Saving lives | Making A Difference

ANUP PRAKASH

Mahesh Shrestha points to the bombing site.
Fourth October 2004 was a day like any other. Seventeen-year-old Mahesh Shrestha, who studies in grade XII at Orient College, was home watching TV when he heard a blast. He rushed to the window to see what had happened and saw the people of Chapali Gaun, Budanilkantha, running helter-skelter.

It wasn't long before the people had made up theories about what had caused the explosion. Some said it was a transmitter which had been blown to bits, others said a vehicle had collided and the engine caught fire, still others said something about an explosion in the carpet factory near Mahesh's house. Wanting to find out what had really happened, Mahesh hurried to where he thought the sound had come from.
On Hastinapur's bridge, Mahesh saw a green Gypsy, badly damaged. There were two people trapped inside—a lady and a man. Even from afar, Mahesh could see that they were badly injured so he called out to some people for help. When they took the injured out of the vehicle, Mahesh saw that they had bled profusely. Both of them were unconscious and their faces were covered in blood, but he recognised the lady. She was colonel Pradip Bikram Rana's wife, Mahesh's neighbour. Teetering on the edge of hysteria, Mahesh reminded himself to remain calm as he flagged down a microbus to carry them to Chhauni Army Hospital.

Security guards stopped them at the gate asking them to prove that they were bringing in an army's kin. They frantically looked for something, anything. At last, Mahesh pulled out the driver's wallet. Janak Mainali, said the ID card, an army staff.

It seemed like ages before the injured were finally in the emergency room. The colonel's wife was in critical condition. She had almost died of a haemorrhage and needed blood. The doctors were taking care of the driver, who was badly injured. It seemed like aeons before they were out of danger.

Later, investigations revealed that the Maoists had planted the bomb targeting army colonel Pradip Bikram Rana. The colonel was in Hetauda and his wife had fallen prey to the ambush instead while returning from shopping. Rana and Mainali's family are grateful to Mahesh. But Mahesh, modest as always, says, "I just happened to be there. I'm lucky, God put me there to save the lives of two innocent people." WAVE salutes him for his courage, compassion and presence of mind.