Page 135 - FATE & DESTINY

FATE & DESTINY

I turned to Dr. John. “Um, which is farther, doctor?”
“Vellore. It takes three days by train.”
“And Kolkata?”
“One hour by flight from Paro, two days from Phuentsholing by bus.”
I scratched my head. “You can decide for us, doctor.”
“You can take him to Vellore. There’s a big hospital. Bhutanese patients got there for treatment. You
can come here after three weeks with the discharge summary.”
But we couldn’t wait for the three weeks as the baby had diarrhea.
Dr. John prescribed medicine and said, “Give me the documents. I will forward them to the referral
committee. Come next Friday.”
On Friday afternoon, I went to his chamber. “What is the resolution, doctor?”
“It’s endorsed. Get ready for the journey.”
“I don’t know how we should repay you. Thank you, doctor.”
“Don’t thank me now. We’ve got a long way to go.”
I nodded and exited. Outside, I phoned Choki. “Ama, It’s endorsed.”
“Really?” she said. “I’ll ask Aunt Choden to buy air tickets.”
The next morning, Aunt Choden said, “You must pay half for Rinchen. It’s 27,500 ngultrums, including
the return journey.”
“Fine,” I said. “We’ll return to you when we come there in the evening.”
The next day, I phoned the Liaison Officer at Kolkata. “Mr. Ngawang?”
“Yes. Who is it?”
“I am Dorji Wangdi, calling from Paro. I am bringing my baby to Kolkata tomorrow.”
“I will be busy tomorrow. You should have phoned me yesterday.”
“Oh, I am sorry for that. Can you pick us from the airport?”
He paused for a moment. “What time are you arriving?”
“We’re starting at seven in the morning.”
“Okay. I’ll be there.”
“Thanks for your time, sir.”
It was a chilly morning on October 22, 2008. As the plane’s engines rumbled to life, my hair stood on
end.
“God, don’t let this bird fall, please?” I mumbled, closing my eyes.
“What’re you doing?” said Choki. “Stop fidgeting.”
“Praying for our journey. Om mani padme hum!”
She frowned. “Don’t be a hillbilly.”
“Just that I am scared. Come on, let’s pray.”
She turned around and said, “People are watching us. Stop fidgeting.”
Soon the loudspeaker said, “Ladies and gentlemen, prepare for take-off. Fasten your seat belt, please.”
A graceful female flight attendant stood before us with a striking smile. Her lips adorned with red
lipstick glistened as she held a seat belt above her head. She buckled and twisted and knotted it as the
instruction came from the speaker above us. I turned around to see how other passengers reacted. Nobody
took heed of her demonstration. They read newspapers and novels or chatted.
“Seat belt demonstration?” I muttered. “Easy-peasy.”
Choki nudged me. “Don’t mind her. Keep praying.”
“Turn off all the cellphones and other portable electronic devices,” reminded the loudspeaker.
I switched off my black-and-white NOKIA 1100 cellphone. Soon the plane taxied towards the runway.
As it took off, Choki grasped my hand and sighed. A shiver of apprehension ran down my spine. I gripped

135