For Want of Money
On the 21st of March 1996, his Matriculation Examinations were over. That day he had been waiting for a long time since he was in Grade 9. He was a boy of a different temperament when others of his age and standard would be scared and nervous about the decisive tests or examinations, he would impatiently wait and watch for the test dates so that the burden get over before it extended the labor period of preparing for the tests.
He was born to a middle-class farmer's family and there was always a sort of scarcity of a number of things he would realize only when he met his friends at schools and other festival gatherings where he met his friends and their families. He didn't know what was in his mind that not so easily allowed him to feel free and share his joys and wants with either his friends or even his own parents.
"Yes, the day has come for me to fly and ramble unheeding to the imposed school syllabus and tedious Maths classes of Ms Dev." However, his plan didn't go as expected. As man proposes and GOD disposes; he needed some money to accompany his friends, Suman, Raju, Harbinder, Sanbok, Bir Bahadur, Jyoti, Nisha, Puspa, Divya, and Theirit who were going to visit the Kaziranga National Park, India for the first time after their Matriculation tests were over.
Vivek being the best student in the class, they didn't want to miss him on their first and most adventurous trip. But where would Vivek get the sum that was nearly over ten times his annual school fees, and he was luckily unaware of the genuine interest of his friends.
It was 25th March, four days after the end of the examinations, Vivek was all set to go to Balahat, a bordering town of Meghalaya, India with the north of Bangladesh. He had got up unexpectedly earlier that morning and without his breakfast set off for the destination.
He met Azit at the bus station in Barabazar, Shillong who had already bought the tickets for Cherrapunjee, Mawsynram unaware of the right bus that routed to Balahat as it was the first journey for both of them. Not knowing the duration of the journey, they just had a cup of tea each with Parle G's Glucose cookies.
The bus started at 7:30 am with over 35 passengers excluding the crew. Azit started his story to make the long journey comfortable. " look, Vivek I've never had time and money to study beyond Grade 2. All my parents could afford for the three of my siblings was a meager meal for the day. I'm the eldest son of my parents and therefore I have more responsibilities: make some money along with my father to support the family." Vivek was but lost in the breathtaking beauty of the pine forest and cascading waterfalls from the gorges of hills far below the cliffs. " Vibek, hey Vivek what's up? Are you listening to my tale?
"Tale, your tale, oh so sorry. I was engrossed in the pine forests and waterfalls. You know, it's my first ever unknown trip away from home and I haven't either informed my parents or the uncle and aunt with whom I'm currently staying with."
Suddenly the bus came to a screeching halt. The bus conductor told the passengers to get down and use the restrooms if needed. Vivek was in need of the same and it was like an absolute peace in the midst of the pine trees. Azit asked the conductor about the location of the place only to know that the bus wasn't going further. He explained to him that they had already reached Cherrapunjee and the road to Mawsynram was blocked due to a huge boulder that fell on the road from the pine forest.
Vivek was overhearing their conversation and the news disappointed him in one way but he was not as much upset as Azit. Soon the highway patrol arrived and started asking for the identities of the bus passengers. All went well but when the officer asked Azit to show his identity card, he only turned blue as he belonged to Bangladesh and was a Muslim without any ID cards.
Vivek couldn't understand what had gone wrong. However, he explained to the officer that he had come with Azit to work on the road construction site as a laborer in Balahat that led to Mawpathaw, a hinterland in East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya. But the officer wouldn't listen to a young boy of 15. Azit was taken into custody on the charges of intruding into another country without any visa or legal permission, and Vivek simply followed him to the police station.
It was nearly 3 pm now Azit was in the custody for about 5 hours. Hungry and sad both waited for the officer to let them go until that long. In the end, the officer took away whatever cash Azit had and let him go. He on the other hand told Vivek to be responsible and always ask for his parents' permission before leaving home for any reason. He further warned Vivek how he could ever believe a one-time familiar person and hanker after his assurances of providing a job. "Believe not anybody that tells you they solve your problems unless you have their complete identity and family consent!" added the officer.
It contrastingly didn't take long for the officer to understand the desperation Vivek was in for short of money. He had his dream of making some money in the break of those two months and buy the first pair of blue denim jeans and the white sports shoes of Adidas make.
Free they were from the police custody, but the sun was slowly slumping behind the hills and the cold night was fast rising. Not knowing where to go now, they decided to stay in a nearby makeshift hut made by the local Khasi zinger farmers.
