Actor Manasi Parekh had a close shave this past week. The National Award-winning actor was in Tibet for the Mansarovar Yatra when the flash floods in Nepal hit. The actor, part of a group sponsored by the Isha Foundation, was hours away from the Gyirong Port immigration centre when the deluge hit the building, submerging the whole town. Manasi and her group were lucky, relatively, as they were hours away.
One group from the Isha Foundation had reached the spot just minutes earlier.
Because our we were supposed to reach that building the next day. Because there was nowhere to go, hT: You must have been stranded there. Speaking to Hindustan Times from China, the actor details the harrowing last few days, and her narrow escape. HT: Where were you exactly when the flash flood began? Manasi Parekh: When the incident happened, we were all on our way, halfway through to that place actually. We were on our way to this place called New Dongba. And we thankfully we stayed overnight there. We could have gone straight away but for our itinerary was planned that we had to stay back one night and then watched. And that’s when this horrible incident happened.
But thankfully we were not stranded. In fact, we had reached our hotels. The whole town was submerged. It was a huge structure. The fact that it completely collapsed that was when one realises nothing in life can be planned. Anything can happen anywhere. HT: Then how did you guys proceed from there? Manasi Parekh: Thankfully, we had Wi-Fi, electricity, food. So we were just grateful for all those things really. And we had each other. And we didn’t know what to do. We did not know what was going to happen, how many days we were going to be stuck in this place. But thankfully Chinese authorities were very fast. And Isha Foundation were in touch with the PMO and with embassies of every country, including the Chinese government. Then we got permission to use another exit. So we are on on route that exit right now. We are in a safe space. HT: So are you all on your way back to India now? Manasi Parekh: Yes, we are going to figure out our plan now in the next couple of days. HT: Sadhguru is with you, right now? Manasi Parekh: Yes, he is, and we are just blessed and grateful that we have him. The amount of pressure and the amount of sadness that has happened is so much that we still are processing it. I just I don’t know what to say what say after such an incident. “Life is uncertain, but what has happened is absolutely heartbreaking. We are constantly praying for the people affected by this tragedy. By God’s grace, we are safe in China, and Isha Foundation is doing its best to get us back home, as well as find those who are in the midst of the floods. Please keep praying for everyone’s well-being,” she wrote.
Manasi Parekh: We were 5 hours away from the place where the incident happened. There were around 87 of us in the hotel with Sadhguru. The National Award-winning actor is currently in China for Sadhguru’s Isha Foundation Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage and was meant to be at Gyirong Port on the morning of August 27, just hours after the floods struck the region.
Because now there was no immigration there, now we didn’t know what to do. Because we were literally there like 6 days earlier, when we entered China, and it seemed such an unreal news. Because 77 people from Isha Foundation were missing, among the 1,500 people at least if not more, of course we were all devastated with the news.
Earlier reporting noted: ‘The whole place is submerged’: Manasi Parekh shares chilling video after narrowly escaping Nepal Tibet flash floods Actor Manasi Parekh narrowly escaped the devastating flash floods that hit Tibet’s Gyirong area. Earlier reporting noted: The actor later shared an update on her safety and expressed concern for those caught in the disaster.
