“Celebrating Dr. Harka Gurung's Life”
First Year Commemoration Ceremony
Ngadi, Lamjung
Sunday, 23 September 2007
Time: 10 am – 3 pm
When we were children, our father once took us to the dumping grounds behind the National Trading Building in Teku, Kathmandu. On that winter afternoon, he walked with us through the mounds of trash and along the sewage-laden Bishnumati River. We could barely tolerate the stench from the filth that was all around us. Standing there, he told us, “I love a mountain no matter how small, and I love a river no matter how dirty.”
On Saturday, 23 September 2006 our father was living his dreams. He was flying high above the beautiful Ghunsa River Valley near the foothills of Mount Kanchenjunga (8,598 meters) in Far-eastern Nepal when he lost his life, together with 23 others, in a helicopter crash.
His untimely death came as a shock to our family, his friends and colleagues and to many others who did not know him personally but whose lives have been touched by his work and his writings. In the days that followed, hundreds of people, many total strangers to the family, came to our home offering condolence and support.
He was a man who never confused the demarcation between family and professional life. Knowing our father, the family decided on a private funeral as opposed to a public one, as had been requested by many individuals, organizations and political parties.
He was buried in his home village, where he was born 71 years ago. This was his wish too. He once told us, “Anytime you read a biography of a person the place where he or she is born and the place where he or she is buried is always mentioned and thus immortalized. In this way, I can introduce my beloved village to others who have never visited Tarache, Lamjung.”
We are happy that after the long, adventurous and arduous journey of his life, our father is at peace, resting in the village that was always his home at heart.
We, his children, have created this website with hopes of sharing his life with everyone who loved him, respected him and valued him and his teachings. We hope many people will participate in building this site to a robust and resourceful site in memory of our beloved father.
