Shrikant pursed his lips thoughtfully. Having visited the village and speaking to the people filled his mind with questions. Several things flashed around in his mind. Lalu’s wristwatch and aftershave, the fishing net, Shuddho’s absence on the night of the fire all formed a story waiting to be tied up. However, he needed the thread to do so. A picture that was vaguely forming in his mind, awaited completion. Unfortunately, he was unable to shed adequate light on it to make it look sharper.
Shrikant knew he was missing something vital and he was not happy about it. He grimaced as he felt the whole purpose of this journey would remain unfulfilled if he did not dig deeper to scavenge out these answers. He knew he just had to delve deeper and wondered how deep he needed to go.
Then Matongini’s parting words, “The jungle has all your answers” had continued to haunt him. He needed to listen to the voice of the jungle. But how? Who will bring him answers from the jungle?
He realised that he would have to employ strategies other than the ones he had been using till now. For that he needed someone he could trust. Moni Da was a good bet but he was compelled by his professional obligations and would not be able to go beyond a certain limit. Shrikant knew he needed someone with no strings attached, who knew the land and yet whom nobody would suspect. Someone who could go in and come out of places like a breeze.
“Breeze! That’s it” thought Shrikant “I know who it can be!”
Dhoomketu was wading waist deep in the shallow waters of the Bania. His tousled hair fell over his face while his eyes were squinted in concentration as he walked around in the water moving something in his hand.
“So, what are you up to now?” said Shrikant as he walked up to him.
Dhoomketu looked up and his face immediately broke into a wide smile. Ever since Moni da had appointed him as Shrikant’s aide, he had followed him like a shadow. In the days that followed, he had developed a deep respect for Shrikant and had become extremely attached to him. Shrikant too had become quite fond of this man. His frank and easy-going manner had eased its way into his heart.
“Fishing Sir” said Dhoomketu smiling. He waded out of the water onto the grass trailing something in his hand. Shrikant looked at it interestedly wondering what it was. It was a long cane object which looked like a lantern. It had a round bloated bottom which tapered towards the top. A thick cane frame went round the bloated middle part of the lantern. Two little strings were attached to the two sides of this frame, helping to act as a handle and these were now hanging from Dhoomketu’s hands. Within this structure there was another wicker basket attached to its sides. The bottom part of the lantern was open.
“What is that in your hands?” asked Shrikant curiously.
“Oh this!” asked Dhoomketu smiling broadly showing a wide expanse of teeth “It’s a Burung, a traditional fishing trap. We, Rabhas catch fish with this.”
“How? Can you teach me?” said Shrikant looking at the Burung with interest.
“Surely, Sir. It is no big thing at all.” said Dhoomketu excited at being able to show Shrikant something.
“You see you need to put the bait in this little basket inside the bigger frame and submerge it into water. Then you need to wait till the fish takes the bait and then lift it swiftly but carefully, then tip over the unsuspecting fish into the Duku[1], the fishing basket.” He said pointing to another little cane basket shaped like a pot placed on the grass. Shrikant peered inside the Duku to notice several silver bodies were glistening within its rounded interiors indicating that Dhoomketu did have a catch for the day.
Shrikant decided to try his hand at it too. At the end of an hour and a half of trailing the Burung in the water and trying to make the fish eat the bait, Shrikant did manage to catch a few but was unable to lift the Burung fast enough before the fish slipped out of the basket.
“Well, guess I will need more practice.” said Shrikant laughing.
“No problem Sir. Little practice and you will haul up a good catch surely” said Dhoomketu grinning broadly.
“Yes.” said Shrikant thoughtfully “Tell me Dhoomketu why don’t you use a fishing net instead?”
“Fishing net? In Bania?” said Dhoomketu laughing and shaking his head. “It is not required Sir. Neither do we have so many fish nor that much water.”
“Hmm,” said Shrikant thoughtfully “Why does Netai kaka need the net then? Does he fish somewhere else?”
“Netai kaka does not fish Sir. He is a farmer not a fisherman.” Dhoomketu looked at Shrikant for some time and then said slowly catching on to his train of thoughts “The kind of net he was mending that day are used by fishermen who go out to the bigger seas and not on rivers such as this”.
“Then he must be having some other use for it. What is he using it for? I wonder!” said Shrikant thoughtfully.
“There is something else I am curious about” he asked looking at Dhoomketu. “What do you use to shave?”
“Soap and Razor Sir,” said Dhoomketu looking surprised at this sudden change of topic “Do you need a shave?”
“No,” said Shrikant still thoughtful “and do you use anything afterwards?”
“Yes…we sometimes use Alum Sir” said Dhoomketu simply. “To soothe our cuts and bruises after a shave and a smoothen it out. Same as what you do with those liquids that you keep in a bottle. We don’t get anything else here, so everybody uses Alum Sir.”
“Everybody except Lalu” said Shrikant slowly.
“Lalu?” asked Dhoomketu not understanding what he meant.
Shrikant looked at Dhoomketu steadily and said, “I will need your help Dhoomketu.”
“Sure Sir. You tell me I will help” said Dhoomketu eagerly.
“Well, I came here to write about the elephant stampede and the plight of the villagers. But I always wanted to find out the true story behind all this. Why would a forest fire start suddenly? Also, how would it spread so fast? Was it natural or man-made? If it is indeed man-made who would want to destroy this beautiful paradise?” completed Shrikant looking into the Bania waters thoughtfully.
He turned towards Dhoomketu and said “I know to find the truth we will have to dig deeper. Will you help me in this?”
“What will you do with the true story Sir” asked Dhoomketu solemnly. “Will you sell it like all the others?”
Shrikant looked into Dhoomketu’s eyes and shook his head “No I will tell it. I will let the world know what a beautiful haven you have and why it should not be allowed to perish. Don’t you trust me enough to help me in this?”
Dhoomketu smiled at Shrikant. “Trust! The word is like a curse for us Sir.When I was a young boy, this land of ours was truly a haven as you mentioned. Then the Babus from the cities came. They lured us with their money. They took away our land, our women and even our souls. We were poor. All we had was our trust which they broke again and again.
Some of my friends left for the cities in the hope of gaining wealth. But nobody has heard from them again. This land was rich. Nature had blessed it with her bounty. But look at us. We too have broken her trust. We could not preserve it. Do you know Sir, there are some among us who wish to sell nature as well?
May they rot in hell. May God never forgive those sinners.”
“You know who they are, don’t you Dhoomketu?” asked Shrikant looking at his face closely.
“I only know the people in our village who may be involved. But they are mere puppets. The strings are in the bigger hands who are behind the curtain, Sir. But I do know that if the curtain remains drawn, our land will be finished even before we know.”
“Don’t you want to lift those curtains and reveal those vile hands? Don’t you want to punish them and save your land?” Shrikant continued looking at him intently.
“Yes, I do!” Dhoomketu’s eyes lit up with a passion Shrikant had never seen before. “And we are doing our bit Sir.”
“How?” asked Shrikant curiously.
“I have collected a few boys from my village. We take out a nightly vigil of the forest to ensure that things are okay. Every time we notice something, we inform the rest and the group takes immediate action. We call ourselves “Cheel Goshti”.
“’Cheel’ you mean the hawk?” asked Shrikant amazed as he looked at Dhoomketu in a new light. He had never imagined that the simpleton Dhoomketu had such sharpness behind his smiling visage.
“Yes. We keep our senses and our vision sharp as the hawk and when we attack, we are equally lethal. But then we are also guided by the officers in the Forest Department” said Dhoomketu with a force Shrikant never imagined he could possess. He realised now why Moni Da had insisted that he keep him by his side.
“Good. That means the government has indeed woken up to the need to be proactive. So why did you not involve young men like Lalu and Shuddho?” he asked wondering.
“Pah!” spat out Dhoomketu on hearing Shuddho’s name “That son of Satan was the first to sell his soul! I Thank God every day that his father never had to live to see his son turn into such a rotten lot!” he finished.
“You know his family then?” asked Shrikant.
“This is a small village Sir. We all live together as a family. I still remember the fateful day when Amod Kaka and Kaki died in the accident. Owui has never been the same again. If it weren’t for Amu she would have died long back” said Dhoomketu smiling sadly.
“Amu?” Shrikant looked questioningly at Dhoomketu
The two were still sitting on the banks of the Bania. The morning had shifted to early afternoon and the sun was shining down quite sharply. Dhoomketu picked up his fishing gear and got up.
“Come Sir” he said motioning for Shrikant to get up too. “let us head back to the resort while I tell you about Amu.”
As the two trudged along the forest path, Dhoomketu recounted the incident of Amod and Batasi’s tragic accident in the Chilapata forest on the fateful stormy night. He narrated how Amodini escaped miraculously from the elephants and was the only one found to be alive the next day.
“Poor child.” he said sadly, “She can’t speak neither can she hear. Nevertheless, she is the only reason for Owui to keep living. Shuddho had otherwise made sure that life would hold no meaning for her.”
Shrikant simply nodded taking in all this information.
“She truly is a miracle herself” continued Dhoomketu as if talking to himself. “Her innocent smile, and pretty little eyes make her a favourite with everyone. She is sure to spread joy no matter where she goes. But she is particularly good with animals. Once my cow was in a whole lot of pain during calving, it was Amu who comforted her. I do not know what she did or how she did it, but my cow birthed quickly and without any pain. When I asked her, she just smiled. There is so much peace in that smile I cannot tell you Sir. I do not understand how Shuddho can be so mean and rude to her.”
“Maybe he holds her responsible for the death of his parents. You did tell me that he was just a boy of 10 when his parents died. Children can be really difficult then and likes to form their own ideas.” said Shrikant.
“Well I don’t know Sir. If I ever had a sister like Amu, I would never have been able to speak one harsh word to her. You should see the way Shuddho behaves with her. It is as if he wished she never existed. And Amu. She is innocent as a flower. Such purity is rarely seen. You will have to see her to believe me.” Dhoomketu went on.
“But I do not remember seeing Amodini when we went to Shuddho’s house the other day?” asked Shrikant.
“She is not there sir” said Dhoomketu sadly “on the night of the forest when the elephants came to destroy our village, it was Amu who saved us,”
“Amu saved you? How?” asked Shrikant surprised
Dhoomketu narrated to him all that had happened the night of the fire and how Amu left with the elephants leaving Matongini shattered.
“That girl is a magician, Sir. You should have seen how she stood before the massive beasts all alone. The whole village was left spellbound. It was an unbelievable vision. One you cannot imagine if you do not witness it” said Dhoomketu shivering with excitement.
“I think I have seen the vision” said Shrikant after a pause.
“You have? Where Sir? Amu left the village on the night of the forest fire and has not returned since. How did you see her?” asked Dhoomketu incredulously.
Shrikant narrated the incident of his first night in Chilapata when he was almost being trampled by an elephant.
“Oh God Almighty! People call her a Devi! then it is true!” said Dhoomketu joining his hands and touching his forehead as a mark of reverence.
“I don’t know about that, but she certainly does have a special gift.” said Shrikant. “Her becoming one with the wilderness, the equation she shares with animals, it is amazing. It is as if her heart and soul belong there. She is…”
Shrikant did not complete the sentence as a thought suddenly struck him. He knew the thought was bizarre, but, it was the only way he could get his answers.
“Dhoomketu do you think I could meet Amu?” he asked abruptly.
“Meet Amu? How? Nobody knows where she is. Nobody has heard from her. Not even Owui. The old lady will turn blind one day the way she sheds copious tears pining for her Shamchik. But, why do you want to meet her, sir ?” asked Dhoomketu unable to understand Shrikant’s logic behind this unreasonable demand.
“I must Dhoomketu. Do you not understand? You, me, your Cheel Goshti we can all figh but only if we know what or whom we are fighting against. You remember what Owui told us the other day? The answers we need can come only from the forest. The forest knows and sees more than we do but who can get us those answers from its depths? Who can speak to the trees and birds and animals and tell us what they are suffering from? Its Amu. We need her to tell us what is happening in the forest Dhoomketu. We need to see her and talk to her. The forest has allowed her to enter its heart. It has permitted her to touch its soul. However, the forest may not shower us with the same benevolence. We need to reach out to the forest through her Dhoomketu.”
Dhoomketu looked at Shrikant in awe as he soaked in whatever he said. He slowly nodded his head in agreement realising that maybe there was a sense in what Shrikant was saying. The two walked on in silence for some time ruminating about Shrikant’s idea.
It was Dhoomketu who broke the silence first. “I think we can ask Owui if she knows where we can find Amu. If anybody can help us find her, she can.” he said thoughtfully.
“You think she will tell us?” said Shrikant
“She is our only chance. If she does not, nobody else can” said Dhoomketu grimacing.
As they approached the Resort gates, Dhoomketu said “We have arrived Sir”.
“Hardly!” said Shrikant slowly “I think we have just started” said Shrikant shaking his head and smiling at his companion’s blank look.
[1] A traditional Rabha cane basket used for fishing
