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trekking through the emerald forests of Arunachal pradesh

Sep 29 2007 | Views 501 | Comments (0) Leave a Comment
Tags: A funny acount of a journey through the forests of Arunachal.

This is one story that has been narrated umpteen number of times in our family and has been passed on from one generation to the next.

It is quite funny in fact and has always generated guffaws of laughter when ever someone has heard it.

It goes like this, just after their marriage Dad,then a dynamic young man of 24, was posted at a remote place in Arunachalpradesh, as a political officer. Naturally it was verytraumatic for him to leave hisdearbride and pass his daysas a hermit in the jungles of NEFA OR North East Frontier Agency, as the state was known in thosedays.

So, after a few months, Dad decided to take her with him. Mom was two months pregnant and was slightly apprehensive but Dad was confident that she could make the trip.

In those days, One could travel by train to a place called Margherita and take a jeep to the base camp at Margherita right at the edge of the forests of NEFA.

From there one had to trek through the forests along a beaten track used by thetribal people whenever they came down to the plains of Assam.

Wearing her new canvas shoes, and carrying a thick walking stick Mom was ready for her trip. She was naturally very anxious as she had heard many stories of the wild animals that sometimes strayed into the plain areas from these jungles. But one look at her 6ft 2inches tall husband, the confident smile on his handsome face and especially thegun on his shoulders with its shinydouble barrel made her feel comfortable and dispelled all her fears.

It was a long journey. They trekked one whole day until they reached a camp at Namdapha. There wereother travellers at the camp who were on their way toMargherita.After sunset, wheneveryone had had their dinner and sat around a campfire there were stories about wild elephants that werespotted at a waterhole a little distance from thenext camp.

Everyone was full of horror stories of how a mad elephant had been on a rampage at a village two days ago. All these stories had petrified the new bride and she was crying out her soul in the privacy of her tent when her husband walks in and taking her in his arms, consoles her saying that he would take care of her and afterall he had a gun whichwould take care of any danger.

The next morning they set off on their journey. It would be one more day before they would reach the little town of Khonsa. All along the way, Mom had her apprehensions.The slightest sound in the woods would make her jump. But Dad kept reassuring her that he had a gun to shoot at anything that might cross their path.

The gun on his strong shoulders made her feel secure .Finally they reached Khonsa and mom set foot in their quaint mud and slate quarter with its whitewashed

walls.

Dad placed the gun carelessly on the bed before going in to wash up after the long and tiring journey.

Mom, trying to be the dutiful and efficient wife,lifted it up carefully and was looking around for a safe place to keep it whendad came back. He looked at her andsmiled sheepishly. Then he told her not to worry about it and said that she could keep it anywhere she liked as it did not work!I wish i was there to see the look ofsurprise onmom's face when she realised thatthroughouther journey through the dense forests she hadlaid her hopeson a defunct gun. The best part was, her husband knew nothing about shooting and was carrying the gun just to make her feel safe!!

It took her a long time to forgive him for that!!