‘What If We Were Half An Hour Late?’ Sadhguru Recalls Nepal Flood Ordeal

Spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev has recalled how his Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage group's decision to reach the Tibet-Nepal border immigration centre early may have helped them avoid being caught outside when a massive flash flood struck the region.

Speaking at the special solidarity event In Solidarity with Nepal in Kathmandu, Sadhguru said his group leader, Praveen, who has been associated with him for more than two decades, called to inform him that the pilgrims had reported at the immigration centre at 9:05 am.

The group had deliberately arrived early because of the “chaos and confusion” at the Tibet-Nepal border. Sadhguru said reaching even slightly later could have meant waiting for hours to complete immigration formalities.

“So we want to be the first group. So when he reported, I said, 'Good.' I only wish we didn't have so much discipline. I wish we had gone there half an hour later, but we went there on time, and this struck,” he said.

However, 77 pilgrims travelling with the Isha Foundation remain unaccounted for, according to the group's coordinator. Maa Gambhiri, a coordinator with the group, told PTI on Friday that there had been no information about the 77 pilgrims for the previous two days.

“There are 77 families waiting desperately for the answers. It is an emotional turmoil for them,” she said. The pilgrims, who come from 19 nationalities, lost contact after the flash flood struck areas near the China-Nepal border.

The foundation has contacted embassies in India, China and Nepal and approached various government offices and ministries for assistance. Gambhiri said Sadhguru had wanted to travel to Gyirong, described as the ground zero of the disaster, but did not receive the necessary approval.

As the first images of the flood emerged, Sadhguru said the scale of the water and debris appeared to be around 40 feet. He said he was initially reassured that the pilgrims were inside the immigration centre, even though he understood that the building could be flooded.

“I said, 'This is okay. Our people are all in the immigration centre, so maybe it will flood the centre, maybe they'll lose their baggage, maybe they'll lose their passports, maybe they'll lose their clothes, I don't care, but they will stay alive,'” he recalled.

The immigration building, however, was later washed away. Sadhguru said the same building where the group had completed immigration just a week earlier was destroyed, along with parts of the surrounding town. In a message posted on his official Facebook page after the disaster, Sadhguru said the Kailash pilgrimage group was returning towards Nepal when it was caught in the flash flood, India Today reported.

The group was at the immigration office in Gyirong when the flood struck. Three volunteers were also stranded in Timure on the Nepal side.