Arjun Chalise is one of thousands of Nepali-Australians watching helplessly as their homeland reels from devastating floods that have claimed hundreds of lives.
When Chalise scrolls through his phone these days, he sees videos he can barely process. “What you see on movies and AI videos is not something you see happening in real life,” he says. “It’s very, very hard to just understand that this is real.”
For Chalise and Melbourne’s Nepali community, the disaster unfolding in Nepal is deeply personal. Entire villages along the Trishuli River have been swept away by flash floods triggered by a glacier collapse near the Nepal-China border. At least 360 people have died, and hundreds more, including dozens of Australians, remain missing. Behind every number is a person — a mother, a father, a son, a daughter, a relative, a friend, and someone deeply loved.
Chalise’s own family was fortunate. They live in the west of Nepal, while the worst of the flooding hit the north. “My family was just lucky that they weren’t involved in this. But others in his community have not been so lucky. There are a few families in that community that have been affected. They’ve had loved ones missing from this.”
Being so far from home makes it harder. “They can only do so much being so far away,” Chalise says. “That’s why we’re trying to set up all these prayers and rituals to make everyone feel like they’re at home and feel like they have some sort of support.” He is part of a growing Nepali community in Pakenham, where about 30 to 50 families are coming together to support one another. “We are trying to slowly keep making progress and have an actual community.”
On Sunday, around 20 members of the local Nepali community gathered at the Officer Gurdwara ‘Siri Guru Nanak Darbar’ for a special prayer service organised by Harpreet Singh Kandra, a community volunteer and academic at Federation University. Together, they prayed for the precious lives lost, for strength and comfort for all the families affected, and for the safe return of those still missing. They also prayed that relief and rescue agencies receive the support, resources and guidance they need to continue their important work. “It was a lovely gesture,” Chalise says of the service.
Like many in the community, Chalise believes the most effective way to help is through official channels. “The only thing we can do from here is just donate to the government to rebuild Nepal,” he says. “We’ve just been directing anyone that wants to help us directly to the government’s donation front page, rather than collecting money and donating.” He adds: “I think it’s the safer way to do it, which all us Nepalese have agreed on as well. We should just let the government deal with what they want to do, rather than us trying to get the money from people.”
The Officer Gurdwara has also started a fundraiser to support the Nepalese Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. Anyone wishing to contribute can contact them via email at info@sgnd.com.au. All donations received this week will go towards relief in Nepal.
Back in Nepal, the rescue effort is painstaking. “It’s just all mud and slurry, it’s very hard to do anything there besides just dig through and find people that are missing,” Chalise says. He believes the most important thing right now is for everyone to come together to help the rescue team and make this a much smoother recovery.
For the Nepali community in Melbourne, the grieving and praying continues.
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