Incense, prayers, music and chants fill the Mystic Mandala Meditation Center in Plano on a recent Tuesday evening.
Some of the people come to pray here every week, but this time they’re here for a different reason: to grieve the tremendous loss their home country just experienced.
“Let's come together and sing for Nepal,” said Ananda Kripa, the center’s director, while leading a call and response song with a group of people sitting on cushions or on sofas.
It’s been over a week since flash floods and mudslides devastated central Nepal and killed at least a thousand people; thousands more are still missing.
“Imagine the age of every person that may need this bread, my friend, who's struggling to find their people, their person, their parents, their children, their sisters, their fathers,” Kripa told the audience she was leading in song and prayer.
Some here are still waiting to hear about the fate of their friends, family members, neighbors – and news about affected communities. Others aren't Nepali but came to show support and help raise money. Some people there practice different faiths and come from different countries in Southeast Asia or the U.S.
They’re determined to help Nepal, considered the crown jewel of the Himalayas.
“That we come together as a community to support, I think it's just really important,” Kripa said. “Because, you know, in today's world, it's such an us and them, right?”
About 22,000 people of Nepali origin live in the North Texas area, the largest Nepali population in the U.S., according to the Pew Research Center.
Vijay Moksha, the founder of the meditation center, said people have been trickling in.
“I feel that from last week before that tragedy happened when villages and towns were obliterated,” Moksha said, “people have a deeper understanding that, ‘wait my life is worth something, and I need to make something out of it.’”
Moksha said people were singing and chanting not only in remembrance of people who have died or are missing – but also “with an understanding that life is just a short event.”
"Like a dream,” he said.
Musician Ustad Tari Khan — widely recognized as one of the top tabla players in the world — came to the center to play some of his original compositions. He offered his music as a prayer for healing, he said.
“Music is basically love and peace, and prayer,” he told KERA.
Dipesh Raj Pandey grew up in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, and has lived in Texas for over two decades. He still has family living in Nepal. He goes back every year, if not every six months, he said.
Dipesh Raj Pandey grew up in Nepal and has lived in Texas for over two decades. All of his family is accounted for after the flooding but many of his friends lost their families.
“I came here because I had a better opportunity,” Pandey said. “But my roots are still connected over there. I have family over there, I have friends that I grew up with.”
All of his family is accounted for after the flooding. But he’s still hurting. Many of his friends lost their families.
He speaks about the beauty of his country — a place he describes as having towering mountains, hills and flatlands, where crops grow.
“If I try to explain to you what Nepal is, it's almost like trying to explain chocolate to somebody that hasn't eaten chocolate,” Pandey said. “How do you explain what chocolate is? You'd have to try it.”
He was happy with the full house that showed up to the fundraiser to help Nepal’s Prime Minister’s Relief Disaster Relief Fund. He said he’s grateful for those who are helping across borders to send aid to Nepal.
Pandey said there’s a long road ahead – and although Nepal may never get over the loss of lives, he believes his country will be rebuilt.
“The Nepalese community, of course, they are doing what they can,” Pandey said. “But seeing that the whole world coming together gives me hope in humanity.”
Priscilla Rice is KERA’s communities reporter. Got a tip? Email her at price@kera.org.
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