7 Sep 2008, 0521 hrs IST, Abhay Mohan Jha,TNN

SUNSARI (Nepal): Had they tried to seek high ground in their home districts of Araria and Supaul in India, they would have been swept away to death.

Such was the fury of the current and the sudden inundation of their villages within hours of the breach of the Kosi embankment near western Kusaha three weeks ago. Call it sixth sense or plain common sense of a population in symbiotic relationship with the Kosi — hundreds of villagers swam against the tide to safety on the high ground in upstream Nepal.

"The sudden rush of water cut us off from India... We waded and swam to Nepal," Latifur Rahman from Bela Tinkamba village in Araria district said. Rahman found refuge at a Nepalese relief camp at Bhokraha village, along with nine family members. The Rahman family is among hundreds from India to have found shelter in camps at Sunsari. " Aimhar ailiye ta bachaliye, bhar muha paien rahe. Omhar jaitiye ta dubiye jaitiye (We escaped because we came this side. The water was up to our faces. Had we gone that side, we would have drowned)," Bihari Ram of Banaili-Patti village in Supaul district said.

Ram and his co-villagers had the presence of mind to cut through eight km of rushing waters to reach the high ground in Sunsari district.

The saga of the Rams and Rahmans is of incredible resilience just as their Nepalese hosts reinforce age old ties of roti and beti. The Kosi has just drowned the political boundary and the firm cross-border social fabric is a flag fluttering above the misery of these flood waters. At camps set up across Sunsari, victims from both countries together find fortitude in fatalism. Humanity's intrinsic hope is reflected in the relief and succour at these camps sans any discrimination of nationality.

This logistical convenience of reaching Nepal has been bolstered by traditional kinship networks with Madhesi activists immediately beseeching the local administration to provide aid to victims from India equally. " Bahut log ta camp nai ja kar kutumb lag thaur paine chhai (Many, instead of reaching relief camps, have taken shelter at their relatives place in Nepal)," Pashupati Nath Jha, a police man at Inaruwa, said.

And, in sharp contrast to the devastated Bihar plains, relief camps were set up in no time at Sunsari.