Ordinary Nepali's extraordinary sacrifice

Nepal’s public sphere is replete with tales of corruption in high places and the powerful stealing the hard-earned deposits of cooperatives. But there are ordinary Nepalis showing extraordinary compassion and sacrifice like Nirmala Rawal. 

Rawal lives in Jayagad village in an isolated corner of Achham, and had just returned to her home and climbed to an upstairs room when she heard a commotion outside. There were cries of a fire.

Looking out the window, she sees an inferno moving up the sloping market town. Nearby houses and stores were in flames, and she rushed outside for safety.

The fire had started at 7pm after a gas cylinder exploded in one of the houses. Police and army teams arrived, but they were too ill equipped to tackle the flames which were too high and spreading quickly, fanned by winds. 

A fire truck arrived but there was no paved road up to the fire. 

Jayagad’s bazar area is made up of 150 densely-packed houses and within one hour 15 houses had gone up in flames. The only way to stop the flames was to create a fire break by demolishing a house. 

No was willing to do so, except 45-year-old Nirmala Rawal. It was a difficult decision, but after her house was bulldozed, the fire was contained and the village was saved. 

Jayagad’s village chief Navaraj Saud says bringing down Rawal’s house was the last resort: “We could not have contained the fire any other way. It was just too big.”

It has been a month since the fire, but Rawal is now faced with a new reality. She has lost not just her home but all her possessions. All of Rawal’s valuables were destroyed in the blaze. She lost loans taken out to pay her mortgage, and significant old jewelry and has not been able to return to her job at the rural municipality office.

“Even the clothes I am wearing were given to me, I lost everything,” she says. “I had to sacrifice my house to save others.”

Like many girls at the time, Rawal dropped out of school in Grade 8 to be married to a husband who owned a general store in Jayagad. He died of a heart attack in the store, and she has been living in the house he built for the family. 

As a widow, Rawal had to contend with stigma and hardship. The job in the municipality was a respite. It gave her life a welcome daily structure, although raising her four children on a Rs18,000 salary was still a struggle.

Rawal’s eldest daughter is already married. Her other daughter is doing a BSc in Agriculture in Punjab, and one of her sons is studying hotel management in Kathmandu. Her youngest son is in Tikapur, where Rawal is originally from.

All of her relatives have migrated to the Tarai, and her land in the village is barren. She is in no position, financial or otherwise, to rebuild. Rawal’s children have now heard about the fire. “My son is considering heading to India to find work, so we can rebuild our home,” she says.

All of the 30 families who survived the fire are living in temporary arrangements and do not know how to start over. Most lost their businesses as well.

Achham police estimate the damage of goods to be Rs80 million, although they have not yet put a number on property damage. A request has been sent to the Sudurpaschim provincial government, and a minister has visited from Dhangadi.

Rawal is not hopeful, and does not expect much since she has experienced firsthand how slow government processes take.

“The monsoon will soon be here, and we will need permanent houses,” says Rawal. Her trouble keeps her up at night. “I don’t know if I should put my salary towards a new house or to my children’s education.”

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