Page 88 - FATE & DESTINY

FATE & DESTINY

He skimmed them one by one and said, “Okay. Anything else I can do for you?”
“What about the bus service, sir?” I asked.
“We have a truck transporting stationery to Nganglam. I’ll talk to the driver.” He phoned right away.
“It’s moving tomorrow, get ready.”
We bowed. “Thank you, sir. We’re ready.”
“Safe journey,” he said. “Stay away from insurgents.”
“We will,” we said. “Thanks for your concern.”
At the border gate the next morning, fifteen of us clambered onto the truck. The truck wobbled along
the Assam highway. The mid-day sun hooked its claws into my skin. And I gulped in the gushing wind and
spluttered. After about fifty miles, we passed through a small town and again hit the narrow road to the
east. The countryside road was untarred.
“Boys, hold tight,” said the driver, craning out of the window. “This is gonna be a long ride.”
The droning truck wallowed through the cloudy dust, crashing on the suspension. We held tighter to
the rope. We lurched from pothole to pothole. After three hours, it stopped on the outskirts of a small
town. Tiny shifts with thatched roofs lined the roadside. Local people sold local vegetables.
“This is Rangapani,” said an old man. “You should buy some vegetables. You won’t get at Nganglam.”
The driver honked after two minutes and we clambered onto the truck. We passed the forest check
post and entered the wilderness. Trees thickened, and the truck droned all along the gravel-surfaced road.
I glanced around. “Why is this place so spooky?”
The old man glanced around and said, “They shot down our kids there.”
“They shot down your kids? Who are they?”
“Local goons,” he said, pointing at the area of a swamp beside the road with a dead log popping up like
a ghostly arm. “They lined up the kids there.”
It sent shivers down my spine. “Oh, hell! No way!”
“It was a cold-blooded murder.”
I held my chest and glanced around. “How many kids? All dead?”
“Ten.”
I hung on for dear life in the strained silence, turning back to see if other vehicles trailed us. Not a soul
moved, not even birds. Turning back to the old man, I said, “Do you think they would be around here
now?”
“Maybe,” he said, looking around. “They camp in the dense woods like this.”
“Wish I hadn’t come,” I said to myself. “Ken-cho-sum kheno!”
The truck rumbled up the deeply-rutted road. I gripped the rope and glanced around to see if goons
were ambushing us.
“You look so scared,” said the old man. “We’re almost home. Relax now.”
I gulped. “Is Nganglam safe?”
“Nganglam?” he said, ducking from the overlapping branches. “The town’s closed for security
reasons.”
“You mean insurgents exist in Nganglam?”
“Yeah, but no intimidation so far. They rove the town even during the daytime.”
“Heaven save me,” I said. “I am in hell now.”
In the distant mountains, roofs glimmered against the evening sun. It was a sign of civilization.
“Is that Nganglam?”
“Yes.”
I sighed in relief. “Phew! How far from here?”
“About five miles but it takes time.”

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