Two Sydney boys, their parents, and a bunch of other Australians have decided to turn a spiritual pilgrimage into a high-stakes game of hide-and-seek with Mother Nature. Shylaja Muralitharan, 42, her husband Chandrasekaran, 47, and their sons Ashwin, 14, and Aarush, 11, were trekking towards Mount Kailash when flash flooding hit on Wednesday morning, and now they're among the 39 Australians who've decided to go off-grid in Nepal, where the death toll has climbed to nearly 400, with about 1,400 people, mostly tourists, still unaccounted for.
Shylaja's sister Vaishnavi, who's clearly not in the mood for a spiritual lesson in uncertainty, said the family lost contact shortly after breakfast on the fateful morning. They were part of a 15-strong Aussie contingent with Himalayan Glacier Adventures, planning to hit an immigration checkpoint on the Tibet-Nepal border. "Just like everyone else that's part of that group, we're really worried, but hopeful," Vaishnavi told the Guardian, adding, "Hopeful that they're safe and just waiting to be rescued." She's also keen to remind the world that her family is out there, and they'd appreciate being found, thank you very much.
The family had been training for the trek, because apparently walking up a mountain requires effort. "They were all working very hard together to make sure they could successfully complete it," Vaishnavi said. "We just didn't expect anything like this." Because who expects a flash flood during a holy hike? She's been in touch with Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, but is finding the information flow about as clear as glacial meltwater.
Other members of the missing 15 include NSW couple Venkatraman Balakrishnan, 52, and Chitra Venkatraman, 46, and the Iyer family - Sreedharan, Lakshmi, and their adult sons Rishab, 23, and Rudhra, 20. The Iyer brothers play cricket for West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook Cricket Club, which released a statement expressing hope and thoughts, because that's what clubs do in times of crisis. Meanwhile, separate groups of Australians - 11 with Trekkers Society and six with Kailash Journeys - are also unaccounted for, proving that when it comes to disappearing in Nepal, there's plenty of tour-operator options.
Sagar Pandey, founder and CEO of Himalayan Glacier Adventures, has lost contact with his entire tour group of 47 people, including the 15 Aussies. He flew over the Rasuwa area by helicopter and wasn't exactly optimistic. "To be honest … you would think there was no human civilisation there at all," he said. "The flash flood swept away everything, everything. You couldn't see any human creations." Still, he holds onto a 1% hope, which is 1% more than most of us would manage after seeing the area.
The Isha Foundation confirmed 11 Australians were among 80 missing pilgrims who were in an immigration building when the flood hit - because nothing says 'spiritual awakening' like being buried under a building in a natural disaster. Foreign Minister Penny Wong assured the public that the Australian government is "rapidly mobilising consular and humanitarian support," including sending three humanitarian response specialists within the next 48 hours. She acknowledged the "extraordinary scale" of the disaster and the "remoteness" of the region, which means finding these folks will be like looking for a needle in a very wet, very large haystack.