.

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"While having tea at the hotel, we noticed people suddenly becoming restive. Later, we learnt about the devastation caused by the flood," he said.

They were later told that villages, buildings, offices and hydropower projects had been badly affected.

'We kept chanting Lord Shiva's name'

Thakur said the group later went near the Trishuli river to assess the situation. "What we saw is very difficult to describe in words," he said.

The experience left the friends shaken. Thakur said they kept chanting Lord Shiva's name during the ordeal and believed they had been protected by his blessings.

He also praised Nepal's local administration and police for helping stranded people. "There was no electricity and water, but the administration and police helped us. They told us that we were at a higher place and should not worry," Thakur said.

Stayed in touch with families through internet

Despite the difficult conditions, the five managed to remain connected with their families in India. They used internet services to communicate and also contacted the helpline provided by the Indian government to share their location.

"Internet service was working well there, so we remained in contact with our families and did not panic," Thakur said. The group eventually left Nepal on August 28 and returned to India on Saturday.

Rakhi from women security personnel becomes emotional moment

Amid the fear and uncertainty, one moment brought some comfort to the five friends. Local women security personnel tied rakhis on their wrists.

Thakur said the group had planned to return after Raksha Bandhan and their sisters had already given them rakhis before the trip.

"We were supposed to return from the trip after the Rakhi festival, so our sisters had already given us rakhis. The women security personnel deployed there tied these rakhis on our wrists. That was the most comforting moment," he said.

For Dinesh Ojha, who runs a tailoring shop, the memories of the disaster will not fade easily. He said they saw people desperately looking for relatives who had gone missing after the floods.

"We will never be able to forget what we saw. Many people were desperately searching for their missing family members," Ojha said.

The friends may have survived the worst of the flooding, but the two days that followed were far from easy." We slept in our car, but we could not really sleep. There was always the fear that another flood might come," Ojha said.

After finally reaching home, however, the group had one clear feeling: relief."We are happy that finally we have reached back home," he said.

(Source: PTI)