Feature: Nepalese tatoo man's smile amid quake fear

In the town of Bhaktapur, 13 km away from Nepal's capital Kathmandu, thousands of residents were seen struggling at make-shift residential camps.

A 30-year-old Bikesh Hada was sitting on the lousy dark red carpet inside a massive tent at the temporary camp in a primary school yard.

Tatoo on his bare arm did not tarnish his warm smile. "Are you from China?"he started the interview with Xinhua. "My brother is studying at the Peking University for the master degree on English language teaching."

He said that his brother vowed to come back to Nepal to live and work, even though he likes China so much. "Nepal is his homeland,"Bikesh commented.

The massive earthquake changed Bikesh's quiet life as the owner of a grocery shop.Cracks on walls of both the shop and home halted the business and household life.

Bikesh distributed all his stock including food and water to his neighbors. "We are brothers at the moment,"said the man in a macho manner.

The tatoo man had his mother take care of his eight-month-old son and moved into the tent housing around 20 people. "My mother's shelter is solid but has too small a space for many,"said Bikesh.Bikesh's wife was a beautician who is also on leave due to the earthquake. "She is enjoying making other wives beautiful,"Bikesh chuckled, in a bid to shrug off the misery and bitterness.

The unemployed Bikesh has been helping with the cooking and cleaning job at the camp, accommodating more than 2,000 people.

The camp was dotted with tents as many people have nowhere safer to go.

Food is delivered twice per day mostly by charity groups. "We have rice and vegetable but there is no meat,"Bikesh lamented.

Local government officials said the death toll in the district could reach between 250 to 300, an estimate which many residents do not agree on.

The demand for water and food is not met promptly by the authorities, and there is no sign of aid distribution further afield.

One cannot always get food with cash here as a result of insufficient supply of basic essentials.

Outside help is focused on search and rescue, a common scenario in most of the quake-rattled areas.

Ishower Lal Karmacharya, 72, has been living in a tent in Bhaktapur since the evening of the earthquake. "We are spending the hardest time of our lives here. The tent cannot save us from the coldness and the rainfall,"said the old man.

The message is clear that the world shall not let the people down, who are displaying calm following the disaster. Endi