Page 76 - FATE & DESTINY

FATE & DESTINY

“It has got to be a way.” She thought for a while. “Going via Deothang is the only means. Do you think you can
walk?”
“Oh, you are sagacious. How come I couldn’t think about it before?”
“Go look for travel mates now.”
“Of course. Please pack my bag.”
I went around, asking people. Nobody knew about anyone traveling on foot. Disappointed, I returned home. “I
am gonna have to travel alone.” I peered into a restaurant on the roadside. “I think I should ask Sangla there.” I
shuffled inside. “Hi, Sangla. Is there anyone headed for SJ tomorrow?”
He kept the beer glass on the table. “Yes,” he said.
My mood lightened. “Who?”
“Three of us. All siblings.”
“I think I should travel with you. What time?”
“We’ll start at 5:00 am,” he said, sipping beer from the glass. “We must reach there tomorrow itself.”
“Me too. I am going home to attend my grandma’s cremation. They’re waiting for me.”
“Don’t be late. Even if I do, my brothers won’t wait for you.”
“Oh, I won’t.”
Choki was waiting at the door with daughter, Tsheulthrim Wangmo on her back. She bit her bottom lip seeing
me. “Found travel mates?”
I nodded. “Three brothers.”
“Great, but your safety concerns me. Hope they won’t desert you on the way.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
The journey was risky as elephants would rove along the way. I’d heard of several instances people were trampled
to death. I wondered if I could catch up with my travel mates as I hadn’t taken up such an interminable journey on
foot before.
Twelve kilograms of baggage on my ninety–five kilograms of body weight? I thought. Impossible!
At the crack of dawn, I pecked my daughter on her cheeks and said, “Take care of the baby. I will phone you
from Samdrup Jongkhar.”
“Take care. And always travel with your mates, okay?”
“I will. Bye.”
I met Sangla and his two brothers near the school. They carried a backpack and a torch each.
“Kuzu Zangpo la,” I said.
“We would better start,” snapped the eldest brother with a weather-beaten face. “Shall we?”
“Yeah, we better start,” said Sangla. “Let’s go.”
We climbed a small hill and walked up along the riverbank. I strode with them for about half an hour but soon
lagged. So, I paced up. On the top of a craggy mountain, the morning sun greeted us with its warm rays. We strode
down the mountain and arrived at a hamlet. Houses were scattered. The route stretched down through them. Beside
the last house was a resting place under a towering mangrove tree. But my travel mates continued.
“Who cares when they don’t wait for me,” I said to myself. “I’ll walk at my pace.”
At the foot of the mountain, the route stretched along the graveled riverbank. After struggling for one hour
along the bank, I arrived at a water prayer-wheel. “No, I should drink water, but I’ll rest here.”
The heat soared at noon, burning my skin, yet it felt cool under the prayer wheel.
“You can’t rest, sir,” shouted the eldest brother from far above. “We haven’t covered a quarter of the journey.”
I hobbled up after them. “Coming.”
But how long? They surged ahead again, farther this time. “I can’t. No matter what, I’ll travel at my own pace,” I
said in a huff.
On the hill, they were resting under a tree.
The youngest gawked at Sangla. “Where’d you meet him? I can’t believe I am traveling with this man.”
“He’s a teacher at Nganglam Junior High School,” said Sangla. “We play football together. He is—”
“He’s sluggish,” grunted the youngest.
“I thought you crossed the mountain,” I said, sitting on a rock beside them.
“Let’s move on,” said the eldest, furrowing his brow. “A long way to go.”
“You may continue,” I said. “I am gonna follow you.”
“You sure you don’t want to go with us?” said the youngest.
I cringed, massaging my calves. “I will come.”
“No,” said Sangla. “We began the journey together and we’re gonna complete it together.” He lent me his hand.
“Let’s resume, sir.”

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