Chapter - 6 : Skyfall
I awoke with a start - it had probably been a nightmare I had forgotten almost instantly. A lone dog howled in the distance, a light breeze whistled through the leaves, and there was pin-drop silence. Suddenly, I heard the rustle of gravel around me. My eyes swung to see a faint silhouette circling our campsite, floating like a blind spot in my peripheral vision. It stopped abruptly and made a beeline for me, quickening its pace with every step. I gulped and looked around for help. The stars above me seemed to twinkle more vigorously, like the soundtrack of an action scene. The phantom was almost upon me.
'My Karmageddon is here,' I whimpered and hid inside my blanket, quivering like a railway track being approached by a train. I waited for it to run over me.
'Danish,' the train put a hand on my shoulder, and I almost had an out-of-body experience, 'Are we going?'
I came back to reality and saw Rhythm's face peeping back at me. The soft glow of my mobile reminded me it was 5 am. I shook Shankar awake, thanking the stars he hadn't seen this.
Soon, me, Shankar, Chetanya, Bhaven, Parag, Aishwarya, Rhythm, Anjana, Vishnu and Jaya set off on the road towards Jog Falls Bridge, skirting the valley, looking for the tiniest opening into the rocky forest. A little further, Shankar spotted an inconspicuous dirt path to the left, and we slid down it. The roar of the waterfall jumped out at us as soon as we reached the bottom.
Jackpot.
We followed the sound of the water, jumping nimbly over boulders and gallivanting from perch to perch, like a Red Indian Rain Dance. It was a fusion of parkour and rock-climbing. Me and Shankar challenged each other, making seemingly dangerous leaps and climbing impossible rocks. We'd left the others far behind, but I knew they would make it. I could see Jaya leading them through a simpler route, parallel to ours.
We were stuck at a particular spot, with nowhere else to go except a long jump across a bubbling chasm.
'It's too risky,' I told Shankar. He looked over my head, trying to see an alternate route.
'Let's do it.'
Shankar went first, since he was taller. If he barely made it, my chances were nil. He made it by the breadth of a hair, and was rewarded with a sopping wet shoe.
'I think I chickened out while jumping,' Shankar told me sheepishly. 'Just give it your all.'
I gave a war cry and flew over to the other side, landing safely. Every trip taught a tiny lesson.
Before long, we were at the top of the world, looking down on creation. No pictures or words could describe the immense depth of the plummet. It was like watching the sky fall. I looked at the water plunging into infinity, with droplets flying off, spraying into the sky and evaporating before hitting the ground. Soon, I was swaying along with the rhythm of the stream, sitting at the edge of the cliff. This was what clouds must feel like, peering at life below, like looking inside a snowglobe.
The others slowly caught up. 'This is the Rani falls,' I told them. 'Perhaps we can get to the other three as well, if we go through the rocks along this cliff.' I could see them in the distance, cascading into the netherworld. I was tempted to set off, but time was running out.
Everyone took a perch for themselves and stared in peaceful wonder, probably wishing they could fly. I dropped a pebble into the water and followed its journey down the cliff with my eyes. We immersed our feet in the stream and felt the breeze take our minds into flight.
'This is the end,' Rhythm started beside me. 'Hold your breath and count to ten...'
I started harmonizing, and the gurgling of the water was like an orchestra for our duet.
'Till we stand tall and face it all...at Skyfall,' we ended together, while the orchestra continued.
'Come on, Ramu will be waiting,' Shankar said, heading back. I wore my shoes and stayed a while, waiting for the others to finish their songs. The sun was out now, its rays peeking from the rocks behind us and tapping our shoulders, reminding us that there was more to this day. I was pretty sure everyone was willing to stay there till dusk, otherwise.
Me and Shankar took a different way back, almost falling into a small pond because of a deceptive rock, which looked stable - but was actually floating in the water. I was reminded yet again of Takeshi's Castle. We also spotted a pineapple tree, with an unripe fruit hanging on it.
We climbed up and welcomed the road. Me and Shankar walked down a slope, slowly breaking into a jog and then a sprint, and didn't stop until we'd reached a giant tree - why waste all that momentum?
A huge flock of Great Hornbills flew past us, and we stared blankly until Shankar poked me to take a photograph. It wasn't clear at all, and we missed Vedant yet again. There were about twenty of them, and we could hear more making their way towards us.
I heard a stirring in the tree beside us, and we saw an orange and black shape shifting in the foliage. It was a large cat-like creature, but I had no clue which animal it could be. Later, I would discover that we had actually spotted the rare Nilgiri marten. I took a video, but nothing was clear.
The others caught up to us, and we made our way back in silence. It would take a while for our minds to return to their nests.
Chapter - 7 : Top Of The World
'Up and at 'em, people!' I roared, entering the campsite. There was no answer. In fact, there were no people.
'Oh God they left without us,' I told Shankar, horrified.
'Relax, there they are,' Shankar pointed to a hut at the end of a small ascent, where the rest of our group was having breakfast. We went to see poha, idlis and coconut chutney laid out in buckets. We pounced.
A gargantuan man came out - presumably the cook - and asked whether we needed more sambar, in an infrasonic voice. I nodded slowly, lest any sudden movements unleashed the Hulk. 'It's Frankenstein's monster,' I whispered to the table.
Breakfast was a hurried act of gluttony, for Ramu was already there, spurring us on. The van came a little late, and we grabbed our lightly-packed bags and rushed to it.
Ideally, the van could accommodate eleven - maximum twelve - people. There was no way seventeen of us and our heavy breakfasts were getting in. Challenge accepted, though.
Packed in like a clown car, we made it till the Forest Department check post for our permissions. Ramu opened the door, and we all spilled out, flowing to the office with our Aadhaar cards. Then, it was a short, albeit bumpy ride to the edge of the forest, from which the trek started.
'Hello, people. Welcome Shiva, a local guide and expert rock-climber.' Ramu announced. 'He also trains visitors in trekking and rock-climbing. He'll accompany us today.'
Ramu was also an excellent guide. He told us about the best time to spot the Sloth Bear and witness all the fruiting trees of chikoo (sapota), jackfruit, black jamun, pineapple, oranges, papaya and banana, in this forest. He told us how he'd recently worked in the nearby Anshi National Park for the annual census of black panthers.
After a short walk across some barren paddy fields, the descent started. It was the steepest descent I had ever encountered, and after a while, we were grabbing roots and tendrils and simply shimmying down. Ramu gave us instructions on where to step and how to maintain balance, and there were a lot of parallels to tree-climbing.
We were right in the middle of the forest, and the trail had already been overrun by the thick roots of its trees. Finally, the descent relaxed a bit, curling around a fallen tree trunk until we were face to face with the waterfall. I almost gasped at the view.
'You get to be the first one to see it,' Ramu proclaimed, proudly. 'Come on everyone, just half an hour more,' he yelled to those above us.
There was a short, completely rocky plummet with no safe footholds. Ramu tied a rope to one of the larger boulders and let it fall. He told me, however, to try climbing down without it. I grinned and started, with small, dangerous ibex-like jumps. Most of the time, I was swinging between loosely-gripped rocks with my hands; thank God for all those pull-ups. After that stretch, it was a short muddy walk to the falls.
Dabbe falls was less than a third of Jog Falls in height, but there was no less splendour, roaring away with perennial waters that crashed onto massive rocks, weathering them away layer by layer. I rushed to the brink of the nearby pond, took off my rucksack and shoes and clothes hurriedly, and made for it. Behind me, I could spot Vishnu, Shankar and Prashant doing the same.
The water was really cold, and our bodies were warm from the exertion. Naturally, I almost froze on my first step into the pond. Soldiering on, we made it to the curtains of unforgiving streams - even the spray from the boulders felt like bee stings to my skin.
'Here goes nothing,' I whispered and threw myself under the mighty falls.
At first, the torrents crashed into me; countless, gentle bullets. It felt like an execution in an Italian Mafia movie. Slowly, the pain gave way to calm, and the water matched step with my thoughts; weathering them away layer by layer.
The pool was deep enough for swimming, and once everyone was tired of being battered, they relaxed there. Me, Shankar and Parag climbed a small rock which had a tiny crevice where we could stand and look at the waterfall from within, safe from its onslaught.
We all scattered, some playing and splashing in the water, while some sitting contemplatively on the surrounding rocks. I wanted to climb up the waterfall through the rocks, but Ramu warned me against it.
'All right, people. cheese!' Prashant yelled from atop a small cliff, and we jumped and hollered (or did nothing) for him. I don't think he was even taking a photo.
'Damn it, I'm shivering,' Shankar could barely speak, his teeth chattering like a jazz drum solo. 'Let's get out of the water before we turn into icicles.'
Solemnly, we dried ourselves off and wore our clothes. Me and Rhythm joked about how the cold was making it easier to sing trills and murkiyan. 'Try Soona Soona now,' I laughed, and Rhythm sang it perfectly at almost twice the speed. We mounted our bags and started our journey back up.
'Such a feeling's coming over me,' Rhythm started, and I couldn't help joining in. We harmonized while we made our way to the top of the world.
Packed in like a clown car, we made it till the Forest Department check post for our permissions. Ramu opened the door, and we all spilled out, flowing to the office with our Aadhaar cards. Then, it was a short, albeit bumpy ride to the edge of the forest, from which the trek started.
'Hello, people. Welcome Shiva, a local guide and expert rock-climber.' Ramu announced. 'He also trains visitors in trekking and rock-climbing. He'll accompany us today.'
Ramu was also an excellent guide. He told us about the best time to spot the Sloth Bear and witness all the fruiting trees of chikoo (sapota), jackfruit, black jamun, pineapple, oranges, papaya and banana, in this forest. He told us how he'd recently worked in the nearby Anshi National Park for the annual census of black panthers.
After a short walk across some barren paddy fields, the descent started. It was the steepest descent I had ever encountered, and after a while, we were grabbing roots and tendrils and simply shimmying down. Ramu gave us instructions on where to step and how to maintain balance, and there were a lot of parallels to tree-climbing.
We were right in the middle of the forest, and the trail had already been overrun by the thick roots of its trees. Finally, the descent relaxed a bit, curling around a fallen tree trunk until we were face to face with the waterfall. I almost gasped at the view.
'You get to be the first one to see it,' Ramu proclaimed, proudly. 'Come on everyone, just half an hour more,' he yelled to those above us.
There was a short, completely rocky plummet with no safe footholds. Ramu tied a rope to one of the larger boulders and let it fall. He told me, however, to try climbing down without it. I grinned and started, with small, dangerous ibex-like jumps. Most of the time, I was swinging between loosely-gripped rocks with my hands; thank God for all those pull-ups. After that stretch, it was a short muddy walk to the falls.
Dabbe falls was less than a third of Jog Falls in height, but there was no less splendour, roaring away with perennial waters that crashed onto massive rocks, weathering them away layer by layer. I rushed to the brink of the nearby pond, took off my rucksack and shoes and clothes hurriedly, and made for it. Behind me, I could spot Vishnu, Shankar and Prashant doing the same.
The water was really cold, and our bodies were warm from the exertion. Naturally, I almost froze on my first step into the pond. Soldiering on, we made it to the curtains of unforgiving streams - even the spray from the boulders felt like bee stings to my skin.
'Here goes nothing,' I whispered and threw myself under the mighty falls.
At first, the torrents crashed into me; countless, gentle bullets. It felt like an execution in an Italian Mafia movie. Slowly, the pain gave way to calm, and the water matched step with my thoughts; weathering them away layer by layer.
The pool was deep enough for swimming, and once everyone was tired of being battered, they relaxed there. Me, Shankar and Parag climbed a small rock which had a tiny crevice where we could stand and look at the waterfall from within, safe from its onslaught.
We all scattered, some playing and splashing in the water, while some sitting contemplatively on the surrounding rocks. I wanted to climb up the waterfall through the rocks, but Ramu warned me against it.
'All right, people. cheese!' Prashant yelled from atop a small cliff, and we jumped and hollered (or did nothing) for him. I don't think he was even taking a photo.
'Damn it, I'm shivering,' Shankar could barely speak, his teeth chattering like a jazz drum solo. 'Let's get out of the water before we turn into icicles.'
Solemnly, we dried ourselves off and wore our clothes. Me and Rhythm joked about how the cold was making it easier to sing trills and murkiyan. 'Try Soona Soona now,' I laughed, and Rhythm sang it perfectly at almost twice the speed. We mounted our bags and started our journey back up.
'Such a feeling's coming over me,' Rhythm started, and I couldn't help joining in. We harmonized while we made our way to the top of the world.
Chapter - 8 : Trains
Me and Rhythm went on ahead this time, discussing campus life and our shared passion for travelling. She had an army background, and thus had an exposure to a lot of places. In that moment, I knew she was going to be another regular in these trips.
'Travelling has everything - new people, new places; and it's the surest way to grow.' Rhythm said, panting but moving up steadily. 'And you also get to spend some time with yourself, if you're not very social. There's something for everyone.'
I guess that last statement summed up travelling perfectly.
Ramu had said that he could take us boating in the Sharavati backwaters if time permitted, so I reached the paddy fields we'd crossed and waited there, listening to the calls of birds and watching the clouds drift away. A soft breeze brought back words that I'd probably thought on my way up. I thought yet again how it would be to live like this; be a travel guide, close to nature; write and make music. I still had to plan a lot out - too much was uncertain at this point of time.
Thankfully, the others arrived before a full-blown existential crisis hit.
Ramu procured lunch; rotis and cabbage poriyal (kind of a dry vegetable preparation). Those of us who were done got a tennis ball and played catch, running around in the fields like schoolchildren.
'Danish, go high!' Parag called out, and I lobbed the ball with all my strength. The sun came out, and the ball seemed to melt away for an instant. Ravi and Aniket collided while trying to catch it. Prashant threw another one - this time with distance, and me and Bhaven tripped over each other.
We made our way back to the van and Ramu loaded us all in, like bales of hay. We went a little ahead, until the infinite expanse of the Sharavati backwaters loomed up against us. The driver parked the vehicle right at the coast.
It was dusk, and as we sat in the boat, I perused every sunset I could remember, like a flipbook. Everyone seemed to do the same, looking towards the sun like it was a Pensieve; hopefully, they were adding more memories than they were revisiting.
'Villagers and black panthers co-inhabit these islands. In fact, here they come now.' Ramu pointed towards a grove of trees, from where three figures emerged; thankfully, all human. We all glared at Ramu while he chortled. 'But seriously - you can spot black panthers on these islands. In the afternoons you can even spot some of them swimming.' The locals joined us in the boat - they were going to Sagara town for supplies. One of them even brought his motorbike on board.
As the sun fell, we landed back on shore. 'You can hang about as long as you like. Just call me once you want to go back,' Ramu said, and left us to skip stones in the water.
Anjana, Rhythm, Aishwarya and Madhulika went off to explore the coastline, while the others stayed, playing the trademark children's water sport.
'Look. 10 times.' Aniket proclaimed.
'That's nothing, bro. Give me the perfect stone, and I'll make it cross this river.' Prashant responded.
'Wait,' I rummaged around for pebbles, until I found one with a base flatter than Bhojpuri auto-tune. 'This is the one.' I took the stance. 'Look everyone, Jesus came back!' I threw the stone. It skipped once and plopped into the lake. I wasn't sure whether it was that or the walking-on-water joke which caused the silence.
Soon, we started aiming for a faraway rock; after a certain distance, judgement went for a toss. Not one of us could hit it; although many came close. We had almost cleaned up the beach when the sky had left. Afterwards, we just stared into the water; yet another memory lane.
Shaam was now upon us. Ramu came back, interrupting our trains of thoughts. Soon, we were all in the van again, making our way back to the base camp. I had Rhythm's ukulele, and for the first time, enough space to strum it.
'Train set and match spied, under the blind...' I started, strumming the riff lightly. Porcupine Tree - my favourite progressive band. I had recently gotten addicted to Trains, a simple, yet beautiful song; kind of like Lazarus.
'Ooooohh, always the summers are slipping away...' I crooned while the day slipped away.
'Travelling has everything - new people, new places; and it's the surest way to grow.' Rhythm said, panting but moving up steadily. 'And you also get to spend some time with yourself, if you're not very social. There's something for everyone.'
I guess that last statement summed up travelling perfectly.
Ramu had said that he could take us boating in the Sharavati backwaters if time permitted, so I reached the paddy fields we'd crossed and waited there, listening to the calls of birds and watching the clouds drift away. A soft breeze brought back words that I'd probably thought on my way up. I thought yet again how it would be to live like this; be a travel guide, close to nature; write and make music. I still had to plan a lot out - too much was uncertain at this point of time.
Thankfully, the others arrived before a full-blown existential crisis hit.
Ramu procured lunch; rotis and cabbage poriyal (kind of a dry vegetable preparation). Those of us who were done got a tennis ball and played catch, running around in the fields like schoolchildren.
'Danish, go high!' Parag called out, and I lobbed the ball with all my strength. The sun came out, and the ball seemed to melt away for an instant. Ravi and Aniket collided while trying to catch it. Prashant threw another one - this time with distance, and me and Bhaven tripped over each other.
We made our way back to the van and Ramu loaded us all in, like bales of hay. We went a little ahead, until the infinite expanse of the Sharavati backwaters loomed up against us. The driver parked the vehicle right at the coast.
It was dusk, and as we sat in the boat, I perused every sunset I could remember, like a flipbook. Everyone seemed to do the same, looking towards the sun like it was a Pensieve; hopefully, they were adding more memories than they were revisiting.
'Villagers and black panthers co-inhabit these islands. In fact, here they come now.' Ramu pointed towards a grove of trees, from where three figures emerged; thankfully, all human. We all glared at Ramu while he chortled. 'But seriously - you can spot black panthers on these islands. In the afternoons you can even spot some of them swimming.' The locals joined us in the boat - they were going to Sagara town for supplies. One of them even brought his motorbike on board.
As the sun fell, we landed back on shore. 'You can hang about as long as you like. Just call me once you want to go back,' Ramu said, and left us to skip stones in the water.
Anjana, Rhythm, Aishwarya and Madhulika went off to explore the coastline, while the others stayed, playing the trademark children's water sport.
'Look. 10 times.' Aniket proclaimed.
'That's nothing, bro. Give me the perfect stone, and I'll make it cross this river.' Prashant responded.
'Wait,' I rummaged around for pebbles, until I found one with a base flatter than Bhojpuri auto-tune. 'This is the one.' I took the stance. 'Look everyone, Jesus came back!' I threw the stone. It skipped once and plopped into the lake. I wasn't sure whether it was that or the walking-on-water joke which caused the silence.
Soon, we started aiming for a faraway rock; after a certain distance, judgement went for a toss. Not one of us could hit it; although many came close. We had almost cleaned up the beach when the sky had left. Afterwards, we just stared into the water; yet another memory lane.
Shaam was now upon us. Ramu came back, interrupting our trains of thoughts. Soon, we were all in the van again, making our way back to the base camp. I had Rhythm's ukulele, and for the first time, enough space to strum it.
'Train set and match spied, under the blind...' I started, strumming the riff lightly. Porcupine Tree - my favourite progressive band. I had recently gotten addicted to Trains, a simple, yet beautiful song; kind of like Lazarus.
'Ooooohh, always the summers are slipping away...' I crooned while the day slipped away.
Chapter - 9 : Shaam
We reached our temporary home, amid a new version of Contact, where we gave the last letter first and progressed in reverse. The catch: even nonsensical words were allowed while establishing contact. We decided to try it out the next day.
Chetanya flummoxed us all with Zugzwang and Zeitgeist, while I was trying to figure out where I'd heard them first.
'These gold medalists, I tell you,' Aniket scoffed, after Chetanya complained that he thought someone must have heard those words.
'Say what now?' Parag jumped in.
'Yeah he's the gold medalist of our batch.' Gaurav chuckled.
'I'm going to look at you differently now.' Parag said slowly - although he'd always looked at people differently, in general. 'Come on, Danish, I know you're not really an engineer "inside", but this deserves respect.'
'Extra leg space in the clown car!' I announced, pointing to our van. Everyone laughed.
No one wanted to rest. Me, Shankar and Prashant went off to find a tree to climb. We found one near a bench, with no proper footholds - but a rough enough bark that we could pull ourselves up by the lowest branch while stepping lightly on the trunk. Prashant stayed below to watch the monkey business. We sat on the strongest bough, watching a pond heron and a cattle egret flit over the lake just opposite the road. The birds were returning to their nests, as the first flecks of night splashed the sky.
'Shaam bhi koi, jaise ho nadi, leher leher jaise beh rahi hai...Koi ankahi, koi ansuni, baat dheemi dheemi keh rahi hai...' I sang softly, while Shankar whistled along. We sat for a while, looking at Shaam leaving, as the song ended.
'Hey man, there's ants.' Shankar said feebly.
'Yeah, I can feel them crawling up my shirt. Should we leave?' I responded slowly.
'Please, they're starting to bite.' Shankar whispered.
We joined the others, who were strolling by the lake. We spotted a school of tadpoles, swimming like a hive mind along the bank. Conversations about college life and travel started again, and we discovered serendipity.
'This is the biggest "small world" moment I've had.' Anjana wailed, holding her head. 'It turns out my father taught Chetanya, Aniket and Gaurav in college. In fact, they were his favourite students.'
And so, she handed the phone to Chetanya. 'Here. Dad wants to talk.' Immediately, the three of them tucked in their shirts and stood in a line, with their hands behind their back. Chetanya took the phone and spoke in a voice that would have made an Elizabethan maiden weep.
'Oi, let's ask Ramu about the campfire.' Shankar came, fiddling with his hat.
'Sure.' We went to the canteen, and Ramu said he would send the cook with the wood and the cloth. Meanwhile, we arranged the mats in a circle around a central spot. Soon, the Hindenburg came and lit it up. We all cozied up to it, taking care to avoid the embers it was spitting out, like a geriatric dragon.
'Dumb charades!' Everyone cheered. The two teams competed with each other across the fire. Chetanya and Aniket had some telepathic bouts, guessing movies like Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola and Maqbool before they were even acted out. Jaya joined us kids in the merriment, even though he had the 'I'm too old for this shit' look sometimes.
On our part, we gave some pretty obscure movies - the other team was almost hurt at the unfairness. We ended the game, both sides feeling like they'd won.
Vishnu added the last of the firewood to our transient hearth, and we just watched the flames die, slowly, taking the evening with it. The last of the fire blazed like mythical creatures, in sentient forms and colours; we were looking into a different dimension, another world.
It is said that in the lighting and snuffing out of even a candle, universes are born and die. We were all born from a giant fire, and in infinite, yet infinitesimal moments, we would return to it.
'People, dinner time!'
We raced to the canteen. Jabba was already out, refilling the puliyogare, buttermilk and sambar. 'Want some chutney?' he asked in 20 Hz. I nodded.
I spotted another bucket in the distance. Racing to it, I dived inside to find it empty. 'Hey man, there was rasam in this, I'm sure...'
Shankar came over, chortling to himself. 'This reminds of that starting scene from Saltwater Tabby...'
'Oh yes,' I chuckled. 'Dude let's show these people the magic of Tom & Jerry.'
'You guys watch Tom & Jerry?' Anjana said sardonically, raising a judgmental eyebrow.
'Ei. Just look. It's pure genius.'
We watched an episode in childish nostalgia. Everyone laughed like toddlers; the universal appeal of slapstick comedy. Even after it was done, we discussed the brilliance of the soundtrack and its concepts of humour over dinner.
'Hey man, I want to play Mafia properly.' Jaya told us. I silently rejoiced that he hadn't seen us watching Tom & Jerry. 'It looked like a lot of fun. Shall we play now?'
'Of course.' Today was a throwback to the kindergarten days.
All seventeen of us huddled together in one room of the cottage, sprawled, this time, on mattresses and cushions. Everyone wanted to play this time, without exception - and Parag wanted to be God.
'All right, we'll have a Majnu/Laila this time, who can choose to sleep with someone in the night. If the..err, recipient of that affection is a mafia, the mafia dies. If not, the Laila/Majnu dies. Also, we have Granny With A Shotgun. If the Mafioso choose to kill her/him - damn we need gender neutrality right now - then I'll select one of the Mafioso to die. Granny has this power only once. We have Igor, from the last game, of course. This time, we'll also keep Godfather; the head of the Mafia syndicate. If the Oracle suspects the Godfather, I'll say the Oracle was wrong.' Parag said, sighing loudly at the end. Everyone oohed and aahed at that last point.
'City sleeps.'
I closed my eyes and waited my turn. Parag tapped me awake, and of course made me The Godfather. I grimaced; I was going to lose so many friends tonight.
'Mafia, open your eyes.'
I woke up to welcome Shankar, Madhulika, Ravi and Pradeep. After establishing my leadership, I commenced The Imitation Game.
'City wakes up to find Rhythm dead. Oracle was right.'
'Haw,' Rhythm pouted. 'My first game. Not fair.'
'I'm pretty sure Madhulika killed her. Also, I heard Parag saying he thought Madhulika would make an excellent Mafia.' I declared.
After two rounds, Aishwarya revealed she was the Oracle. 'I know you're on the villagers' side, Danish, because I suspected Madhulika and I was right.'
Mission accomplished.
After we eliminated Aishwarya and Anjana, I opened just a crack of my eyes to see all four girls (cause Aparajita was still in the game) glaring at me simultaneously; and yet, there were such varied shades of hate. Rhythm had picked resentment and sulking; Anjana grabbed the 'I knew from the very beginning, just look at him' face; Madhulika wore a countenance of calm, calculated murder, and Aishwarya took the expression of earth-shattering astonishment.
I apologetically grabbed my ears and proceeded to kill the rest of the village.
I sat out the next game; I had a lot of damage control to do.
'No point,' Rhythm said as I walked up to her, looking like a schoolboy who'd bunked class to go see an inappropriate movie. 'My heart is already broken. It has bled out, and been replaced with your true colours.'
I grabbed my forehead. Mafia characters always transcended into real life; and somehow every God made me a Mafia. No wonder Aishwarya was looking at me like I was the most deceptive, manipulative person she'd met.
'It's only in the game,' I spoke slowly. 'I'm nothing like this in real life.' Aishwarya said nothing; she only shook her head periodically, like someone who'd just found out that everything depicted in Men In Black was true.
'It was my first game, and you eliminated me in the first round. I asked Madhulika - she told me that you pointed at me,' Rhythm said dolefully, strumming her ukulele plaintively and humming a song that I was pretty sure was relevant in some way. I looked at Madhulika - she just gave me the 'your soul looks delicious' stare. I gulped and looked away.
'Seems like it was yesterday, when I saw your face...' Rhythm started singing Hurt by Christina Aguilera, and I knew it was checkmate. She saw my face and burst out laughing. 'Chill out, I'm just joking. I sometimes like to inflict guilt upon people, just to see their reaction.'
'Wow. You should meet this friend of mine - Sneha Mahesh. You two would make a deadly duo.' I responded, heaving a sigh of relief. 'Come, let's watch the game and judge people.'
Rhythm grinned, and we sat on the cot, harmonizing nonsensical tunes and playing around with chord progressions. The game ended, and everyone went off to sleep. Some of us planned to explore the valley again, early morning.
'The rest of you, do get up by 7 am, at least. We would want to do the water sports early, since we have a bus to catch at 1.' I proclaimed. I was so sleepy, I was blacking out on every third word.
'Boy, collapse already,' Shankar told me. 'You slept for some four hours in two days. We need you functioning tomorrow.'
I nodded and closed my eyes, smiling at the day we'd had. Live the day such that you sleep before your head hits the mattress, my Papa's words came back to me. Tonight, there would be no dreams.
Photos, courtesy of Prashant Shekhar Singh, Anjana Pillai, Parag Agrawal, Ravi Pranjal, Abhishek Shankar, Bhaven Parakh and Vishnu Raveendran.
Anjana's Blog : https://anjlifeexperiences.wordpress.com
Vedant's YouTube Channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_-wTP-OKAF6HskDOqSeREw
Vedant's Instagram Page : https://www.instagram.com/vedantsapra/
Chetanya flummoxed us all with Zugzwang and Zeitgeist, while I was trying to figure out where I'd heard them first.
'These gold medalists, I tell you,' Aniket scoffed, after Chetanya complained that he thought someone must have heard those words.
'Say what now?' Parag jumped in.
'Yeah he's the gold medalist of our batch.' Gaurav chuckled.
'I'm going to look at you differently now.' Parag said slowly - although he'd always looked at people differently, in general. 'Come on, Danish, I know you're not really an engineer "inside", but this deserves respect.'
'Extra leg space in the clown car!' I announced, pointing to our van. Everyone laughed.
No one wanted to rest. Me, Shankar and Prashant went off to find a tree to climb. We found one near a bench, with no proper footholds - but a rough enough bark that we could pull ourselves up by the lowest branch while stepping lightly on the trunk. Prashant stayed below to watch the monkey business. We sat on the strongest bough, watching a pond heron and a cattle egret flit over the lake just opposite the road. The birds were returning to their nests, as the first flecks of night splashed the sky.
'Shaam bhi koi, jaise ho nadi, leher leher jaise beh rahi hai...Koi ankahi, koi ansuni, baat dheemi dheemi keh rahi hai...' I sang softly, while Shankar whistled along. We sat for a while, looking at Shaam leaving, as the song ended.
'Hey man, there's ants.' Shankar said feebly.
'Yeah, I can feel them crawling up my shirt. Should we leave?' I responded slowly.
'Please, they're starting to bite.' Shankar whispered.
We joined the others, who were strolling by the lake. We spotted a school of tadpoles, swimming like a hive mind along the bank. Conversations about college life and travel started again, and we discovered serendipity.
'This is the biggest "small world" moment I've had.' Anjana wailed, holding her head. 'It turns out my father taught Chetanya, Aniket and Gaurav in college. In fact, they were his favourite students.'
And so, she handed the phone to Chetanya. 'Here. Dad wants to talk.' Immediately, the three of them tucked in their shirts and stood in a line, with their hands behind their back. Chetanya took the phone and spoke in a voice that would have made an Elizabethan maiden weep.
'Oi, let's ask Ramu about the campfire.' Shankar came, fiddling with his hat.
'Sure.' We went to the canteen, and Ramu said he would send the cook with the wood and the cloth. Meanwhile, we arranged the mats in a circle around a central spot. Soon, the Hindenburg came and lit it up. We all cozied up to it, taking care to avoid the embers it was spitting out, like a geriatric dragon.
'Dumb charades!' Everyone cheered. The two teams competed with each other across the fire. Chetanya and Aniket had some telepathic bouts, guessing movies like Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola and Maqbool before they were even acted out. Jaya joined us kids in the merriment, even though he had the 'I'm too old for this shit' look sometimes.
On our part, we gave some pretty obscure movies - the other team was almost hurt at the unfairness. We ended the game, both sides feeling like they'd won.
Vishnu added the last of the firewood to our transient hearth, and we just watched the flames die, slowly, taking the evening with it. The last of the fire blazed like mythical creatures, in sentient forms and colours; we were looking into a different dimension, another world.
It is said that in the lighting and snuffing out of even a candle, universes are born and die. We were all born from a giant fire, and in infinite, yet infinitesimal moments, we would return to it.
Chapter - 10 : Hurt
'People, dinner time!'
We raced to the canteen. Jabba was already out, refilling the puliyogare, buttermilk and sambar. 'Want some chutney?' he asked in 20 Hz. I nodded.
I spotted another bucket in the distance. Racing to it, I dived inside to find it empty. 'Hey man, there was rasam in this, I'm sure...'
Shankar came over, chortling to himself. 'This reminds of that starting scene from Saltwater Tabby...'
'Oh yes,' I chuckled. 'Dude let's show these people the magic of Tom & Jerry.'
'You guys watch Tom & Jerry?' Anjana said sardonically, raising a judgmental eyebrow.
'Ei. Just look. It's pure genius.'
We watched an episode in childish nostalgia. Everyone laughed like toddlers; the universal appeal of slapstick comedy. Even after it was done, we discussed the brilliance of the soundtrack and its concepts of humour over dinner.
'Hey man, I want to play Mafia properly.' Jaya told us. I silently rejoiced that he hadn't seen us watching Tom & Jerry. 'It looked like a lot of fun. Shall we play now?'
'Of course.' Today was a throwback to the kindergarten days.
All seventeen of us huddled together in one room of the cottage, sprawled, this time, on mattresses and cushions. Everyone wanted to play this time, without exception - and Parag wanted to be God.
'All right, we'll have a Majnu/Laila this time, who can choose to sleep with someone in the night. If the..err, recipient of that affection is a mafia, the mafia dies. If not, the Laila/Majnu dies. Also, we have Granny With A Shotgun. If the Mafioso choose to kill her/him - damn we need gender neutrality right now - then I'll select one of the Mafioso to die. Granny has this power only once. We have Igor, from the last game, of course. This time, we'll also keep Godfather; the head of the Mafia syndicate. If the Oracle suspects the Godfather, I'll say the Oracle was wrong.' Parag said, sighing loudly at the end. Everyone oohed and aahed at that last point.
'City sleeps.'
I closed my eyes and waited my turn. Parag tapped me awake, and of course made me The Godfather. I grimaced; I was going to lose so many friends tonight.
'Mafia, open your eyes.'
I woke up to welcome Shankar, Madhulika, Ravi and Pradeep. After establishing my leadership, I commenced The Imitation Game.
'City wakes up to find Rhythm dead. Oracle was right.'
'Haw,' Rhythm pouted. 'My first game. Not fair.'
'I'm pretty sure Madhulika killed her. Also, I heard Parag saying he thought Madhulika would make an excellent Mafia.' I declared.
After two rounds, Aishwarya revealed she was the Oracle. 'I know you're on the villagers' side, Danish, because I suspected Madhulika and I was right.'
Mission accomplished.
After we eliminated Aishwarya and Anjana, I opened just a crack of my eyes to see all four girls (cause Aparajita was still in the game) glaring at me simultaneously; and yet, there were such varied shades of hate. Rhythm had picked resentment and sulking; Anjana grabbed the 'I knew from the very beginning, just look at him' face; Madhulika wore a countenance of calm, calculated murder, and Aishwarya took the expression of earth-shattering astonishment.
I apologetically grabbed my ears and proceeded to kill the rest of the village.
I sat out the next game; I had a lot of damage control to do.
'No point,' Rhythm said as I walked up to her, looking like a schoolboy who'd bunked class to go see an inappropriate movie. 'My heart is already broken. It has bled out, and been replaced with your true colours.'
I grabbed my forehead. Mafia characters always transcended into real life; and somehow every God made me a Mafia. No wonder Aishwarya was looking at me like I was the most deceptive, manipulative person she'd met.
'It's only in the game,' I spoke slowly. 'I'm nothing like this in real life.' Aishwarya said nothing; she only shook her head periodically, like someone who'd just found out that everything depicted in Men In Black was true.
'It was my first game, and you eliminated me in the first round. I asked Madhulika - she told me that you pointed at me,' Rhythm said dolefully, strumming her ukulele plaintively and humming a song that I was pretty sure was relevant in some way. I looked at Madhulika - she just gave me the 'your soul looks delicious' stare. I gulped and looked away.
'Seems like it was yesterday, when I saw your face...' Rhythm started singing Hurt by Christina Aguilera, and I knew it was checkmate. She saw my face and burst out laughing. 'Chill out, I'm just joking. I sometimes like to inflict guilt upon people, just to see their reaction.'
'Wow. You should meet this friend of mine - Sneha Mahesh. You two would make a deadly duo.' I responded, heaving a sigh of relief. 'Come, let's watch the game and judge people.'
Rhythm grinned, and we sat on the cot, harmonizing nonsensical tunes and playing around with chord progressions. The game ended, and everyone went off to sleep. Some of us planned to explore the valley again, early morning.
'The rest of you, do get up by 7 am, at least. We would want to do the water sports early, since we have a bus to catch at 1.' I proclaimed. I was so sleepy, I was blacking out on every third word.
'Boy, collapse already,' Shankar told me. 'You slept for some four hours in two days. We need you functioning tomorrow.'
I nodded and closed my eyes, smiling at the day we'd had. Live the day such that you sleep before your head hits the mattress, my Papa's words came back to me. Tonight, there would be no dreams.
Photos, courtesy of Prashant Shekhar Singh, Anjana Pillai, Parag Agrawal, Ravi Pranjal, Abhishek Shankar, Bhaven Parakh and Vishnu Raveendran.
Anjana's Blog : https://anjlifeexperiences.wordpress.com
Vedant's YouTube Channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_-wTP-OKAF6HskDOqSeREw
Vedant's Instagram Page : https://www.instagram.com/vedantsapra/
