Nepal floods: Arizona family holds on to hope for missing spiritual guide, 9/11 survivor
A Mesa family holds on to hope and draws on faith while waiting for news about missing guide Kesava Rao Tadipatri.
MESA, Ariz. - The family of a 73-year-old Mesa man is holding on to hope after he disappeared during devastating flooding in Nepal last week.
What we know:
Kesava Rao Tadipatri was traveling through the Himalayas and leading a group of fellow travelers when the flooding struck Aug. 26, according to his daughter, Ramya Tadipatri.
His family’s last communication with him came in a WhatsApp message.
"We received a WhatsApp message from my dad saying, ‘I will have issues near the river,'" Ramya said. "My mom asked, ‘What issues?’ And then that was it. We didn’t have any more communication after that."
Tadipatri was later reported missing and remains unaccounted for.
Ramya said her father had spent years planning the trip to visit holy sites across the Himalayas. One of the last photos the family has of him shows Tadipatri and his group at an immigration office in Nepal, preparing to leave for Tibet.
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Dig deeper:
The family has faced a similar wait before.
Ramya said her father was inside the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. His family spent hours unsure whether he was alive before he eventually returned home unharmed.
She said he spent that time helping women in high heels find shoes so they could run to safety. Now, more than two decades later, the family is again waiting for word that he is alive.
'It's a much longer wait this time'
"Our first thought with all this happening was maybe he was in a Nepalese village, helping out," Ramya said. "But, of course, it's a much longer wait this time."
The flooding has devastated parts of Nepal, killing more than 1,000 people and leaving thousands more missing.
What they're saying:
Members of the Nepalese Students Association at Arizona State University are also trying to help, raising money to support people affected by the disaster.
"Being so far away from home, you feel like really helpless, not being able to help," Bina Kumari Rauniyar, president of the Nepalese Students Association at ASU, said. "So we are just trying to raise some funds so that we can send it back home. We cannot reverse what happened, but at least be able to some sort of help to the people who are in need."
Tadipatri’s family said his life has long centered on his Hindu faith. He is a spiritual guide at the SVK Hindu Temple in Tempe and teaches Hindu texts and scriptures to people across the country.
Ramya said her father has helped others through difficult times. Now, she is relying on the lessons he taught her.
"We’re still holding on to hope, and at the same time, kind of accepting that my father could be gone," Ramya said. "But we don’t want that hope taken away from us."
What you can do:
More information on the ASU Nepalese Student Association fundraising efforts can be found here.