" Damn ......!!!What a waste of time.................!!!!!" I thought .The train had already left the station and I really wasn't in the mood to travel through the treacherous roads of the hill station ,back to the city. Many an accidents & mishaps had occurred in those ravine-laced mountain roads.......Roads !!! Not actually......!!! Those were actually pedestrian pathways leading into the heart of the hill station, on which the tourist cars and buses drove towards the path of no return.........nothing was safe about those roads-absolutely nothing....!!! Ironically...a watering hole on the road up to Chhailgam was named,Maut ka Kua...or the Well of Death.......by the locals in Chhailgam....!!! Also was this hill station fondly renamed "Quiescent Lanes" by the inquisitive 'firang' visitors to this silent hill station ,every year. I ,too, took out time to visit this God's paradise......a place which brought back to me those mischievous moments of childhood....that gay and carefree abandon of the youth, when everything was so beautiful and lively.........but.....not now...!!!!!
The shrill whistle of the goods train rocked me back to reality.....after the last passenger train had left the station, a goods wagon left, to deliver to the people of the city....the wonderful goodies procreated by Chhailgam & enjoyed by the whole district as well exported out of the country.....Strawberries. The box of strawberries rested firmly atop the Tuk-Tuk which had brought me to the station .Tuk-Tuks were small passenger rickshas,amply available for transport on this small hill station ...Cheap & Efficient !!!!!.............also.Mugdha loved strawberries...!!!!!
After paying the "Tuk-Tuk wala",who promptly replied in his broken English " Thank you Saarrrr...hope you coming again....Saarrr...Shall I hold your luggage to station ....Saarr ??." I declined his offer politely and picking my luggage I trudged into the station only to find that that train had already left the station a hour ago and there was no rail transport back to the city for the next 72 hours.................................72 hours !!!! That was 3 days !!!!!. All these years never had such a thing happened.......all thanks to my near-sightedness because of which I had read the train timings of 6:30 as 7:30...............I cursed myself to no extent !!! Imagine a person coming to the hill station for such a long span of time and not remembering the train timings !!! Damn me.................!!!!!.The Tuk-Tuk wala,Dinanath sensing my dilemma rushed in to the station and offered to drop me again to my cottage." It will get verrry dark....Saarrrr, Wild animal roam in jungle Saarrr !! You go back to Hotel Saarr......???".."Dinanath leave you ...Saarrr !!!" But I had different plans for the day " Dinanath,Tell me one thing...do you know any one who owns a taxi here, I want to go to the city at any cost ".On saying this I looked up only to find Dinanath staring at me with his mouth wide open." You no go Saarr !!! Jungle verrry dangerous....roads bad...!!!!...night time.....!!!!.no guarantee...Please don't go Sahib !!. Dinanath see many accidents in past...night time going not at all safe !!! Also "daku" and bad people waiting for rich gentleman like you .....no safe at night please don’t go..Saarrrr !!!!" I wish I had heeded Dina's advice that day and not gone..................But I did not ....." Dinanath....!!! I too don't wish to...but I have to go...." !!!! Muds.......Mugdha must be awaiting me !!!! "...........I MUST go................................................!!!!
The journey back again to the town took 8 hours by train.....but by road it was never possible to reach the city in less than 12 hours......sometimes Never !!!!.And now that I was traveling at night it was going to take more time than usual. Dinanath had persuaded an old friend of his,Munna to drop me to the city for a hefty sum of 1500 rupees......5 times the normal train fare.....Damn me ....!!!!. Munna was a middle aged man nearing his forties...heavily built, a thick long moustache, slick black oiled hair wearing only a vest and "lungi" which reeked of alcohol.........................desi daru"............................Alcohol !!!!!!!!!! ." Munna"I questioned him."You are not drinking & driving, are you ??"....................."Yes Sahib...Munna need something to keep awake whole night.....Don't worry Sahib .I can even drive a aero plane even when I drinking. Sahib...Keep faith in me !!! " What else could I do !!! Me and my destiny !!! .....................all this only for my sweetum Muds ..." Oh !! Mugdha, All the things I do for you......... !!!"
The taxi was an old, run down, cranky and shaky vehicle which needed a gallon of water after each two hours or so. My journey back again started on a really bad note after the taxi required me and Dinanath to push it to get its engine heated up. Now after 3 hours of a shaky drive ,all the bones in my body were in a bad state and I had to constantly keep talking to Munna to ensure that he didn't fall asleep at the wheel....after all he had emptied an entire bottle of "desi" before we embarked on the journey. My constant blabbering was irritating Munna ,who by nature seemed a quiet individual. After a while Munna stopped answering my questions, obviously bored by my inquisitiveness, but still I stuck to my task..........What else could I do ???" Munna, !!! Are you married??" I asked him.......but no response....!!!!" Munna !!! How many children do you have ??"......................Silence...................."Munna !!!! How much do you earn in a single day ???".........still................." Munna !!! What is your wife's name ???".........Screecccch !!!! The car same to a screeching halt.Munna definitely was now infuriated.."Look Sahib....Munna don't talk much......Munna is married man......Munna don't like stranger asking about Munna's wife.....Please don't force me to leave you in jungle Sahib !!! Munna not liking talking much OK Sahib" ...Oops !!! I decided to keep my mouth absolutely shut for the rest of the journey !!.For nearly two hours after that...not a word was spoken. also now I too was enjoying the night silence of the forest. The cool breeze blew in my face reminding me of the sea faces of Kerala.The constant animal talks in the jungle, the various noises and cries of the wild animals had always intrigued me. Today I hoped that I would get to see atleast one wild animal on my return journey......but no luck yet !!. There had been talks amongst the country folks of a man-eater tiger roaming on the outskirts of Chhailgam ,but the forest officials had dismissed it as another panther who was eating up the fowls in the village....nothing more.....but Dinanath had claimed that he himself had seen that magnificent creature...but then there also had been no instances of any villager mauled or eaten by this "man-eater”. Must be A vegetarian man-eater I thought...Haa!!!.If not the man-eater, I hoped that I would atleast get to see a wild boar or a wild cat for that case....I hoped !!!.
The road now was really bad. We were passing through the heart of the jungle ."Yup !! now is my real chance to spot any wild animal !!! " I thought.I wiped the dew from the window pane to get a better view of the jungle outside.But to no avail...it was pitch darkness all around .The temperature too was beginning to drop.I took out a shawl from my tote-bag and wrapped it around my quivering body. I wondered how Munna was managing on only a "lungi" and a vest. I wanted to ask him if he wanted something warm to drape around him.....but remembering his bloodshot eyes and his earlier warning, I decided to keep quiet.Anyways Munna was not exhibiting any signs of the cold affecting him a bit.So I decided to keep my mouth shut. “These country folk must really strong from inside" I said to myself."Sahib....!!!" Munna's heavy voice pierced through the silence of the night.” Sahib" He said" Car go no further ,Sahib".......Oh no !! not another breakdown I thought". But Munna's problem was something else." Sahib,Munna go no further....Maut ka kua.Sahib.....night time.....no car dare to go ahead....bad for us......evil spirit roaming near kua.Sahib....we wait till morning Sahib....in 1-2 hours sunrise will happen sahib...then only I will drive ahead, Sahib..!!!".............."What Bullshit...!!!" I thought" Nothing doing Munna ..I have to reach the city urgently .I got a flight to catch to my home, I bluffed , and don't give me this Evil spirit bullshit and all....all bloody old wives tales.Munna !!! I didn't know that you were such a fraidy cat. You are a man....damn it !!!!. Don't act like a child and get driving....or else..!!!" I was surprised to find myself talking to Munna in such a tone, but it seemed to work."Munna,not believing in "bhoot" and evil spirit Sahib....but many accident happen near Kua, Sahib !!!. That’s why Munna afraid !!" Munna said defensively." It's OK, I'll drive then " I offered to drive ahead. As I opened the car door, the sudden cold waft of air sent a chill down my spine. I further wrapped the shawl tightly around myself. Somehow I too felt some apprehension about driving ahead, but I banished my thoughts and slipped into the driver's seat....But still something really wasn't right about this place. Again the sound of the car's engine shattered the cold peace of the forest....as if it was an alarm for the Demons of the Jungle. I drove ahead on the bumpy stretch.Munna was getting panicky sitting besides me. He constantly was chanting some prayer, trying his best to keep his eyes shut !!!."What cowardice for a big sturdy man like him...Haa".I thought. But Munna was right in some way.....there were spirits around the Kua....but in my case it was a good spirit !!!
As we neared the kua,the road was in an undrivable condition. now I realized the run down state of Munna's taxi...Imagine driving through such kinda roads...that too twice or on some instances more like on today !!. It really was taxing on the car's suspension and it's body. Also Munna wasn't so well-off to service his car once or twice a month. Also.......suddenly a pair of twinkling eyes flashed from a nearby bush !!!.Munna let out a short scream and hysterically started chanting the prayer....more loudly this time. I too felt a sense of fear grip me.....but my fears were different from Munna's."The Man Eater........... !! The man eater of Chhailgam " I thought.I took out my torch from my bag..." SAHIB !!!" wailed Munna "Don't stop Sahib,Bhoot will kill both of us Sahib.......Munna not want to die.....!!! Sahib !!" By now Munna was at my feet...pleading me to drive on .But no !! I was determined to catch a glimpse of that magnificent beast......if it really existed in Chhailgam...this had to be him !!!" It was around 4o'clock in the early morning....Yup !!! Tigers usually hunt in the wee hours of dawn...I knew...this further assured me about the existence of the Man Eater...and now this brutal creature was right in front of me. I flashed my torch from the safety of the car...but now there was nothing outside.....not even a leaf crackled .As if the whole of the jungle was quiet in respect & awe of the 'King of the Jungle'.....!!!
15 nerve-wrecking minutes passed by.....but still no tiger...not even a small rat !!!. "Damn it......what a waste of time.....It must have been my imagination !!!" Till then,Munna who had passed away in fright also came to his senses " But heyyyyy.....Munna too had seen those eyes......it just couldn't have been my imagination..!!!!" But then now it was really getting late. I too was getting late. And I knew that if I didn't get back home on time again...I would have to face another Man-Eater...my wifey Mugdha...for whom I was enduring this car journey !!!." Man ,she would certainly eat me up if I didn't get to her on time "....but I also knew that she loved me a lot.......that's why she couldn't bear living from me for a longer span of time.....!! I started the car yet again only to be greeted by yet another shock !!!. There was a small, half naked boy standing in front of the vehicle with his arms spread out wide and calling out at me in an unknown language.Munna ,too, was ecstatic after seeing him .He shouted out to the boy in a local dialect. The boy came rushing towards the car........." Sahib !!! This is Dipoo...the village woodcutter Shiva's son.....Last week.....Bagh...tiger killing Shiva....villager finding Dipoo's clothes near entrance of jungle....We thinking Bagh kill him too !!! But He is alive Sahib...he is alive....Dipoo is alive..........!!!!!".

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Chapter # 02

Dipoo brought into our life the much needed zest that our life had lacked......He brought into it adventure along with emotion with his innumerous stories about the jungle and how the tiger had mauled his father to death. Many a times at night ,He would get up screaming....only to drift back again to sleep once that nightmare would have been broken.....Poor chap !!!! I was doing the best I could do for that fella !!. Muds too took an instant liking to that lad....He called her "Akka"-elder sister .......But insisted on calling me "Sahib”. On asking why?? He just used to hug Muds by her tummy!!! Poor lad!!! He was just 8-9 years of age. …imagine losing both your parents at such a tender age !!!! He took to Muds as an elder sister .She too showered the much needed affection and care on Dipoo. Muds had plans of adopting him, but I was thinking on other lines.Dipoo was not suited for the city, he had to return back to his abode….the lush, green countryside of Chhailgam. The first and the foremost things to do now were to take Dipoo back to Chhailgam and enquire about Dipoo’s relatives because Munna seemed to know nothing about him.” He from neech kul….sahib…village people don’t go near him….not good !! “ Saying this he had even refused to let him in the car…..but with a little persuasion thrown in with some extra money ,he had finally given in.
The day arose , when I and Muds along with Dipoo, of course, arrived in Chhailgam.The moment the train chugged into the station, the glow on Dipoo’s face was for everyone to see. He jumped around in the bogie, merrily dancing and shouting in his native tongue. Poor chap…..He really had missed his land. On the contrary Muds was a little upset. The bumpy train ride along with the sad realization that Dipoo would now probably be separated from her, was eating her. She had become very much attached to him in the past 5-6 days, unlike me……
This was Muds first visit to Chhailgam, earlier she had always refused to accompany me to this paradise, thinking it to be a run-down place, where the guides and the locals fleeced the touristers especially the ‘firangs’. But now even she was convinced about the existence of “paradise” on Earth. The lush greenery, especially the strawberry laden shrubs transcended her into a partial state of hypnotism…a kind of rapture !!!.Once after alighting on the platform, like a small kid ,she ran into the greenery adjoining the station. With both her arms spread apart, she revolved around herself chuckling like a two-year old gurgly toddler. Dipoo stared at her with wide eyes, forgetting his own joy after being a witness to Mugdha’s euphoria. And all I could do is just smile  !!!. All this was not new for me. Right from the time I started knowing Mugdha, this childishness was not new for me. Those were the times when she would insist on me accompanying her to her kindergarten school…..just to play with the toddlers there, to help them with their studies, to accompany them to their various picnics as an volunteer ….to helping them blow balloon for their bi-monthly kiddie parties…….whew !!! She did all that was possible by her then. The school teachers too knew her by name, after all 10% of her’s monthly earnings was donated to this “Tiny Angel’s Nursery”……so aptly named !!! I too used join Mud’s in her once or twice a month visit to this place brimming with kids of all sizes !!. After all my Mud’s too had ‘graduated’ from this “Angel’s” school……..and she was an “Angel” too….!!!
The hooting whistle of “ The Chhailgam Express” leaving the station for the car-shed broke into Mugdha’s trance. Shyly she walked towards us, obviously embarrassed by her kiddish show of pleasure. Dipoo still had his mouth wide open as yet !! But still I had enjoyed every single bit of it……..after a long time had I seen Mugdha open up like this.
“ Why didn’t you stop me,dumbu ?” hissed Mugdha into my ear. All the people on the station were now staring at us as we walked towards the ricksha stand. Mugdha by now had turned beet-red by all this unwanted attention. The crimsonish glow on her dimpled cheeks made her looks all the more cuter. Her shy, sweet embarrassed smile rocked the village folks….some even mistook her for some Bollywood actress, their ‘murmur’ reaching our ears. Here was Muds……a 30-something woman who looked not more than 21…!!! Just then the breezy winds of Chhailgam caressed her silken hair, sprawling them across her face………and lo and behold …..the entire district of Chhailgam was stunned by the ethereal beauty of my darlin’ Muds………..!!!!

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Chapter # 03

Quite some time passed with we being in Chhailgam, but still no clue was found about Dipoo’s relatives. Nor were any village folk eager to provide any sort of information regarding Dipoo. Each one was the victim of the same old ideology…..that Dipoo was of a lower caste……….’neech kul’ ,the villagers used to say. I was disappointed to see that such casteism existed even today……….but hey !! This was just one of those villages where people still believed in ghosts and evil spirits……and some hodgy-podgy ‘Maut ka kuas’……I could just scoff at such people. But Muds was very disturbed by this no-show. She even went to the extent of hitting one of the village women……who had foul mouthed Dipoo on his caste, thanks to Dinanath, the local Tuk-Tuk driver who ran in to my rescue and averted any possible scuffle which could have erupted between Mugdha and the village women. Poor Muds…she certainly had become too attached to that little child. On the contrary Dipoo was enjoying a lot. With no proper home to stay, he was staying with us at the village dak-ghar. He used to spend the entire day loitering in the adjoining jungle and his evenings were spent in rummaging the old, shady corners of the dak-ghar. He always was an inquisitive chap. Muds too sometimes used to join him in his expeditions…….but most of the times, at the end of the day, she would be too exhausted even to keep her eyes open. Everyday I had to carry her to the master bedroom upstairs in the dak-ghar, this, reminding me of the days just after our marriage . Radha used to turn red with embarrassment at such times…….Radha was a middle aged woman appointed by Dinanath to take care of us during our stay. He had promised her a fat amount of money for looking after us. Though very talkative, Radha was an excellent cook…………whipping up a variety of dishes even at a short notice. I too used to praise sincerely. Muds, but of course turned green with envy at such moments. “ I’ll kill you if you butter that fat Radha again………I’ll never talk to you again if you utter any single word of praise for her”, she used to say. But once after Radha served the dinner on the dining table, Muds too used to savor the lip smacking contents of her plate with gusto..!!!.In a short span of time, Radha had become one of the family. Dinanath too used drop in frequently to enquire about us. He treated Radha as her daughter, always reprimanding her on her talkativeness. But amidst all this ….Dipoo was still homeless
Not able to speak his language, Muds too couldn’t coax him to make him talk about his relatives or anyone he knew in the village. Radha had this casteism bit for Dipoo but she didn’t show it….fearing Muds of course !!!. So she avoided Dipoo most of the times, never approaching the kid directly. Dinanath was an old ricksha driver who knew nothing of the jungle and all Dipoo could speak was a few broken words of English…….thanks to foreign tourist invasion in Chhailgam. But one day something out of the ordinary happened…………It so happened that monsoon had arrived in Chhailgam. It usually arrived a lot more earlier in these hill-stations than in the city ……The entire of Chhailgam was bathed in the green glory of the rains, little brooks erupted in the mountains out of nowhere, the Mohami river which flowed through the valley gathered more speed…all the flora and the fauna of the jungle had found respite from the Summer heat….the jungle behind the dak-bunglow was also beginning to grow more and more dense with the rains……also the rains never seemed to stop, as if the Gods were crying on our failure to relocate Dipoo back to his kin………seven days a week ,24 hours a day…it just kept on raining and raining and raining ………………… !!!
.. But one day it arose with the Sun shining brightly in the sky ..there was no sign of any black cloud in the sky…the entire stretch of horizon had opened up to bask in the long lost sunshine ….colorful birds adorned the blue sky with their presence chirping gleefully in their golden voices….everything around was rosy and happy until then……..
It was around 12o’clock in the afternoon when Radha was on the terrace drying clothes in the crisp monsoon sun…normally due to monsoon all the drying was done in a special room in the dak-ghar….but today Mugdha insisted that the clothes be dried on the roof. Maybe her insistence was for a reason…??? Sulking over the fact that she had to now dry clothes out in the blazing sun, Radha stomped all the way up the terrace stairs. Me and Muds were enjoying our afternoon siesta down in the dak-ghar living room…,the sudden change in the atmosphere had made us all sleepy…..but not Dipoo, he as usual was missing from the bungalow…maybe playing out in the courtyard or rummaging in the jungle behind !!! Muds did not care about the fact that Dipoo was in the jungle behind unless he didn’t get himself dirty  …..Just then a shrill scream pierced through the heavy afternoon air…Muds woke up with a start…. I too didn’t understand anything at first…. but then we both realized that the voice was of Radha’s who was drying the clothes upstairs. We hurried upstairs only to find Radha trembling away ,her face all white with fear and eyes stark open as if she had seen something ghastly……she stood shaking by the terrace door pointing her finger towards the terrace wall, hinting me to look down. Instructing Muds to take her down, I rushed towards terrace wall overlooking the dense jungle only to find Dipoo playing below, happily humming to himself . It seemed as if he hadn’t heard the scream at all….but how could it be ??? Radha’s scream had shaken the whole of the dak-ghar and how did Dipoo not hear it ???……..and what was that ,which had made Radha scream on top of her lungs ??? I don’t know why but all seemed very strange to me….Just then I felt someone tugging at my sleeve…. I turned back to find Dipoo pulling at me, beckoning me to play with him…..i guess he must have seen me overlooking the terrace wall and must have come up then ….but how did he get here sooo fast……….How long was I here on the terrace ???? Didn’t Mugdha see Dipoo enter into the dak-ghar ??? All seemed like a puzzle to me and the solution to this puzzle rested with Radha……..Radha !!!!! How was she ??? Had Mugdha taken her downstairs and given her proper medication…..the stark, white, frightened face of Radha loomed before my eyes…….i rushed downstairs with Dipoo tagging me along ……!!!!
Radha till now had collapsed from the frenzy of the incident and she was lying flat out on the living room sofa, with Mugdha mopping her forehead with a damp swab of cloth. On enquiring I came to know that Radha had fallen unconscious right after she had come downstairs with Mugdha, even Mugdha not knowing as to what had Radha seen which had frightened her so much. !!!!!!

The entire afternoon passed with Radha unconscious, Mugdha now was really getting tensed about her.” What possibly would she have seen, Adi ??”, she asked me. But I had no answer. Dinanath also had heard the news and he too was present besides Radha’s bedside. Dipoo, too was running small-small errands for Muds, was on his toes the whole afternoon……small kid  ,he was not understanding what had happened to Radha. Also the doctor who had come to see Radha failed to understand what had happened to Radha, diagnosing it as “mere exhaustion”, administering her a sedative injection before he left. But recollecting that frightened look on Radha’s face that afternoon, I knew that something somewhere was not right and I had to wait till Radha regained consciousness ……………………….and it sure was a loooong wait…………
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Chapter # 04

By now the sun was setting in all it’s glory in the western skies, still Radha hadn’t woken from her slumber sleep ….good , the doctor had advised bed-rest for her….but still I needed to talk to her.
Evening time in the dak-ghar brought along with it numerous sounds from the adjoining jungle, with different birds and animals contributing to it….you could hear the whistling of the warbler, the rat-tat-tat of the wood pecker, the mean laughter of the hynea..the screeching of the monkeys…at times you could even hear the trumpet of a solitary elephant…but then these animals were far away from the dak-ghar and except for an odd monkey, no animals ever ventured near the village…and speak about a man-eater….haa…I scoffed at the thought. But today the jungle was surprisingly quiet, as if the whole of the jungle was mourning the death of someone or something……but little did I know that it was the peace before the storm !!!! Also it hadn’t rained a single drop the whole day, providing a well sought relief from the constant pitter-patter on the roof the whole day….no sooner the thought had crossed my mind, I heard a mild rumble……….Looking out of the window, I couldn’t see any traces of rain-cloud in the diminishing sunlight outside, “strange…!!!!”, I thought…again I heard a rumble again….only this time around I realized that the rumbling came from my tummy which was unfed the whole afternoon, thanks to the excitement of the noon. I went in the kitchen to see what Mugdha was doing…and a sweet waft of Gajar-halwa hit my nose. I saw Muds ,wearing a baby pink apron ,leaning over the cooking range, stirring into my favorite Gajar-Halwa. I tiptoed behind her and grabbing by her waist impromptu planted a big kiss on her cheek.”Dumbu..!!! what are you doing ??”, she shouted “What if I would have………” and before she could complete her sentence our lips were interlocked in a what seemed a never ending kiss  !!!! ….Minutes must have passed by when Dipoo entered the kitchen and gave out a cry of excitement seeing us……Muds pushed me away, wiping her blushing face she started stirring the already stirred halwa . I too buried my face in a week old newspaper that lied on the kitchen shelf. Dipoo till then was looking alternately at us with a quizzical look…….suddenly Muds burst out laughing seeing Dipoo’s reaction……..and we both to joined in her laughter. Mugdha looked a million dollars in that pink apron  …she patted Dipoo on the head and giving a quick peck on my cheek, she stepped out with the casserole having the halwa towards the dining room. And all I could do was gnarl my teeth at Dipoo who had played spoilsport……….”Grrrr……stupid kid…………………….!!!!”