Walk in the dark.

Lights flashed from the sky. After a long pause, thunder

followed. Chintan cursed the skies, thinking about the fact that

speed of sound was much slower than the speed of light. He

spoke to himself.

"Same sky but different speeds. Uh! At least in night they

should travel in the same speed.” Speaking out aloud.

He tried to argue with the skies as if it controlled the speeds of

light and sound. Because it scared him twice -first time from

the flashy lightening, second time from the rattling thunder.

Sky teased him lightening once more and the thunder followed.

He knew it was stupid thought but he was alone and scared, he

had to accompany himself. He had to walk a long way to his

friend’s house in the dark. It was so dark that night that, it was

thick black like charcoal.

It was about two hours short to strike midnight. Rains

showered intermittently. Sometimes drizzling, sometimes

pouring. The sound of heavy drops on umbrella cloth added

more drama to his scared soul. Chintu chose not to use

umbrella. He was trying to keep himself on the curvy road, he

had a back packed bag.

He swung the long twig that he had picked up a while ago,

swinging it to his right and left like pendulum of an old clock,

making sure he has clear way ahead. He tried to avoid walking

into the bushy fences which guarded coffee estates on either

side of the road or slipping down into ditch which was carved to

let the water flow down. Although lightening scared him, it was

his only friend at this point of time -It showed him the way.

Lightening was blessing in disguise for Chintu.

~~

Two school friends had agreed on phone yesterday to meet in

that small town's bus station at six O' clock evening. Chintu

had to travel about six hours from his city far away, Ramo had

to travel about one hour from his village from where they

would go to Ramo's home which was far away from the town in

midst of coffee estate and paddy fields. Chintan was visiting

Ramo’s house to celebrate Diwali. It was the first Diwali of the

second millennium, year 2001.

Ramo saw his watch, six past thirty minutes. Bus had not

arrived. It was scheduled to be arriving at five thirty. Wrist

watch ticked seven past thirty minutes, still no sign of Chintan.

Slowly the platforms were deserted as the sun set.

"Chintu might have changed his mind. Perhaps he has called

home to inform" he wondered.

He dropped one rupee coin in the telephone booth and dialed

23614. He heard long beeps from the other end.

"Uh! The phone is still dead!" He hung the handset back on the

hook in disappointment. Phones going dead during rainy

season had been common phenomenon.

The pay phone clicked and the coin fell down. Picking up the

coin he glanced at his wrist watch it was eight. He wanted to

call Chintu's home to check but there were no long distance

calling facility around.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" He cursed the situation. No way to reach

Chintu.

"Bus cannot be so late. Maybe it's struck somewhere... May be

Chintu went to my home already... May be..." his mind

wandered.

It was getting dark. He had to leave now or else he would be

stranded in platform till next morning waiting for Chintu.

Second option was not viable because his parents would panic.

He was still fifteen. He was not eligible to make such risky

decisions. He was worried and confused what to do.

"I must leave now." He decided.

"What if he comes in next fifteen minutes?" His other mind

intervened.

He had to decide quickly. He tried to be calm looking at his

options.

"One, the last bus to village is at eight, which is about to

leave. Two, I will let this bus go and wait for fifteen minutes.

Worst case, I will go to relatives' place in the town and leave

tomorrow morning."

He stepped towards the bus as it started to move. He gazed at

the entrance to see if any bus is arriving. No luck. He climbed

up the bus stairs while the bus was on the move in slow pace.

He gazed hard at the entrance again, no sign of bus. This was

the moment, moment of decision.

"Ah! Damn it!" He yelled in his mind getting down the bus.

Somehow, Ramo could not imagine his friend arriving and

being stranded alone. He prepared himself for the worst option

he had -To wait for fifteen minutes more and stay at relatives'

place. He waited, next fifteen minutes was an impatient wait.

He stretched his wait to fifteen more minutes. No bus came. He

left to his relatives' home in disappointment, feeling guilty for a

situation yet to occur. He had run out of options.

After a while, bus had arrived and Chintan got down. Bus had

arrived more than two hours late. He looked around and his

friend was not there. He guessed he might have waited and

went back home because bus was more late than usual. Like

Ramo, he tried calling Ramo's home from coin operated

telephone booth only to find out phone was dead. He was not

scared. He somehow had to reach his friend's village. He was

determined to reach his friend’s home in that village.

After waiting for a while, an additional bus was scheduled

which passed through the village. Luck favored him. He took

the bus happily not knowing it was an additional bus, eager to

meet his friend and his family. Travelling in bus, listening to

talks that floated around and talking to people was something

he enjoyed. It gave him a sneak-peek into people’s lives. He

got down after an hour of journey.

He looked around in the dark night, something didn’t feel right.

It was not the same stop as last time's visit. He realized had

got down a mile away from his destination!

He had no choice but to walk. There were no street lights. He

looked around for help.

"I will go to one of the nearby houses to borrow a torch or a

kerosene lamp and return tomorrow." He thought but he

couldn't see any lights which indicated homes around.

He recollected, whenever there were rains, these areas always

had power cuts. He was stranded in a village bus stand in dark

night. No electricity, no phone, no lights! It was like the bus

dropped him in Stone Age.

He heard voices behind him. He turned back and saw two men

talking jovially and smoking beedi at a distance under a small

roof which had no walls. It might have been an abandoned chai

shop, he guessed.

"Oh! Great! I can ask some help" Chintu sighed in relief.

"This could be dangerous. They are laughing, they are

smoking, and they might be drunk too. What if they are

robbers like in horror stories?" His other mind warned.

Presence of those men added to his existing fear. He put up his

best courageous himself and walked towards them.

"I need to walk to my friend's home, there is no light. Can you

please lend me the match stick box?" Chintu asked and his

throat dried in fear.

One of the men handed over a match box and said, "Be careful,

it's rainy season and in this wind you cannot light match

sticks."

Chintu grabbed the match stick thanking them and walked

away from them towards Ramo's home. He could only lit two or

three match sticks. Rain and wind moistened the phosphorous

strip on the match box and soon it was useless. Chintu picked

up a long twig to navigate like blind people do. Light from

lightening was his only friend now.

~~

He hiked on the nearly invisible roads wagging the twig right to

left like a visually challenged. Judging the way based on the

sound of rain drops, he could make out if he was approaching

bushes or he was on road. If he stepped on mud, he would

take a step back and move one step in different angle until he

got a hard platform to set his foot on. In between his struggle,

sky blessed him with flashes of light to put him back on track.

Fear was in a way helpful. It made him to be alert and

cautious. All his senses were at peak of their performance.

"Bow... Bow!" dog barked in the near distance. It made Chintan

to stop. He stood like a statue, not moving a bit, holding his

breath.

"If dog seems to be chasing you, stand still don't move" he

remembered an advice.

"That could be a house dog, there could be a house! You can

ask for help" other mind advised.

"I could run into danger, it could be a wild dog. I remember

Ramo was talking about wild dogs hunting pigs in this coffee

estate area. It might hunt me down too!" Chintu scared

himself.

He moved few steps ahead cautiously anticipating dog might

pounce on him. He saw a dim light. It was like yellow square

box from distance.

"It's a window! Thank God that's a house" he exclaimed.

As he moved towards the house the dog barked louder. It was

a big hut, almost like a home. A small boy opened the door to

see what dog is barking at. He went back inside. After a short

while, a lady came out holding a kerosene lamp. Dog growled

at Chintu.

"Aunty I am Ramo's friend. I got down at wrong stop. Do you

know how far Ramo's home is?" Chintu asked assuming that in

and around village everyone knew everyone.

"Ramo? Which Ramo? What's his father's name?" She asked in

surprise.

Chintu had forgotten his friend's father's name. He gave

description of Ramo and specifically telling her that he studied

in a residential school.

"Oh! Him I know. His home is nearby. It's just 10 minutes walk

from here. Be careful, it’s dark." She said smilingly.

Chintu wanted to ask if he can stay till morning but he

observed it was only one room house and people are already

sleeping on the floor and had no more place left. They had only

one kerosene lantern so he dropped the idea of borrowing it.

Also, it was just ten more minutes of hiking so he chose to

walk.

Chintu heard a water stream roaring at distance. As he walked,

the sound of stream grew stronger. Whoosh! It roared in

whisper. He was approaching a bridge. He remembered that

spot.

” Oh yeah few more minutes from here” he sighed.

Suddenly something struck his mind. Last time he visited

Ramo's house, there were rumors that a young girl had

committed suicide in the same stream and villagers have heard

her cry sometimes, she has become a Mohini – a ghost. Chintu

felt his knees weakening. He looked around in fear.

His mind played games by making up weird and scary images

out of dark and lighter dark bushes and trees. His ears heard

sounds which were not familiar.

"Is that sound a sound of girl crying far away? Or may be it’s

just the wind?" Chintu chilled in fear.

"What if ghost catches my leg from below as I walk on the

bridge? Oh no! I am not going to walk" His imagination took

over his thoughts.

He had no courage left to walk across the bridge. He was

sweating and trembling. Things got surrealistic. He wished it

was just a bad dream.

"God, please help. I am struck, I am scared" his pleaded.

"Ok I have to be specific. Just 'God' won't be sufficient. I need

to think of one God who can help. So that, that particular God

hears me. Which God is best? Which one..? Ummm... Shiva?

He is scary himself with that trisul, damru and sitting on tiger

skin! No no, not him. Krishna? Hanuman? Which one?" He was

confused, in choosing a God to pray who might rescue him out

of his situation.

"Ganesha? Yeah Lord Ganesha is best, he helps children. Also

he is head of all Gods that's why he is called Gananayaka."

He fixated on Ganesha finally. He recalled one mantra from

very few one-liner mantras he had learnt from his Mom.

"Om gam Ganapahe namaha... Om gam ganapathe namaha...”

He started chanting loud. Loud enough to mask other sounds

that silent night had unveiled -Sounds of flowing water, chorus

of beetles, cricketing of crickets, howling of the dog from that

house he just passed by, whistles of the wind, whispers of

leaves' rubbing each other, his own gasps of breathing and the

sporadic thunder -his enemy.

He started walking again, fast alert and steady. He felt no fear

as he knew for sure that the mighty Lord Ganesha was with

him. As he reached midpoint of the bridge, his uncontrollable

curiosity made him to turn back to see if any ghost is following

him. He also looked at either side of the waters.

"There is nothing to be afraid of. Ah! It's just the water" He

realized in midst of his fear. Still chanting one-liner mantra.

He ran towards the other end of the bridge. He had passed the

most difficult part of the journey. Going through such a terrific

experience, walking on road in dark night now seemed

relatively easy. He had conquered the fear. He hiked through

the curves of road. Lightening showed him flashes of road

which kept him going.

Road branched out to right as a muddy road. He remembered

that road. It was way to Ramo's house.

"Hurray! At last! Ramo's home! Yay!" he ran towards the home,

splashing the muddy waters. Ramo's cousin sister saw him

coming.

“We were waiting for you, why so late? Where is Ramo?” She

asked handing over a towel to drain off the water dripping

down from head.

Chintu narrated his adventurous walk to the family.

"Our own villagers are scared to walk on that way. No one

walks that way after seven. I am so surprised you walked

alone, that too in rains and such a late night!" She said

raising her eyebrows high in awe.

Chintu's walk in the dark was centre of discussion at home.

Chintu learnt that Ramo had gone to town to receive him.

Everyone assumed rightly that Ramo stayed in relatives' home

in the town. Ramo's Mom served Chintu tasty hot meal with

fish and roasted chicken. Taste of food made his struggle to

reach home worthwhile. Everyone went to sleep making sure

Chintu was comfortable.

"That must have been a dream. No it's not a dream." He spoke

to himself as he tried to sleep.

"Anyways, I made it. I made it home! I am so brave! I am so

brave... I won't be scared anymore of dark nights. I made it! I

made it... “He appreciated himself for adventurous journey.

"That Ghost Mohini might have followed me?" Chintu

unnecessarily scared himself.

As safety measure, he pulled over think blanket over his face,

tucked it behind his head which rested on pillow. "Om gam

ganapahe namaha.. Om gam ganapathe namaha…" He

whispered in the warm darkness from inside the blanket.

~digu