Baby girl Divyanshi, born after a week of Nepal earthquake.
"It's a girl. She's my girl," says a beaming Captain Dr Rajesh KC, minutes after his daughter is born in a field hospital setup by the Israel Defence Forces in Kathmandu. It's soon followed by a round of loud claps and cheering.
Otherwise busy treating victims of the earthquake as an army doctor this whole week, his daughter is the reason he has got a rare day off to be with his family. "My wife was given April 21 as the due date. We were playing cards at home when the earthquake happened. There were so many tense days since then. I am so happy today, actually I'm speechless. I can't express what I'm feeling," he says. They have decided to call her Divyanshi which means goddess and as his little goddess sleeps peacefully two more babies delivered just this morning join in the post delivery room.
In the midst of such a massive tragedy, these little bundles of joy bring a smile to everyone's face around them, even though they are unaware of the circumstances their parents braved to keep them safe.
Arneswar Chand, who is going home with his day-old daughter, says, "We got trapped inside our house after the quake as the house next door tilted towards our house. We couldn't escape. Fortunately, God saved us." Suresh Kosharma who is the proud father of a baby girl, says, "During the quake, my wife and older child couldn't even move. They were in the house. They ran once the ground stopped trembling."
As a soldier with the Nepal Army, 31-year-old Narayan was always on call given the scale of the tragedy clearing the rubble and removing dead bodies. Today he has reason to smile. He has decided to name his daughter, Deepika, positive she will be the flame of light that glows that sees them through their challenges ahead.
After the dance of death and devastation, these babies are the hope Nepal so desperately needs in what has otherwise been a canvas of gloom.