Chapter 4

The 13149 DN Kanchankanya Express left the Sealdah station for New Alipurduar Junction at precisely 20.30 hrs. Shrikant sat next to the window reading the English daily he held in his hands. He shook his head with a knowing smile as his eyes scanned the news article which appeared under the big bold headlines that read:

“Forest Fire Rages in North Bengal destroys village. Elephant rampage adds to the mayhem”.
He had just finished his dinner which had been a sumptuous meal of chapati and vegetable curry prepared lovingly by his wife Surabhi. Thinking of her always brought a smile to his lips. Smart, intelligent and yet childlike in certain ways, she had been his strength ever since they had met.

Shrikant was an investigative journalist of repute. However, journalism was more his passion than merely his profession. He lived for finding the truth behind every news. There was nothing that could get between him and his search for truth. Young, energetic and deeply committed to his profession, 32-year-old Shrikant had made work his only religion. He had nurtured his talent in writing and the skill for identifying hidden stories from some of the most apparently innocuous events. Years of hard work and long arduous hours put behind every story had earned him a good reputation in his industry and Surabhi had a big contribution in that.

An event manager by profession, she had taken over the reins of running the household single-handedly as Shrikant pursued his passion. There would be months when he could not come home but Surabhi never complained. Even now when they were expecting their first baby and he had to rush off to cover the Chilapata forest fire story, it was Surabhi’s encouragement that helped Shrikant accept the assignment. He wondered what he would have done without Surabhi.

Shrikant knew the train would not reach Alipurduar before 11.00 am the next morning, or possibly even later, given the reputation of Indian railways to maintain the timetable. He therefore planned to well-utilise the time to complete his little recce , something he always did before starting off on any assignment.

Alipurduar, named after Colonel Hedayet Ali, the commander of the military settlement of the British, has over the years, grown into a bustling township replete with schools, hospitals and colleges. Also famous as a tourist destination, it is located close to two wildlife sanctuaries – the Jaldapara National Park and the Buxa Tiger reserve. Nestled between these two well-known parks, the Chilapata range is a small verdant patch of forest that is slowly growing in prominence. It is towards this little stretch of jungle land that Shrikant was headed.

The place had its own little history that made up a fascinating piece of reading. Chilapata was named after the brave Koch General Sukladwaj or Bir ChilaRai as he was more popularly known owing to his dexterity and hawk-like ability to move his army around quickly on the battlefield. Sukladwaj was the third son of Bishwa Singha, the founder of the Koch Dynasty, and brother to Nar Narayan the king of the Kamta Kingdom in the 16^th Century. Chila Rai was one of the bravest generals known in the history of Assam. His military skill and bravery had earned him the epithet of “Chila Rai” or the Kite King.

Infested with dacoits till even a few years back, Chilapata had been closed to public access for a long time. However, the state government dealt with the lawlessness in the area with an iron fist and managed to bring order into the area. Currently, an eco-tourism resort at one of the villages in the area is gaining in popularity among the city dwellers who rush to the jungle destination for a respite and to brush off the urban grime and dust.

However, Chilapata is also an important elephant corridor between Jaldapara National park and Buxa Tiger Reserve. It is rich in wildlife. Therefore, though the new eco-tourism provides a good economic rehabilitation for most of the human population of the area, it often leads to serious issues in man-animal conflicts. One such incident was recently reported and Shrikant was in pursuit of the real story behind the clash.

He took out the file he had collected from his office before rushing off for the station which had the details of the incident and read through notes he had made once again to refresh his memory. A certain group engaging in late night revelry in the jungle had led to a forest fire which resulted in an Elephant rampage in one of the villages. Though nobody was killed but there was serious damage made to property and several villagers were grievously injured.

Questions in various shapes and sizes were tumbling around in his mind. What had triggered the incident? Why was there no check on the revelry? Can the authorities be so callous as to let such a thing happen in a protected place like a sanctuary? If so then what else was happening in that place besides the occasional revelry? Shrikant was definite there was more to the story than what was being revealed.

Moreover, there was something else that Shrikant needed to know. There was a brief snippet of some little girl walking away with the elephants in the middle of their rampage. Shrikant had to know why? Who was she, where did she disappear and why? Most importantly, where is she now? Does she have anything to do with the secrets of Chilapata? So many questions and Shrikant did not have the answer to any. As he furiously scribbled down his thoughts and observations, his handsome face clouded over with a deep scowl.

It was almost 2 in the morning when Shrikant pushed away his notes to one side and closed his eyes. He ran his hand through his mop of thick hair as he realised the amount of work that lay in front of him. Yawning he stretched himself and laid out his bed for the night. Thoughts of Chilapata mingled with Surabhi’s smiling face in his dreams as Shrikant gradually drifted off into a disturbed sleep.

The train pulled into Alipurduar Junction at 01.00 pm in the afternoon. It was 50 minutes behind schedule. The last half an hour had been absolutely mesmerising as Shrikant had stared, awe-stricken, at the beautiful spectacle that spread out in front of him. After Hamilton Ganj, the station before Alipurduar, the train slackened its speed, possibly because Shrikant realised, they had entered the jungle territory. The tracks on both sides were encrusted with lush green foliage. It looked as if the train was pushing through a deep embrace of trees. Hurt at being thus rebuffed, the trees it seemed were persistent in their show of adoration and seemed to grow thicker as the train moved closer towards Alipurduar. Shrikant stood near the gate breathing in the fresh air. For once, he did not grudge the Indian Railways for their inefficiency in adhering to the timetable.

The train finally pulled into the small, quaint station. Shrikant broke out of his reverie and jumped on to the platform. The resort had told him there would be someone at the station to pick him up. Shrikant was walking towards the exit gate looking around for his escort when he heard a voice behind him.

“Saar”.

Shrikant turned to face a short but lean looking young man probably in his early 20’s. His narrow eyes were reduced to slits as his smile deepened at recognising Shrikant.  He had a pale anaemic face and a thin moustache growing over his upper lip to proclaim to the world that he had just about stepped into manhood. His well-oiled short crop of curly hair was neatly combed and parted to one side. He was wearing a blue check shirt that hung on his lean and rickety shoulders. His trousers looked well-worn and weathered.
However, what struck Shrikant was his face. It was set with short shifty eyes that had a curious way of looking that made the one being observed, feel awkward. Shrikant also noticed that the boy had an odd habit of pressing his lips together as if he was nervous or afraid he might say or do something. The boy stood in front of Shrikant with an artificial smile plastered on his face. Shrikant knew, the smile though apparently innocent, left a lot unsaid. He never trusted such people and therefore, took an immediate dislike to the boy.

“Are you from the Resort?” asked Shrikant without smiling.

“Yes Saar. Myself, Shuddho. Moni da sent. Said big Saar from paper coming from city.” he said as he looked around to pick up Shrikant’s bags. Not finding any he looked up questioningly at Shrikant only to find one hanging from his shoulders.

“Saar” said Shuddho in fake panic “Moni da will kill me if I let you carry your luggage. What do you think I am here for?” reaching out for Shrikant’s shoulder.

“We will need to meet your ‘Moni da’ first if he has to kill you. That will never happen if we keep standing here,” said Shrikant. He brushed Shuddho aside and started walking towards the exit gate.
Not very happy at having missed his first tip, Shuddho followed Shrikant out of the station precincts

They got into the waiting jeep after Shuddho rudely waved off the coolies. As the vehicle moved out of the city limits towards the resort, Shrikant saw the roads widen. The car sped through the broad metalled roads . Shrikant could not help but marvel at the amazing smoothness of the roads which was far better than what he had expected. As they touched the National Highway the shops lining both sides of the road gradually began to thin out. The coolness of the breeze began to nuzzle at Shrikant’s senses.

He had probably dozed off when a sudden jerk rudely shook him out of his slumber. He looked round to realise they had left the highway behind and had moved onto a narrower road. There was also a perceptible drop in the temperatures as he found himself surrounded by the darkening canopy of huge trees. These had now replaced the road side shops and houses.
He leaned forward to find why they had stopped. He found Shuddho, who was sitting in the front seat, cursing at something.

“Anything wrong?” asked Shrikant.

“Saar, these horrendous monkeys are always creating a traffic jam on roads. We should run them over someday. That will teach them a good lesson” said Shuddho as he swore under his breath.

Shrikant smiled at the refreshing change of monkeys being the cause of traffic collision instead of smoke exuding cars. However, he was surprised at Shuddho’s complete apathy towards the fauna of the place he had grown up in.

The jeep completed the rest of its journey uneventfully. It meandered its way through varying shades of green on either side which left Shrikant enthralled. Nature, the mystery woman, was and always would be an enigma for Shrikant.

Half –an-hour after they had left the station, the jeep trundled through the resort gates. Shrikant noticed it was quite well within the forest area. As the driver pulled the engine to a stop, Shrikant found his ears ringing with the deafening silence of his surroundings. He realised that the urban cacophony of city life that had made him forget the sound of silence. He got off now and stretched. As he did so he took in the beauty of the unusually virgin and ethereally beautiful Chilapata forest. He felt his soul being filled with a surreal peace. However, he could not shrug off the uncanny feeling that the forest was choking beneath this shroud of silence. It was daring him to look beyond this façade and hear its screams. Shrikant braced himself for the challenge that resounded through the mute surroundings.

Chapter 3

Chapter 5 – Preview
Shrikant meets Moni Shankar Bhatto or ‘Moni da’. He is the caretaker cum manager of the resort where Shrikant is staying. His conversations with Moni da make him understand the land and its problems. Can Monida help Shrikant in his quest?
Read Chapter 5 .

Read the full story