The Wrong Decision

It was nearly 7:30 in the evening when Azit and Vivek returned to the makeshift hut for shelter that night. They collected some bush and the pine needles (leaves), some dry grass and set it for bedding. Until now things were fine for that time and space but they began to fear as the wind started to blow harder.

The Wrong Decision

Soon the wind started changing into a gust and in no time the top of the hut was blown tearing the side walls made of thatch and tree branches. This dismayed them for a while as there were no safer places to spend the night than this ramshackle hut.

Vivek was so scared that he couldn't utter a single word. Perhaps he was regretting his decision and recollecting the advice of the police officer. Azit, on the other hand, looked a little nervous but he apparently looked assured that the gust would not last long, and again he would collect some dry grass and make bedding for the rest of the night to spend. 

He said, "Are you scared, Vivek? Haven't you ever faced such wind gust before?"

" Not so scared, but worried a little if we can safely head to our destination tomorrow." Vivek retorted.

By the time Azit was able to manage the second bedding, it was already 3:00 am the next day. There was no question they could go to sleep now. Both the travelers were silent for some time and began to talk again. Azit broke the silence. "Did you ever think you could be with me spending this horrible night in a thick pine forest?" Vivek couldn't answer what to say. " Now I think we should go back to Shillong and carry on with our own ways." Vivek had realized his blunder of accompanying Azit in this journey for want of money. But this was the best option for him in that situation. He didn't want to look small before his schoolmates as his sense of self-esteem had deeply smitten him.

The birds started chirping on the trees, the distant blue hills turned reddish-brown as the solar disk had started crossing the horizon. They felt the warmth, regained their confidence, and left the hut with some unspoken words of gratitude-as if it had sacrificed its life only to save the unknown travelers. 

The highway was not very far for them-only about a distance of ten minutes brisk walk. Upon reaching the highway, they entered the only tea stall for some breakfast. The breakfast was some jahdoh-rice cooked in beef and a cup of plain tea. They devoured the meal as though they were hungry for months.

Vivek was almost determined to return home; Azit was but in a dilemma. He had already told the road construction contractor that he would reach Balahat in two days' time. Communication was not like today. There were no mobile phones then; there were no landlines in that hinterland either. Azit asked Vivek if he would rethink and veer his decision with an expectation of support to reframe his own decision. Azit remembered the police officer and his behavior.

"You see brother, luck is not in our favor." He continued, "You faced the indifferent police officer followed by the harsh nature at a time when we're looking for some comforts. if we face further similar situations, I don't know what would turn out of us." This was all Azit was looking for. He agreed with him in this and waited for the bus back to Barabazar. Shillong.

There were only two busses that were en route to Cherrapunjee and Shillong. The first bus arrived at 7:30 am with a crowd of passengers. There wasn't a single seat as most were occupied by women and old. However, the previous day's experience wouldn't allow them to spare a moment from waiting for the second--the last bus.

They got onto the crowded engine cell and in the next moment, it ran through the hilly pine forest. It was like another suffocating night for them as they had to stand on the footboard, gripping the widow bars for balance. Except for a time out for a pee after three hours of the journey, they hadn't got a room to either breathe move.

In the end, they returned to where they had begun their so thought prospective journey. They got down at Maulong Bazar a kilometer before the final bus stop.

Azit wasn't as regretful as Vivek of the journey in the last twenty and four hours. Vivek was deeply pondering as to what he should reply to the barrage of questions and queries that awaited him from his family. 

Epilogue 

Man has conquered hundreds of problems of life and made it comfortable. Time is perhaps the only invisible colossal thing sure to encounter one sooner or later, man is crushed like nuts under a road roller. Dreams and aspirations built-in ages get crushed in moments. Vivek's wish to have a pair of blue denim jeans and the white sports shoes he once had seen while window shopping in Police Bazar was blown away by that wind gust of the previous night. It didn't affect Azit much as his ken was sharper that was sharpened by the time he has spent. 

Money is not the heart of life; it is only the part. Money alone must not be allowed to play a dominant role in making our decisions. If it did why should Vivek deeply ponder after getting down the bus at Maulong Bazar and not straight head back home. But one may again question, then why he took the decision of accompanying Azit for work in a distant and unknown hinterland in Meghalaya. There is no answer to both the questions at the same time as the contexts (the need and the means) that gave rise to these questions were different in both the character's cases in spite of being in one place.

 Life is a repository of unexpected events and incidents whether one accepts or rejects them. All mortals have to go through series of these happenings and no one can control them. They can only express their tastes differently.                              Read before.

The End