For Thiruvananthapuram-based architect and Padma Shri awardee G. Shankar, the catastrophic flash floods and glacial avalanche that struck the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday have transformed a cancelled pilgrimage into an agonising vigil for news about people he knows.

A Last-Minute Cancellation That May Have Saved His Life

Shankar had been scheduled to undertake the Kailash Manasarovar pilgrimage with the Mohanji Foundation, travelling through the very Himalayan corridor now ravaged by the disaster. His itinerary included arriving in Kathmandu on 22 August, spending three days at Manasarovar, acclimatising at Saga, and then proceeding to Darchen.

He never boarded the flight. On 21 August — just days before the floods struck — Shankar and his wife cancelled the trip at the strong insistence of their son. 'There were 145 people in our group. Even after getting all the visas, I ultimately did not go,' Shankar wrote in a Facebook post as the tragedy unfolded. 'Finally, my son insisted that my wife and I should not go.'

What the Disaster Looks Like from the Inside

The scale of the catastrophe makes the near-miss all the more striking. On Wednesday, a massive surge of water, mud, rocks, and debris swept through the Bhote Koshi corridor in Nepal's Rasuwa district, near the Tibet border. River levels reportedly rose by as much as nine metres within half an hour.

Nepalese authorities have reported more than 150 deaths, with hundreds still unaccounted for — among them foreign tourists and pilgrims. More than 100 Indians are reportedly among those missing, many travelling on routes toward Kailash Manasarovar.

Shankar's Personal Connection to the Region

What deepens the distress for Shankar is his familiarity with the terrain. He has worked with agencies in Nepal and is well acquainted with the country's topography, including the vulnerability of routes running through narrow Himalayan valleys. The names now appearing in rescue bulletins — Saga, Darchen, the Kailash-Manasarovar route — are places he had planned to visit days ago.

Of the 145-member group, around 100 were reportedly foreign nationals. The first batch had already crossed into China and begun the parikrama around Mount Kailash when the disaster struck; Shankar was to travel with the second batch. The group had spent nearly two months preparing for the pilgrimage.

A Plea from Thiruvananthapuram

'I have not travelled, but I am anxious to know about what happened there,' Shankar said. His Facebook post, which has drawn wide attention, ends not with relief but with a quiet entreaty: 'Pray… for mercy.' Rescue and missing-person operations continue across the affected stretch of the Nepal-Tibet border, with authorities yet to account for all those who were in the region at the time of the disaster.