‘Maa this Puja I am going to stay in
Kolkata ' replied Piyu, throwing her hands in the air and still in school
uniform. The person on the other hand was a lady of mid forties, wearing a green
cotton saree, the pallu tied round her waist - Priyangana, Piyu's mother. It
was mid July, the sky was gloomy with gloomier clouds to decorate its body and
rain pouring at odd intervals. Monsoon was about to say goodbye to Bengal,
announcing the end of repeated showers and a promise of a sunny cloudless
start. If one looked through the open window , one could find a grey curtain
enveloping the sky. It was like the backdrop scene of an Agatha Christie play,
where a murder has just happened and the whole atmosphere was tensed, sordid and
suspicious.
Coming to the inside of the house, Piyu was
still agitated, trying to negotiate with her mother. The root of all commotion
and disagreement was the fact that, Priyangana and her husband Parimal had
planned for a trip to Anurachal Pradesh in the coming September. But as it had
to be like every other year, the trip
was during the Durga Puja - the prime festival for the Bengaleese. Parimal was
Senior Manager of a private firm and it was only during the Puja, he was
allowed (rather to say permitted) to take leave.
But our Piyu was in class 11, her face
still having the glimpses of the childhood innocence that was about to retire
and her eyes playing a mischievous glee of the upcoming youth. She had already
planned with her friends in school that this Puja, they would roam about here
and there and precisely of their own. Like almost all parents, Priyangana and
Parimal had failed to understand the importance of this sudden found
independence and the need to let their only daughter decide on the Puja plan.
To them Piyu was still that little Piyu, who would start crying if anything was
about to happen wrong or more elaborately if she was in prime role of doing
that wrong.
The morning was bright and sunny, an aura
of enjoyment in the air and a feeling of 'everything is fine' around the
corner. But Piyu was not happy. As she sat on the window sheet of half yellow
half black taxi , she was almost like the little girl who was about to start on
living in the hostel. No, none of the arguments or puffy face had worked for
her, she was going to Arunachal Pradesh on the morning of Sasthi (the sixth day
of the Puja). She was little bit of happy inside, she had seen pictures of
purple mountains of Arunachal Pradesh and its countless waterfalls. She thought
with a copy of 'Lucid Dream 1' in her hand, that may be it would be a wonderful
trip and would surely compensate the fun that she was going to miss here.
Little did she know, it would actually create a memory of lifetime to cherish,
as well as in the same time, a nightmare that she would never forget.
Piyu sat in the window seat of a car, this
time a black Scorpio and the place being Tenzpur in the state of Assam.
Currently the black cobra ( Piyu had named the car only the other day) moved
with unsaid pride through the jungles of sal and segun, its tire leaving a
lasted impression on the loamy soil.
Beside Piyu sat her father, reading the
day's newspaper. On the other window seat, sat her mother, wrapped in a blue
shawl and firing questions to the guide Sangmu, who sat in alert position in
the front seat beside the driver Mohammad. Sangmu was trying to reason with
Priyangana, that it was perfectly safe to travel on this road and its only luck
to meet an accident. And moreover Indian
Army was always there to help the civilians in this place.
Piyu had thought of finishing the story book,
but the mesmerising beauty outside had taken away her breathe and had seized
her attention. The picture in the net had not lied. It was almost heaven out
here, the trees perfectly in line with each other, reflecting different shades
of green, soothing her eyes. On the opposite sides were the purple mountains.
No it was not really purple, but due to zero pollution environment, the sun
reflected on the barren mountains and hence it was purple. This was at least
what Piyu thought as a science student. The roads was bit unformed, the black
cobra dancing now and then and threatening to bump down on the dangerous turn
now and then. A constant sound of bells, they could hear all through their
journey. When asked to Sangmu. He replied “Its ghanti poka bibiji" (an
insect that makes sounds like a bell). The Bhareli River was flowing in its own
defined path, increasing the beauty of its surroundings with its splendour and
swiftness.
It was almost 11 hours they are travelling
now, only stopping for a tea break at Bhalukpong and a lunch at a roadside hut.
The delicious chicken momo and the spicy chowmin had made their stomach happy
and filled. For tonight they were to stay at Dirang, still 2 hours to go. Sun
stays here quite late because this part is in the east. Piyu looked out of the
window, could see the sun gradually leaning in the west after a long tiring day
with a promise of a better tomorrow. A shadow was gradually casting over the
entire picture, announcing the arrival of the silent night on the hills. Piyu shivered
a little, her only fear was that a tiger would jump in front of their car at
any moment. Sangmu had again assured them, no tiger lives here, let alone of
their chance to come in front of the car.
A little more of 2 kms from Bomdila and
they came to a halt. They were already late by an hour and an hour delay in
this remote place usually meant unwanted trouble. They could see two cars in
front of them and an army truck in the front. Piyu has seen this kind of truck
through the entire day and the last she counted was 26, after which she had
lost interest. Mohammad came outside the car and had moved forward for a quick
enquiry. As he returned, he said in an obvious tone “Sirji, a landslide had
happened 1 km from here. The road is blocked'. In the meantime, one more car
had come to standstill just behind the black cobra. After a minute or two, they
were convinced that there was no chance of moving forward. The two cars in the
front were from Assam Tourism, they have decided to go back to Bomdila, where Assam
Tourism have a guest house. Parimal had asked them if a room could be
available. The reply was expected and bad in the same time. Parimal had come of
his own, so he would find it difficult to arrange a room all by himself.
As they were counting on the options,
Sangmu decided to talk to the army men as he knew by his experience, they could
only do something in this scenario. The driver from the back car also joined
Sangmu. Well his car also had a family just like that of Parimal's, who had no
bookings or chance of a stay back in Bomdila.
Piyu was almost on the verge of crying,
child she was still within. Her mother could not do the same probably judging
her age. But given a chance she would gladly join Piyu in this endeavour. After
a few minutes of crying and sneezing, gloominess and uncertainty, they could
see Parimal coming back, followed by Sangmu with a smile of battle won. As Piyu
was trying to compose her, tears still rolling from her button eyes and wetting
her chubby cheeks, she could see two army personals near their window. In front of her stood a tall middle aged man,
the tallest Piyu had ever seen in her 17 years of life. He wore a turban around
his head, a large moustache covering his face. He was gathering information
from Parimal and his gesture showed he was genuinely concerned. The thing that next happened had made a
lasting impression on Piyu's mind for ever. The army man assured them that he
will arrange two rooms in the nearby bungalow for the two families and their
safety is now theirs to think of. The only problem was that they had to walk to
bungalow on foot, as there was no way for the cars to go. It was decided that
the cars would be there and army patrol would ensure the safety of the cars.
Piyu was sitting on the other side of the
window, still unsure of the next proceedings. She could hear snippets of the
conversation, not entirely convinced of the whole thing. She thought of coming
out of the car and hear what lay on her fate. As she jumped out of the black
cobra, her feet tired of sitting all day gave up, her sneaker made a twist like
a bow and she fell forward. Somebody came in the right moment and held her. She
leaned over the tall silhouette, her entire body weight almost on it. She
thanked the tall army man presumably, before she decided to throw the rest
leftover weight to him.
But the man held her in strong arms, one
arm round her waist and other one holding her right hand. And at the moment,
the surrounding stood still, the sky decorated with twinkling stars and the sound
of crickets playing in the background. She could see a handsome face staring
back to her, probing inside her soul not body. A calm and assured voice came by
- “Angel, hope you are not hurt".
Priyangana's voice came after. "Piyu
baby are you fine". Piyu gradually stood up, but still holding the man's
hand. No this was not the tall army uncle. As she was trying to gather who he
was, the tall army man introduced the handsome man to them. "Meet
Vikramjit Singh- Captain of Tawang Regiment 2"- answered Piyu's army
uncle. Her heart skipped a beat hearing his name. He stood there, almost 6 feet
in height, in army uniform, the name badge glittering in the darkness. Piyu
felt suddenly shy and she looked down. The man did a formal namaste to her
parents and replied in Hindi - “She must be a bit tired on this long journey
". She trembled, but he smiled in the most charming way.
They started moving forward. Parimal and
Priyangana following the elder army man. Piyu in behind still dragging her
feet. Parimal held Priyangana's hand because the path was stiff, the handsome
army man told them he would help Piyu with the steps.
Confident and stubborn as was our Piyu, she
decided to move of her own. But she bounced for the 2nd time in the evening,
when the same hand came forward and hold her hand tight. Before she could say
anything, he replied “Could you please show your confidence some other time,
this part of the area is quite rocky and I don’t want to be blamed of killing a
cute girl like you" and he smiled.
They came to the bungalow. The rooms were
to be allotted and hence they waited in the balcony. Captain Singh went inside
the kitchen, came with a bucket full of hot water. He rolled his sleeves and
sat on the floor near to Piyu's chair. Piyu was dumbfounded. She could not
understand what the handsome man was trying to do. He replied “If you leave
this by another half an hour, consider your tour to be halted in the bed and
all not exciting. Do you want to miss the fun round here?". Was it a
question or a command, God only knew? He dipped her leg on the bucket,
scrutinizing the swollen area. The elder army man came back, confirming the
room allotment. Seeing Captain Singh there on floor, he gave a loud laugh
saying “Doctor Singh had found his patient". As all other stood confused,
he declared “Vikram was a meritorious student in school, had a dream to join
army as a doctor. But instead got selected in Army in defence and now is a
Captain. But whenever he gets chance, he applies his passion on poor
victim". Vikramjit stood up and replied " Sir is always after me on
this, I was just trying to help her' and smiled politely. They came to know of Vikramjit a little more.
He did his schooling from Doon School, later joined National Defence Academy in
Pune. He originally comes from Jalandhar, Punjab. Her father is an IAS officer
and her mother and historian. He had one younger brother, who is in Class 9 and
who dreams to marry Kate Winslet someday.
As they decided to leave, Parimal went
towards the bungalow gate to see them off. As they moved towards the gate,
Vikramjit was still there. Priyangana had went inside to arrange for hot water.
Piyu was waiting for her father to take her inside, as she was still unable to
move properly. Captain Singh came near her and asked her “Hi cute girl, I have
forgot to ask your sweet name". “I am Piyu and I am not a child. Do not
call me girl. ". Vikramjit replied “Can I call you Angel?” He gave a smile
and left without hearing the reply. Piyu was dumbfounded once again.
-To Be Continued
