‘Bye’. ‘Bye’. It was 3:30 PM when Anil was returning after landing me some two miles down the Nagadada, 35 KM west of Pokhara. It was breathtaking surroundings. Four of us including two college girls we met there had spent hours there flirting. I began to ascend uphill. The Sun was moderate playing hide and seek with the clouds making my journey a doddle.
‘Three hours continuous walk’ would be everybody’s reply when I would ask them the time it’d take to reach Sirubari though none of them had been there themselves. I was given two alternatives beforehand, one a mild three hours walk partly across the jungle and the other a boring long rough ride from Syangja. I had chosen the first. So I continued through the bushes and trees alone across the village where houses were rare. Vegetation grew thicker and I finally found myself sneaking through the finely slate paved walkway, tiny Gurung tole. Mouth dried, tired, and sweating all over, I savored a cucumber a Gurung didi offered and again began to climb up.
It was as if the steep and rocky surface nearly stroked my nose. Fresh nature air and birds chirping while perhaps making love somehow lessened my fear in that jungle walking alone. But strange sounds from deep down the bushes would sometimes compel my eyebrows to rise. Rushed for time, it was already three hours passed but still no sign of the village nor a single house. To my haste, turned right, left, front, and back, and I found myself in the middle of the jungle. My heart began to pound. Sun was set, a pin drop silence and rare weird welcome sounds from the undergrowth overwhelmed my terrified soul but yet I had no option but to resume. Was so desperate to see a human or a house at least but the more I longed for, the darker the encounter it would be so guessed I was a strayed. Stood still, couldn’t see but woods and bushes, drank from the bottle, and wished to have a stick but trying for it would mean producing noise so I gave up this idea. ‘Standing long would invite trouble’ thought my panicked heart. Tiresome was overdone by fearsome. ‘Yes, I wasn’t timid nor was I daring to this extent actually’, I thought ‘my hasty move was it that brought me to a disaster.
I tried my best not to touch the ground, not to breathe coz I didn’t want to be spotted as a trespasser into the territory of those inhabiting there. But breathing myself would scare me. I stopped thinking about where I was. I was in my mind so I thought ‘it’s not a Savana nor the wildest African rainforest, it’s a small jungle in the Syangja district of Nepal which I’ll cross soon’. Emboldened me to pee, as I unzipped, some itchy move could be felt on my inner thigh. ‘Fuck!’, a six-inch beast desperate to penetrate through my trouser, a golden brown leech was devouring my blood. Found myself springing up to undo it and harsh noise. Stealthily these tiny suckers could make way through the body so on every itch I felt crazy. Now all my eyes and concentration were to focus on these newly discovered tiny enemies apart from the rest. But I could spare no time.
Jostled fir leaves seemed to block me. Walking but robbing and scratching all over the body, I heard a bang!. Something jumped upon the dry leaves next to me. Thrilled and nervous to stand, shivering, I hardly could breathe. My nervous eyes kept rolling on to have a glimpse around though unintended. Stepped further and turned around to spot a black object on the heap of dry leaves. It was my sunglasses fallen mercilessly from my head where it was pulled up after the sun had set. Enormous fear could be felt in my heart. That tiny bitch was making his way up my unfolded pants again hastily though the trail was clearer and wide now on. There was lighter as I was led to pretty open clearings. Hopeful now that I was, hurried fast towards it a few yards. I saw the sky after an hour. I took a long breath, and looked around in desperation, for a village yet no sign of it, but to my exasperation, a trail was led upward off that clearing. I felt hungry and a little cold too. Wore my jacket, drank water, and resumed.
Though it was dim, my eyes got stuck to a weird figure below the surface a little far to my left. I couldn’t believe my eyes, scratched them for a better view, and there it was. I lumbered to make myself invisible for it in the almost dark but my terrified eyes magnified it and scary. ‘Was it a ghost or banmanche which I didn’t believe but rather wished to see it, was going to be encountered alone in that unknown part of the earth’ I thought. The bush leaves had made it obscure. I couldn’t figure out what the hell this creature might be. Had I just swiftly run through the curvy trail downwards, I fell across swinging body flatly on the ground. That was fresh animal dong which I’d slipped upon, stood up with a sheer disgust with a black greasy paste at my back. That bangs up made my fear factor rise up. To my surprise, he was a man of around seventy whose grey beard had covered his face, and half-naked body except for a twisted waistcoat that slung across his skinny chest making him look like Ramapithecus as he crouched to have a glance at me. He looked still horrible as he gazed at me at this wee hour in the jungle. He was there to search for his lost ox from fifteen minutes distance away, on the other side of this place. After a brief talk to my relief, he assured me of the village after fifteen minutes but refused to accompany c
oz he had to find his lost ox.Twenty minutes passed, and I couldn’t trace the village from the hilltop amidst the mist. A comfortable downpour revitalized me. The trail was fairly comfortable and I was fearless coz I’d done with the forest.
At the moment I was in no mood to lag behind. I was shaken by a pretty familiar but peculiar grudge while peeing in a sigh of relief. I threw my ear to it; the husky roar grew closer right atop the bushes. The same way I had heard tigers roaring on the Nat Geo channel though not encountered yet. ‘Today my fate!’ I had no escape. The cruel beast would look beautiful in the picture only rather than not face to face. ‘Am I gonna be a delicious dinner for the His Majesty tonight?’ was in my mind as I was prepared to save myself in all possible ways. I hid across a wall behind the trail and waited to let that beast past. The giant beast semi-visible in dark seemed to loom towards me strategically as if it saw me and without letting a second chance swallow me whole. I trembled immensely. More visible it was, and black, snarled again to make me confirm it, the same lost ox that the old man was looking for. ‘What a bullshit’. I was pissed off!
It was raining and slippery, I carefully climbed down as the thick fog began to wrap me up. Quite safe I was and happy for my little wisdom to carry an umbrella. Still unknown where I was heading to, at the mist with no settlements visible nearby. But I had trusted that old man so I continued. A faint light could be seen far ahead so I moved frantically towards it. A house but dead silence. It's been 11 hours that I had food except for the cucumber, so emptied in bowels. ‘Anybody in?’ Somebody unlocked the small hut from inside. It was a tea shop. ‘Only chauchau or biscuits sir’ was his reply as it was his bedtime and ‘half an hour for my exhausted query of the place for which I was tramping.
Thinking not to ask anybody about the place but instead walking overnight, I continued, clad under an umbrella. Twinkling lights could be seen far away, I was pretty close to some houses, apparently lodges. A girl of early twenty, busy on her cell phone was there, which one could presume a lobby of this structure. I sat right across from her. I was dripping all over, at this time and alone. She sparked her beautiful black eyes at me and seemed amazed. And again looked at me. She wanted me to speak to her but found me silent.
‘Where are you going?’ ‘Are you alone?’ Now I nodded. I couldn’t look at her for she had seemingly teasing queries so lowered my head in front of this beautiful girl. I wished for a hot drink. ‘I’m done now and it's Sirubari’ spoke to myself. The same unanswered question ‘where are you going?’ ‘I came here. Perhaps thinking I was cracking her she asked again, ‘why?’, ‘to study’. She couldn’t resist her cunning smile with her piercing eyes thrown upon me. I grinned too. ‘What it is that makes u laugh?’, ‘You came all the way from Kathmandu to study here in this small village, and that too at this night time? ‘Yes ma'am. ‘You’re dripping, were you not scared in the jungle?’ A nice chat with this lady seemed to relieve my all pains and sufferings. She wanted me a cup of tea for which she had to order from a restaurant next door where she later told, her father had gone seconds before I’d entered. Upstairs was their guest house. ‘No thanks’ though I’d. She was a chatterbox and smiled every time she talked. She had a round and robust face and wore jeans, a white shirt, and a wound a pink shawl around the neck. Flashed her smile every time spoke. She was pretty, astonishingly a friendly chic. An hour passed with her with no trace of ailments in my body.
A man with a flat mustache entered. ‘He wants to go to Sirubari, as it's dark and risky to walk at night, I told him to go tomorrow morning’ she seemed to persuade her father after introducing me to him. And added ‘he wants to study in Sirubari’. And almost briefed all the chats that we had. ‘This is not Sirubari? I was shocked as I rested assured that this was it, though I was happy to be allowed in as a guest at her house. I could see her radiant smile in the bright light inside. Dad showed the doorway. We had dinner together. I was no more tired and was energized indeed.
A sharp knock on the door awakened me. She was there to ask me for tea. She perhaps detected my fake smile and begged if she disturbed me.
‘Good morning. How were your night and sleep?’ ‘Your dream?’ all in one breath.
‘Seems all dreams to me’ I spoke lousily. She went to refresh me with her smile and popped up again with a cup of tea. It was a beautifully maintained occasional guest house. I wished to stay here longer, as long as I was to stay in Sirubari. This is where I wanted to be.
‘At what time you will go to Sirubari?’ She had rather inquisitive eyes. My head lowered as it was not it. Now I hated Sirubari. Nothing but a sip of tea was my answer. ‘All day long you can stay here and after dark, you can go coz you love to travel at night, She quipped with satire at me and an irresistible giggle. And stopped perhaps looking at my gloomy face.
‘You are wonderful, I love your company, but I've got to go’, I finally opened my mouth up, ‘where and who should I pay to?’. She seemed awkward. ‘It’s my dad and not me to charge you. I could sense her confessing tone. I couldn't believe, this was a time to make my body feel heavy. I felt heavy in my heart too, to depart, and for a final face-off.
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