National Award-winning actor Manasi Parekh was in Tibet for the Mansarovar Yatra when devastating floods hit Nepal. She was travelling with a group associated with the Isha Foundation. The actor and her group were on their way to New Dongba when the disaster occurred. They were scheduled to reach the Gyirong Port immigration centre the next day. A change in their itinerary meant they stayed overnight at a hotel instead. This kept them away from the affected area when the floods struck.“When the incident happened, we were all on our way, halfway through to that place actually. Because our we were supposed to reach that building the next day.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.”

Manasi Parekh was five hours away

Manasi Parekh said the group was around five hours away from the location when the incident happened. By then, they had already reached their hotel. The destruction of the immigration centre left the group uncertain about how they could continue their journey. Manasi Parekh said the scale of the damage was difficult to comprehend. She had reportedly passed through the same area only days earlier while entering China.“We were 5 hours away from the place where the incident happened. But thankfully we were not stranded. In fact, we had reached our hotels. Now we didn’t know what to do because now there was no immigration there. The whole town was submerged. And it seemed such an unreal news because we were literally there like 6 days earlier, when we entered China. 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.”

Group had food, electricity and Wi-Fi

Despite the uncertainty, the group had access to essential facilities at the hotel. Manasi Parekh said they had food, electricity and Wi-Fi while waiting for developments. Around 87 people from the group were staying at the hotel with Sadhguru. However, the news of missing members of the Isha Foundation left everyone deeply distressed.“Thankfully, we had Wi-Fi, electricity, food. So we were just grateful for all those things really. And we had each other. There were around 87 of us in the hotel with Sadhguru. Of course we were all devastated with the news because 77 people from Isha Foundation were missing, among the 1,500 people at least if not more. 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.”

Alternative route arranged for travellers

Manasi Parekh said the Chinese authorities acted quickly after the incident. The Isha Foundation was also in contact with the Prime Minister’s Office, embassies and the Chinese government. The group eventually received permission to leave through another exit. Manasi Parekh said they were travelling towards that route and were in a safe location. “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.”

Manasi Parekh on returning to India

The actor said the group was still working on its return plans. She said they expected to decide their next steps within a few days. Manasi Parekh also confirmed that Sadhguru was travelling with the group. She expressed gratitude for his presence as everyone continued to process the incident. “We are going to figure out our plan now in the next couple of days.” “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.”Manasi Parekh is an actor, singer, producer and content creator. She is known for her television roles in ‘Zindagi Ka Har Rang…Gulaal’ and ‘Sumit Sambhal Lega’. In 2024, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for playing Monghi in the Gujarati movie ‘Kutch Express’.