He had just returned from Kuwait. With not a single Rupee in his pocket (except for some loose Kuwaiti Dinars that he hadn't got time to exchange), he was urgently speaking to a microbus driver. "Dai, I didn't have time to exchange money. I was in a hurry. Can you take me to Trishuli? I'll find some way to pay you there," he was requesting the driver on Tuesday morning at the Kathmandu-Trishuli bus stand in Machha Pokhari, Balaju.

Jiwan (Kewal) Bakhati is from Tupche in Nuwakot. It wasn't difficult to understand why he rushed home to Nepal with even no time to exchange money.
"My house is ruined. There's no one to help rebuild it and no one else can take care of my family," he says, unloading his troubles on the narrow Nagbeli road to Trishuli. "I can't wait to be with my family."

The earthquake did not only destroy his house, it also injured his young son. The roof and the wall of his house fell on the boy and it was up to his mother to rescue him with some difficulty. Jiwan heard no news of his family for three days, and when he was finally able to reach them through telephone, he decided to return home. He guessed that with his house in rubbles, his family was definitely in a very sorry state, and so he had to return home.

With many young people migrating for work, who will take up the rebuilding and rehabilitation processes in villages?

"I just want to reach home as quickly as possible and make some sort of shelter," said Jiwan.

The company where Jiwan worked in Kuwait wouldn't give him leave except the regular holidays. He was also refused his salary.

"I had to forget about getting my salary. Instead, I asked my friends for 10 Dinars each and that's how I managed to fly back," he relates.

This incident is not limited to Jiwan's family or his village. Many young people in the country are abroad working in various countries. In fact, statistics from the Foreign Employment Department claim that more than 1,500 young people leave the country each day to secure employment in a foreign country. Many of these young people are miserable about not being able to help their families at such a terrible time but because of lack of jobs and dreams of prosperity, they are forced to stay put.

They take to social media to express their feelings. They call back home each day to ask after their family members. Yet nothing can stem the feeling of helplessness they undergo.

For those left behind, the pain of separation has risen considerably in these last few days.

"We were in a horrible state. I'm feeling much better because he's here now. At least, there's someone who will rebuild the house now," says Jiwan's wife, Muna.

Jiwan had earlier worked in Malaysia for four years during which time he earned money to buy some land. Then he took a loan of Rs 1 million to build his house. He still hasn't been able to pay back Rs 350,000 of that loan.

"For two years, I had been planning to quit my job and return home. But the earthquake has left me with no choice other than to return for work," he says.

According to him, there are more than 700 Nepalis working in the same company as him in Kuwait. There are many friends from Nuwakot there, too. They all want to return to their villages but none are in the situation to give up on their salaries. Though the Nepali Embassy in Kuwait has requested the Kuwaiti government to let the employees from earthquake-affected districts return home, there has been no such response, he says.

"I had to tell them that if they wouldn't return my passport, I would file a complaint at the Embassy. Other friends are in the same boat; their hearts are here, but the company is refusing to grant leave and pay the salaries," Jiwan explains.

Tupche, close by the district headquarter, is the most affected by the earthquake. Only one or two houses are unaffected by the April 25's devastation. And the most important thing is that there is no one to reconstruct these houses.

"It's not just our village. Young people in the country are mostly abroad and all those left behind are women, children and old people," he says.

As soon as he reached Trishuli bus park, he took a loan from a shop nearby to pay the driver. He explained he knew the shopkeeper and the loan was for Rs 5,000.

And like Jiwan, there was Bharat Ale Magar from Kalyanpur who had returned home, forfeiting his salary. Expressing his happiness at finding all his family members safe, he said, "There was no electricity since Saturday and no place to recharge the phone's battery. I couldn't stay away in this situation," he says.

Bharat had been working in a construction company in Saudi Arabia for the last one and a half years to pay back the loan he had taken to build his house.

"All my hard work went in vain. I had managed to pay back the loan but now I'll have to take a new loan to rebuild the house."

In a slightly better position, Tej Bahadur Magar was home on a 15-day leave from UAE where he works for an Indian company. He will also be getting paid for the time he spends in Nepal.

"They've even told me that if I return within six months, I will still have my job," he says.

Both Bharat and Tej have plans to do as much as possible for their homes and their villages.

Kosh Hari Niroula, the Chief District Officer of Nuwakot, says that the lack of young people has made rescue and relief operations very difficult. He adds that it might add to the difficulties in the reconstruction phase.

"The lack of young people was felt most during the rescue period. There was no one to carry the bodies and we had to wait for helicopters to do the job. It's all because people are migrating in hordes," he points out, adding that it is a positive thing that young people are taking the initiative to return home at this hour.

Running a shop at the bus stop, Rajendra Amatya has noticed that in the last couple of days many people have been returning home. He says that some 60 people have returned in this area. Every day, this number is increasing. People going to the west of Nuwakot, the north east of Dhading and Rasuwa uses this Trishuli route.

Those who have returned home have had to pay a higher price for their airfare. Where earlier, it took 45 Dinars from Kuwait to Kathmandu, Jiwan paid 120 Dinars for his ride home.

Published on: 7 May 2015 | Republica