The Journey

I knew it was insane but I still decided to do it.
I embarked on one of the most extraordinary journeys of my life by expertly vaulted over the raised eyebrows, delicately waded through pools of tears and strategically evaded the curious questions seeking answers for my unexpected decision. Despite everything, I managed to remain focused on my heart’s desire .

The strangest thing about this strange journey is that it began with a word.

 “Coddiwomple”.

It haunted me all through my youth, adolescence and right into my adulthood.

I heard it for the first time from, Uncle B, my mother’s eldest brother.

My mother was born in a huge family of bizarre, boisterous and bohemian people and Uncle B was the craziest of the lot. Binoy Roy, or BR to his friends and Uncle B to us, led a long line of 6 brothers and 3 sisters. Tall, fair and with a shock of black curly hair he was quite a handsome man in his time. However, he broke many a heart when he decided he would never marry as he was committed to his first love – Travel. Often, he would pick up his backpack and disappear for days.

When he did return it was always unannounced.

He would barge into my room clad in a half-sleeves shirt and khaki shorts, drop his enormous backpack on my bed, lie down on my bed crossing his reedy legs to form the figure 4 and we would talk late into the night.  He would regale me with his stories of the Barong of Bali, Anacondas in the Amazon and the Corals of Cayman Islands. It was an exotic world he led me into. A place I never wanted to come out of.

I was in my 10^th grade when I lost my maternal grandmother. Uncle B was very attached to her and shut himself up in his room for a whole month, opening his door only to allow his food to be served.

One morning, Uncle B suddenly turned up at our house with his huge backpack strapped to his shoulder to say that he was off again.

“When will you be back this time?” asked my mother with deep concern.
“I won’t,” he said slowly.

“What do you mean, Borda?” my mother had asked in a shocked voice.
“Well Molly, I will be coddiwompling for a while so I don’t think I will be back as usual…. or ever!” he said smiling at her.

“You will be what?” I asked intrigued at hearing the new word.

“Coddiwompling! Digbee,” he said grinning. “Because a man needs to do more than just breathe!”  he said, winking at me as he got up to go.

That was what he called me. Never by my real name – Digbijoy, the conqueror of the world.

Coddiwompling!

The word intrigued me. It had a peculiar ticklish feeling about it. I couldn’t stop giggling to myself whenever I pronounced it. I looked up its meaning to find that it was an English slang and meant “to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination”.
The definition was as intriguing and elusive as the word itself. How can you have a purpose for a destination that is vague? My 16-year-old mind was perplexed. I meant to ask Uncle B the next time he came.

We did see him but only after 6 months. A vigorous knock on my door announced his arrival. He looked as if he had been in an ambush. His clothes faded and torn at corners. His shoes dusty and tattered. His greying hair wind-blown and wiry. Nevertheless, his tired unshaven face, still shone with a childlike energy.  He grinned brightly at me his eyes sparkling from behind his round-rimmed glasses.   

In one of our late night discussions on that visit, I did ask him about Coddiwomple.
“What do you think it is?” he asked me instead.

I repeated the definition I had learnt.

“But it doesn’t make any sense,” I said “How can a destination be vague yet have a purpose?”

“Well, maybe the purpose will become your destination!” he said his eyes twinkling at me with glee. I stared at him blankly my spectacles hanging at the edge of my nose.

Uncle B laughingly pushed it back and ruffled my hair. “Life is not a snippet. Digbee! It’s a full novel. You cannot rush to the end so fast. You must read the whole story!”

Uncle B left soon after that, dousing me heavily with his heady dose of travel tales and leaving me ever more confused with his elusive words.

It was several years later when I heard from Uncle B again. Not in person but through a letter. It was lying waiting for me on my desk when I returned from work. I tore open the fat envelop hungrily to find several sheets of paper clipped together. The first one seemed to be the shortest. It began with my first name which was unusual because he never addressed me thus. But that was Uncle B, unpredictable as ever.

Digbijoy,

To rule the World, you must know it first. Are you ready to begin your sojourn of conquests? Turn over if you wish to continue or tear this up if you find it balderdash. Life is waiting to give you a purpose. It is your choice whether you want to start the journey.

Uncle B.

Of course I did! Intrigued, I hurriedly moved on to the second sheet.

Digbee,

I was right! You still want to Coddiwomple. Before that I want to show you something. I will not tell you what it is or where I am. Rather I will give you a few clues. Finding answers to these will lead you to me.

Uncle B.

Something fell on the floor from within the letter I was holding. I picked it up to notice it was a simple picture of two little girls smiling into the camera. The girls were no more than 8- 9 years of age. They were wearing colourful embroidered clothes. Their clothes, though a bit faded and the embroidery tattered, still retained its brightness. The girls stood with their hands on each other’s shoulders, their rough reddish hair flying wildly in the wind. The innocence in their wide grin, reflected in their eyes which was crinkled up in pure glee, won over my heart. The photograph must have been taken in the late hours of the evening. The amber light of the fading sun made their face glow with a golden tinge.
The children it seemed were standing in the middle of nowhere. From where they were standing till as far as the camera could capture, I could not see anything except vast tracts of bare barren sheets of white covering the earth. Yet the girls seemed carefree and happy. They somehow ignored their bleak surroundings and were blissfully happy with this little moment of togetherness. It was all that mattered to them.

I turned the picture around to find “Chunvaliya Koli community, Kutch” scribbled behind it. Something in the way the little girls looked at the camera with carefree abandon triggered a release within me. I felt a terrible urge to know more about them.

The Chunvaliya Kolis, I found, lived and worked in the salt pits of the harsh barren lands of Kutch. These salt farmers, also known as Agariyas, lived in one of the harshest physical conditions.

Suddenly, I wanted to visit this place. It was as if the cork had been pulled to release the bubbling froth of adventure within me.

Hence I quit my plush job, packed my rucksack and followed my heart.

I decided to travel by road. Something told me Uncle B would want me to do it that way. During my journey, I travelled for 2434 km, stayed with complete strangers in 3 different states, travelled with them, spoke to them about their lives, told them about mine and made more friends than I had ever done in my whole life. Uncle B was right, I needed to know the World in order to conquer it. Well, I was not sure whether I could conquer it but it had definitely won me over.

After about 2 days I found myself on a jeep in the middle of the great vast Kutch desert. The sky, sheathed in a cloak of blue velvet, formed an enamouring canopy over my head. The jeep sped across the bland salty terrain as I continued my quest of the unknown. There was not a soul in sight other than the motley group in my jeep. My co-passengers were mostly villagers living in nearby villages which though invisible to me were well-known to them. As the jeep frequently stopped at their destination, I saw them alight and amble away into nowhere.

Soon the sun dimmed its brilliance and dipped the earth into a soft hue of dull ochre. The moon rose shining with its silvery brilliance irradiating the earth with its gentle glow.

Finally, it was time for me to get off. I jumped down looking questioningly at the driver. He smiled and pointed to a group of lights shining in the distance indicating my destination. I thanked him. He smiled and waved at me as the jeep drove off leaving me in the midst of the silver sands. The grey soil that had stretched out before me through the greater part of my journey, was now spruced up in a shimmering whiteness. I deliberately did not switch on the torchlight as everything around me looked so pure, pristine and peaceful.
I started walking. The lights began to grow bigger. Soon I could make out the silhouette of a tall wiry man standing with his hands on his hips, his legs slightly apart. As I moved closer, I saw the familiar broad grin and the twinkling eyes looking at me with indulgence.

“You made it, Digbee! I knew it!” he said clapping me hard on the shoulders and embracing me warmly. Smiling, I returned his embrace with equal fondness.

“How did you know it was me?” I asked incredulously.

“How many jeeps do you think pass by this road every day?” he asked chuckling.

He led me back to where he was staying. It was a small hut made of tiled roof and comprised a single room.

“There are no attached toilets so you will have to make do with the common one outside” he said, throwing a towel towards me.
“Wash up fast. I will be back soon.” said Uncle B as he showed me the round cemented structure at a distance.

“Where are you going?” I asked looking perplexed.

“Going to get some dinner for us. It will be a simple fare mind you. None of your mother’s fancy cooking here,” he winked as he walked off into the swallowing darkness.

I found him waiting for me when I returned having washed and changed. He was sitting on the floor with his arms folded lost in some deep thought. He looked up as I entered and the seriousness disappeared. Grinning broadly, he patted the floor next to him.

We talked endlessly as we ate. There was so much I had to hear from him. He told me how he came to this place, how the people, simple and welcoming, embraced him whole-heartedly and let him live in their midst. Shared their food with him, gave him a place to stay and join in their simple life. Most of the people in the village are salt farmers. They migrate to this place in the month of September and leave by April-May.

He spoke about the NGO ‘Karm’ and with whom he started Rann Shalas in the area. These were small schools built within tents where the children of the salt farmers were provided with basic education. A small step but a positive one towards showing the kids a world beyond this harsh, derelict and nomadic existence which is the only life they have known.

“So what do you think?” he asked looking at me with his twinkling eyes. I realized he had aged from the time I had last seen him. His hair which was now a milky white had receded further back giving him a wide expansive forehead. He had grown a beard which clung to his hollowing cheeks providing them with a cover to hide behind. His skin looked stretched and wizened with too much exposure in the sun. In the dim light from the oil lamp I noticed deep lines etched all over his face. However, his eyes still shone with the same brightness and energy.

I nodded taking in all that he told me. He looked at me for some time and then said suddenly “Why did you come here Digbijoy?” I looked up surprised at hearing him say my full name.

I was about to tell him about his letter but then I realized that was not what he wanted to know.

I got up and took out the picture from my bag. I handed it to him saying “I came here to find this”.

He looked at the picture and smiled. “It will be difficult and may take you sometime before you find it. Are you ready to make the purpose your journey?”

“You will help me?” I asked.
He smiled slapping me on the back. “I already have. Now you need to do the rest. Come on let’s get you some sleep. We have lots to do tomorrow,” he said getting up and pulling me along.

His answer left me perplexed. Whatever did he mean? Besides I had so many more questions for him that I didn’t think I could go to sleep now.

I guess I was wrong. As soon as my head hit the pillow on the string bed that he laid out for me, I was snoring.

I woke up the next morning at the sound of voices around me. It took me some time to recollect my surroundings. When I did, I got up and looked around for Uncle B. He was not around. I swung my feet off the bed and walked outside. I must have slept late as the sun was shining brightly. The village looked quite different in the daylight. I realized there were more houses than I thought there were last night.

As I stepped out a man came up to meet me. He looked slightly older than me probably in his early 40s. He was of medium height, slightly built and was dressed in a Kurta Pajama.
“Good Morning,” he said smiling and joining his hands together in a Namaste to greet me. “Hope you had a good sleep.”

“Yes…but I am sorry I don’t think we have met” I said smiling hesitatingly and returning his greeting .

The man looked at me strangely “I am Sudhangshu Pandey. We met yesterday evening. Don’t you remember?”
“We did?” I asked surprised not being able to recollect having seen the man before.
“Yes. I met you near the main road where the jeep dropped you. Then I escorted you here.”
I felt strange. How come I didn’t remember a thing of what this man was saying.
“Well, you did look tired. It must have been the journey” said Sudhangshu trying to sound casual.

“Yes. Maybe. But where is my Uncle?” I asked looking around “Has he gone out for some work?”

Sudhangshu looked at me in a slightly surprised way “Did you get the letter Mr. Sen?”
“Yes. I did get my uncle’s letter.” I said.

Sudhangshu looked even more surprised confirmed that my mental frame was definitely askew at the moment and said gently “I was talking about the letter I sent you”

“No. I did not receive any other letter? Why?” I asked not realizing why he was asking me that.

“Well, we are deeply grieved to tell you that Mr. Roy passed away last week. He suffered a major cardiac arrest and we couldn’t take him to the hospital in time,” said Sudhangshu softly.

I rubbed my eyes casually thinking this was some kind of a joke Uncle B decided to play on me.

“I think you are going wrong somewhere here Mr. Pandey?” I said patiently shaking my head. “I met my uncle yesterday. He came to receive me. We had dinner together. We talked late into the night. I am sure he set you up to play this prank on me.”

“God has played a prank on us Mr. Sen” said Sudhangshu shaking his head sadly. “He took away such a nice man so suddenly. You don’t know what he did for these people. He gave their children a life beyond the boundaries of the salt pit. He was like God to them.”

I stared in disbelief as the truth hit me hard. I could not believe or rather did not wish to believe what I was hearing. How could a man so full of life, die? Death was for other people not for him. Somehow I realized I had never associated mortality or death with Uncle B. For me he personified life itself.

Sudhangshu came up to me and laid his hand gently on my shoulder “I am sorry. He used to talk about you a lot. He wanted you to continue his work.”
I was still shaken and did not know what to make of this sudden news.
Sudhangshu left soon after asking me to meet him in his office when I felt like it. I could not hear him. Nor could I feel anything else around me. It was as if the world had come to a stop.

I sat like that for a long time. I did not know how long. Time no longer made sense to me. He was here yesterday, I had hugged him and felt his breath on me. Was that all my imagination? Or was it how he wanted it to be?
Suddenly I knew it.
Uncle B wanted to immortalize his hopes for a better world, through me. But before that he needed to be sure that I envisioned the same hopes as he did. He needed to be sure his ‘Digbee’ would not let him down.

It was late afternoon when I got up and moved towards Sudhangshu’s office the familiar chuckle reverberating in my ears and the deep warm voice hollering
“Ready to make the purpose your journey, Digbee?”

I smiled through my tears as I nodded my head in agreement.

Cover Photo by Kun Fotografi from Pexels