“Aap peeche chale jaiye, yahan khade mat hoiye (move back, don’t stand here).”
“Peeche kahan jaoun? Wahan to mera kuch bhi nahi hai (how can I move back? I have nothing there).”
At the Bharat-Nepal Maitri Bridge, which connects Raxaul in Bihar to Birgunj in Nepal, this conversation between 19-year-old Chanchala Kumari and a Sashtra Seema Bal officer captured the frustration of many who find themselves stranded on the border as political turmoil unfolds in Kathmandu.
Kumari, half the height of the man she was arguing with, tried explaining to the officer, “I live in Nepal. I came here (to the Indian side) for tuition classes this morning. My family lives on the other side.”
Chanchala is preparing for the Bihar police exam. “Our family is originally from Sitamarhi, but my father settled in Bhansar (Nepal) and has business there,” she says.
Chanchala says she wasn’t keen to attend tuition today. “My mother said everyone is passing through the bridge, even though I kept making excuses to skip the class,” she says.
She eventually crossed the bridge from Nepal to India around 7:45 am, and at 9:30 am, was told she can’t go back.
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Chanchala isn’t alone. Many who crossed into India today are now being told they can’t immediately go back as the Gen Z protests escalate in the neighbouring country.
Many truckers are similarly waiting outside the Raxaul Land Port.
Among the truckers is Umesh Gupta, a 24-year-old from Amnishganj in Nepal. “I carry petrol from Barauni (Begusarai, Bihar) to Nepal for Nepal Nigam Oil,” he says.
He earns Rs 2,000-2,500 for every delivery, which usually takes five to six days. He has been stranded with his petrol-filled truck in India for two days. “My father is also a truck driver between India and Nepal. We are the only ones who earn a living in our family. The longer this continues, the more financial loss we have to bear,” he says.
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Kamlesh Raj, who runs a ration store at check post 93 near the border, says, “I used to do business of nearly Rs 1 lakh (Nepalese currency), which has completely stopped.” He has been running the shop for the last three years. “The shops on the border mostly depend on Nepal, while Nepal depends on India for rations,” he says.
