The Spur

Issue date: 1/18/06 Section: News

Kharel

Basnet

Timilsina

The Nepalese community at Southwest Minnesota State University share more than a common homeland. For these students, each member of the community is a dear friend-even family. And with the recent deaths of three of these family members, many of these students and SMSU faculty still struggle with their loss.

"They still are not coming out of it," said Mangesh Khanal about his Nepalese community. "It's a kind of pain they are still having."

A car trip on Jan. 2 proved fatal for students Nishma Timilsina, 20, Utshav Basnet, 19, and Bedija Kharel, 20, all of whom were enrolled at SMSU last fall. The accident occurred near St. James on state Highway 4. The students, who were riding with two others at the time, were struck by another vehicle while attempting a U-turn, according to the Marshall Independent.

Khanal, a sophomore majoring in computer science, said he felt the loss deeply as well.

"They were my friends; I was close to them," Khanal said.

Rabhu Shrestha, a freshman pursuing a masters in business administration, said he recalled each student having very distinct, special personalities.

"Nishma was a little bit shy but very hardworking," Shrestha said. "Bedija was a jovial, party-going, outgoing kind of girl and was good at studies. Utshav also had very good grades, and he was pretty good at music."

Khanal agreed that Basnet was scholastically strong.

"One of my friends was [Utshav's] classmate," Khanal said. "They used to study chemistry together and [Utshav] was too good at that."

Classmates and professors alike said the students will be greatly missed.

"Utshav was one of my favorite students," said Mary Ellen Daniloff-Merrill, assistant professor of English. "He wanted to be a doctor. He wanted to go to Harvard medical school and he could have done it."

Daniloff-Merrill, who had Basnet in her critical writing class last fall, said she feels close to all her international students.

"I saw them progress not only as writers, but as people," she said. "I care about these students. We're a family."

"I'm like their aunt and I watch them like a hawk," she added with a smile.

Sandy Nelson, coordinator for International Student Services at SMSU and, as Daniloff-Merrill dubbed, "mother" of this international family, recalled fond memories of Timilsina, Basnet and Kharel.

"They were all smiley, happy, giving-they wanted to share their culture," Nelson said. "And as we find with most our international students, they were very conscientious with their studies."

Nelson said the deaths seem to have had a profound effect on SMSU's Nepalese community, both existing and incoming students.

"Probably because of this, international students are more conscious of how valuable friendships are," Nelson said. "I noticed this as students came in this year. They bonded with the new students. It seemed now that it was different, whether they realized it or not."

Forty SMSU community members bid their friends farewell at a Hindu funeral service Jan. 5 at Minneapolis Lakewood Cemetery Chapel, alongside students' family members in the U.S. and with heavy hearts for the rest of their kin in Nepal. The service was provided through funding raised both by Nepalese students and by surrounding community.

"People are helping us in various ways," Shrestha said. "The Nepalese community in Minneapolis helped us [with the funeral]."

The aid students received stretched outside of state borders as well.

"All the Nepalese from other states are helping us in this sad moment," Shrestha said.

SMSU Foundation has also set up a fund for the students' families. Anyone wishing to contribute to this fund is encouraged to send donations to the Nepalese Student Fund care of SMSU Foundation, or to call the Foundation Office at 507-537-6266.

Now, as students return for a new semester, Shrestha and his classmates return still to many of the same questions they asked themselves when first hearing the news.

"We were shocked," Shrestha said. "'Why us?' was the first question in our minds."

Despite the pain and slow recovery, acceptance is in reach-though still in the distant future.

"We feel that's how life goes," Khanal said.

A memorial will be held for Timilsina, Basnet and Kharel at 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 24 at the Campus Religious Center. Attendees are encouraged to wear white to the memorial and should avoid wearing red.

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