Chapter 9--- A Dance in time

Memories that were forgotten in time… come back with the simplest of hints… from a smell, a sight, music, a touch…a dance.

As the sun went down over the forested hills, everybody gathered around the bonfire in the jungle camp. Though nobody knew each other in the camp other than the guide of the tour, DJ could not stop himself from pondering where SHE could be. She was called away by her friend at Unokoti and then went to the other minibus to reach the camp in the forest. But even after reaching the camp DJ’s searching eyes could not spot her among the people gathered around the fire. The people were gathered in a wide circle around the fire, seated and chatting to each other when Jitu the guide proclaimed -

“Ladies and gentlemen, now there will be a performance by the dance troupe. The dance that they are going to perform is an ancient one among the people of the jungle.” A drummer had already started beating a slow tune… “Nobody knows the origin of the tune or the dance…but folklore says that there was once a prince of the hill nation who fell in love with the beautiful princess of the plains and it was their meeting dance…” Jitu’s voice trailed off dramatically as the beating of the drum became louder and the drummer came nearer. A hush fell over the camp. 

The male dancer appeared and started dancing to the lilting sound of the drum beat around the fire. Slowly the drum beat became faster as the dance did too. But slowly the beat and the dance became slow again until the dancer almost laid himself on the ground in a posture as if expecting someone’s arrival into the arena. In a white and green saree worn elegantly like a ghagra most unlike the dress of the hill ladies, came the female dancer onto the arena. The passionate dance of love started …now more enchanting with the music of a flute joining the sound of the drum. But somehow DJ felt that something in the dance was amiss. He closed his eyes and only enjoyed the music which brought back memories...memories that were familiar but …

“As you know, the camp is located just next to the hilly village of Khamgiri. The people of the hills have been living in this village for centuries. The village head, has agreed to participate in our festivities today and I am honoured to receive him as our chief guest for today.” Jitu’s announcement brought DJ back to the present as he noticed that the dance had stopped and everybody was clapping. Some people came in with a kind of high pedestal and a chair. Two torches got lit on both sides and a chair was placed on the pedestal. Shortly, the chief of the village was seen slowly arriving with his warrior escorts in traditional dresses and taking his seat.

“Dear friends, welcome to the Khamgiri Hills” said the chief. 

“Today is a very special day. Today we celebrate the great meeting occasion. According to folklore, our village is an ancient one and there was born a great prince in the Hill nation who fell in love with the princess of the plains. They first met here, on this very spot, on the banks of river Gomti. So, every year, on this day, we celebrate the day of meeting of their great love. The dance that you have just witnessed is performed by our village people to keep alive the memories of their great love.”

“To celebrate the occasion, we hold a dancing contest. All are welcome to participate. Please choose your partners, as we will start the contest in 15 minutes’ time. I have a surprise gift for the winning couple today. After that, we shall have a great feast.”

Suddenly DJ’s eyes fell on the girl he had been searching. It was her- the girl from the paddy fields, the girl at Unokoti. Now was the chance. She was gossiping and laughing with her friend in a corner. He had been unable to spot her because of the huge celebratory flag masts. He boldly approached her:-

“Hello, how are you? I am DJ.”

“Hello, yes I have noticed you at Unokoti clicking my friend’s picture. That’s not right you know, clicking somebody’s picture without their permission you know,” chided Jyoti.

“Stop it Jyoti” quipped Payel.

“And what sort of name is DJ?” Jyoti carried on.

“Pardon me, my name is Digvijay. Friends call me DJ.”

“OO...” Jyoti had started to say something when Payel stopped her.  “Pardon my friend,” Payel flashed a skittish smile “I am Payel and this is Jyoti my best friend”.

DJ smiled back with his most captivating smile and slightly bowing mockingly towards Jyoti. A lot of girls had fallen for DJ’s smile. There were already 3 girls in the tourist group who were trying to get close to the handsome hunk and ogling his every move.

“Actually, I was wondering if you would care to dance with me for the contest” DJ shot at Jyoti. He knew instantly that if he asked Payel, knowing girls like Jyoti from his previous experiences, Jyoti would not allow Payel to dance with DJ.

“How dare you…No.” Blasted Jyoti.

“Then, I am really sorry but I would have to ask your friend. Payel, may I have the pleasure of this dance with you?”

“Yes”, said Payel just to watch her friend’s horrified face which actually worked.

“What?” Jyoti gasped at Payel as if trying to say ‘Wait I will kill you’ with her eyes. Then she stood grouchily as her friend accompanied DJ to the dancing arena.

Quite a few couples had gathered there for the contest which was to start in a matter of minutes.

“But I don’t know how to do the dance” said Payel nervously to DJ.

“Don’t worry; just let the music take you. We have seen how the performers danced…it won’t be tough”, said DJ reassuringly.

All the couples were to wear the traditional attire of the dancers. When they changed and came back to the arena, DJ was looking like the Prince of the hill tribes, strongly built and long hairs. All eyes in the contest were on Him. The female partners had to join in the mid of the dance with their male partners.

“Let us start” proclaimed the chief smiling.

The drum started beating slowly and all the male contestants started dancing to the lilting sound.

Slowly DJ almost closed his eyes feeling the beat and losing himself in the music. He felt as if he had done this dance before in some other time and place. Déjà vu or was it? The beat gathered a fever pitch and DJ started dancing like the warrior in the dance. Most of the novices fell and only the men from the village remained in the arena who had done this dance before. Slowly the beat subsided to the lilting sound again and flute music started accompanying the drum. The female partners of the remaining contestants joined the arena. When the men slowly got up from the posture of expecting their partners to join them, DJ saw Payel in the green and white saree approaching him like the princes she was. It was as if sparks were flying in the air when she touched him to get up with her small soft hands. Both got immersed in the beat and the music and danced like the prince and princess that they were from the other life. They danced forgetting where they were and who they were. Passion of the dance made them forget their present and took them to the other time when they had first danced some centuries back. Memories long forgotten, memories so loving, memories so dear so powerful that when DJ held her closely to him with the last beat and looked longingly in her eyes, Payel closed her eyes and tears started flowing from them. Everybody in the arena was transfixed, as if they had glimpsed the first dancers themselves. The moment was long…a moment in time that contained centuries. No words needed to be spoken. Only thoughts, feelings, memories, remembrances filled the moment. 

A dance in time....nothing else matters...

The Meeting..contd.

Moments in time seem prolonged and then time stops to a point when time is no time. It is just like a breeze over the river ever caressing the flow and still cannot leave a mark on the flow. When lives meet and love is re met ..magic happens…and there was magic...magic of time immemorial ...lives intertwined by remembrances from deep thoughts and MEMORIES. A single white wild flower among a horde of carefully pedigreed selection of flowers. Still the appeal is individual and personal.

Longing for a touch…which was never essentially required physically yet the base instinct taketh over. A reluctance of being lost in the hypnotized glory of the moment…A moment in time more precious than a life time. All existence seems blurred and insignificant in the presence of that person.

That is how DJ felt. With his HD 40x zoom Sony camera in hand he saw Payel again. A dance in time that was long forgotten but somehow managed to resurface in time. There was an insistence hitherto unknown of reasons far beyond mortal causes or urges that seemed to embrace the moment their gazes met.

The small Godly hand of the girl was giving alms to the Sanyasi sitting at the foot of the representation of lord Shiva at Unokoti. Her face was gleaming with an inward joy.DJ did not lose a single moment in capturing it. He himself was standing there at a short distance away. All the others from the 7 days trip of Tripura had gone to the top of the hill to see the relics on the top of the hill. Suddenly their eyes caught each other’s gaze. The Sanyasi was playing on a flute …the tune being a long forgotten one of the hill folks…a tune from the long forgotten past. Suddenly a breeze touched upon the dupatta and caressed the long flocks of hair coming on Payel’s forehead like a gentle touch of the hand of time. DJ’s heart skipped a beat as he discovered himself gazing into the deep doe shaped eyes. Thousand stories climaxing into one single point of glory and time stood still.

Chapter 8 ---- The Meeting

“Why did you come out to get captured?” Tamluk inquired Chitradeep.

“You know ...a dog’s tail always follows it.” Tamluk laughed at Chitradeep’s sense of humor even in this situation. The two friends kept walking side by side enjoying each others company. 

Soon they neared the camp as the sun had reached the horizon. The sound of the mighty Gomti river could not suppress the sound of the horses’ hooves and the sound of the returning hunting party. The five shadows had stopped following the hunting party at the end of the jungle upon a hand signal from Tamluk. They hid themselves at the top of some trees and kept watch.

A beautiful song came floating in the evening breeze as if laying a caress on the already beautiful sunset. It had such an enigmatic appeal that Tamluk could not help himself and instantly took out his flute which was tucked in his waistband. It took him a moment to understand the flow of the music and quickly gave accompaniment to it. They were almost upon the camp. Everybody in the camp who had come out to greet the king and his hunting party fell silent and enchanted at the same moment. It was an incredible moment for everybody. 

The sun was setting in the background and the sky had taken a reddish-orange hue with the castles in the sky taking a crimson colour. The light breeze had the unknown sweet smell of a forest flower. The enigmatic sound of Tamluk’s flute and the sweet sound of Sreelekha’s voice seemed to cast a spell on everybody. All eyes were fixed on Tamluk. 

Suddenly Sreelekha engrossed in her evening prayer heard the sound of the flute which she had heard only once before and came running out of the Royal tent. Immediately her doe like eyes were fixed on Tamluk who was so much engrossed in playing his flute that he had not noticed Sreelekha. The sun was setting behind Tamluk and his handsome figure was so engrossed in the music that it seemed to Sreelekha that Lord Shiva himself had come down on earth to meet her.

Tamluk brought the music to a befitting end and opened his eyes. He had not noticed that the vocal music had stopped and they had reached the camp. When he opened his eyes, he was staring speechlessly into the beautiful eyes of Sreelekha. It felt to both that they had finally found the person whom they had been searching for the whole lifetime.

Never before had it happened that Chitradeep had seen his friend in such a state. Neither had it happened that Sreelekha had not run to the arms of Bhim Sen when he returned home. Nor had the people seen such a handsome person in their life. He had to be a prince.

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Chapter 7 -The Hunt (Continued 2)

“How dare you play around with the mightiest king of all plains?” Chaturbhuj’s anger and frustration were evident in his voice.

What he got in reply was a twisted smile and an infuriating silence which in some way reminded him of the divine smile of the Lord Krishna. But it did nothing to appease his anger.

“Answer or be off with your head” Chaturbhuj intimidated with his three and half foot long sword – now naked and shimmering in the afternoon sun.

And again what he got back in reply was a deep chuckling from Tamluk.

“Who are you young man? And how dare you laugh at Chaturbhuj? Do we seem like jokers to you? Do you even understand our language?”

A voice came from the forest as if the thunder was striking in the sky. “Who ever you are, you people of the plains, and you are trying to kill against the law of the forest. You cannot eat a tiger. So why do you want to kill one?”

“Show respect when the rajah speaks, you insolent being” Chaturbhuj raised his whip in the air to strike at Tamluk. And just then, six arrows came flying from now where and cut his whip into pieces even when it was in the air.

Stupefied and instantly alert, Chaturbhuj and the troops started to look around, swords drawn, trying to locate where from the arrows had come.

“Well Chaturbhuj, you and your Rajah need to go back to the plains from whence you come. You cannot hunt in the forest. This is our land and you are standing on it. Also you and your people are not welcome to hunt here. All creatures in the forest belong to Lord Barmura. And HE does not give permission for such hunting.”

This time it was the time for raja Bhim Sen to be angry. “Who are you? How dare you talk like this? Come forth so we may see you.”

Tamluk could not stop himself but only chuckle at the way Chitradeep was making fun of them with his deep voice mimicking skills. Chitradeep came forward from the forest with his bows and arrows and was immediately taken as a prisoner too.

“The sun is setting; let us go back to the camp my lord.” Chaturbhuj suggested “We can question them there”. The hunting party set off for the camp with the two prisoners. Discretely following them were five shadows hiding amongst the trees.

Next Day

Next Day

“It has been so long that I have tasted fresh new nubile and tender grass. It is so good to taste some after long time.”

This summer was very hard on the forest dwellers. Especially on the herd of Chital deer’s as the rain fall was scarce this summer and the grass the herd would survive on was so rare to find in the usual patches. The herd head had brought them to a patch near the foothills of the great mountains. Here, there was a stream that flowed all the year round and hence there was a patch of green grass that the whole herd could feed upon.

But mama doe was irked by some sounds that were not usual in these parts of the forest. This being the reason, she kept her calf quite nearby and would not let it wander too far away. Also there were smells of strange animals in the air.

Suddenly then, she heard the ruffling sound somewhere nearby and immediately became alert along with the other members of the herd. As soon as she had heard the sound there was the thud sound of something falling near the herd. The already alerted herd thought it better to make a quick get away towards the interior parts of the forest.

As it happened, Tamluk was hiding in the deep forest along with his friends and following the movements of the hunting troupe of Raja Bhim Sen. The forest people deeply revered the forest GOD and believed that who ever kills any living creature in the forest without the need of hunger should be punished. This was a law that went without saying. Every creature in the forest followed the same law. But why were men from the planes suddenly in a hunting spree that was not going to quench their hunger was beyond the understanding of the forest people. In all essence Tamluk and his small gang of friends wanted to stop this. So they had decided to make the hunting excursion of the Raja a failure. Every time the Raja or any member of his hunting party would aim at any animal the animals would miraculously get some prior knowledge of the attack and would flee. This had been going on for three days at a stretch when the Senapaty Chaturbhuj had to conclude in frustration to his almighty Bhim Sen about the matter. It was a serious concern and Bhim Sen himself was getting frustrated.

“Today I want my soldiers to form a circle around the prey and hide in the forest. I want to find out the reason for this. Chaturbhuj tell all soldiers to act upon your signal for the same”.

Languishing in the early summer soft morning sunrays was an exquisite royal Bengal tiger in the small clearing near the foothills. The hunting party had spotted it and according to the instructions had circled around it in a quarter mile radius. Raja Bhim Sen along with Chaturbhuj were progressing slowly towards the tiger on their elephants. Their bows and arrows were ready for the kill. Then suddenly there was a sound of ruffling in the forest and an arrow hit the ground just near the tiger. As if the thunder had hit the ground from nowhere in the blue sky, the tiger raced away towards the deep forest. Immediately afterwards, the Raja heard the shouting of a few soldiers who had made a perimeter around the tiger from the North side. On a signal from the Raja, Chaturbhuj dismounted from his elephant and mounted on a horse nearby. He immediately sped towards the general direction of the shouting. After sometime, the Raja could see that Chaturbhuj was returning with a captive walking in front of his horse slowly towards him.

Bhim Sen could not help himself but admire at the remarkable physique of his captive.

 

Chapter 7 - The Hunt

There is an instance, where time is not time. Where place is not a place. Peace here and now. There all existence is within one grain or infinite times bigger.  Imagination flies. Everything sometimes seems shrouded in a veil of mist. And to find truth…love and compassion rises from the heart.

High above in the sky a lonely eagle flies touching the clouds. The air ruffling in its feathers… leaves a trail in the clouds - so white. Its mighty wings spread so confidently. Sitting on the back of the elephant the king looks up to enjoy the flight of the eagle and admires its strength. He sees the eagle circling above them and then suddenly it is gone like a dream into the clouds again.

Another keen pair of eyes has also seen the eagle circling the forest. A shrill whistle calls the eagle. Perched high on the topmost branch of the mighty banyan, Tamluk’s hand reaches out to receive the mighty bird.

“What have you seen Chet?” The bird moves its head in a certain way.

“So, there are hunters in the forest? How many?” Now the bird raises its talons. “It’s a big hunting party. Well we will see.”

With agility Tamluk climbs down from the tree and after taking his bow and arrows on his back, moves swiftly towards the direction where Chet was flying. On reaching the last hill near which Tamluk had seen Chet circling the sky, he climbs a high tree. There was a moderately big clearing near the hill where he was now. He sees that a hunting party had pitched camp there. He could make out that there were almost 50 soldiers. Most of what was surprising was that there were horses and 3 elephants. Tamluk had never seen a horse though he had heard of them from his grandfather. The biggest elephant was adorned gaudily. He knew that sometimes some of the hunters boldly breached their territorial demarcation and entered the forest to hunt. But never before he had seen or heard of such a big hunting party blatantly entering their territory to hunt. Generally he would shoot a few arrows in the direction of the illegal hunters to frighten them away. But this situation was different. He decided to go back to the village nearby to this place and rest for the night as the sun was almost setting.

Tamluk went to the nearest village where the chief was a distant relative.

“Uncle Kalidas, I need to stay in Khamgiri for the night.”

“Sure nephew, you are more than welcome. “

“Uncle, I would need another favour. Please send a runner to my village to tell Chitradeep to come and join me here immediately tomorrow. He must bring my other two friends Kishore and Bikram along with him. They must bring with them all their and my war gears.”

“I will immediately tell my son Kashi to do as you have instructed”.

Kalidas summoned his son Kashi and gave him the necessary instructions. Kashi left immediately. Then he gave instructions to his wife and sister to cook dinner.

“Sit here my nephew next to me. I am very much pleased with your visit. But is there some problem?”

Everyone in the Barmura kingdom respected Tamluk and knew of his war skills as well as his good nature. They also knew that he was going to be the next king and a rightful person for the position too as per his capabilities. Sitting next to his uncle in front of the fire, Tamluk waited a long moment before answering.

“Three hills from this village, in the clearing, a hunting party has set camp.”

“So what is there to be so annoyed? I will take a few warriors of my village and shoo them away tomorrow morning. This is a routine thing for all the border villages such as ours.” 

“No uncle. You do not understand. There are more than 50 of them with horses and elephants. And they seem to be having among them a person of big stature. We must be careful.”

“Only 50? Nephew, do not worry. But it is a matter of thought though as never before this had happened here before.”

“That is why I want to find exactly who they are and what they want. I must be sure of their intentions. If necessary, we may have to inform the nearby border villages and inform the garrison of the Khamgiri hills.”

“So shall I send more messengers?”

“No uncle. We must first find out discretely. That is why I have sent for my friends. I may also need 3 of your best warriors preferable trained highly in tree climbing and jungle warfare tactics. Their knowledge of the land might be required.”

“I will see to it immediately.”

“And uncle, I do not want too many people to know about it just yet.”

As Kalidas left, Tamluk sat contemplating about his plan.

Soon Kalidas returned with his three best warriors. All of them greeted Tamluk and sat discussing about the situation and their plan.

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Chapter 6 Home

Aaahh…the smell of freshly cut grasses, the whiff of bamboo, teak and the earth just after the fresh rain…motherland…all the memories from childhood came rushing back as DJ stepped on the concrete Tarmac of the airport in Agartala. The air travel was comfortable. But in the anticipation, he just could not sleep in the last leg of his journey from Kolkata to Agartala. Memories from his childhood flooded his mind. He could feel the taste of hot fresh chicken chaps and egg wraps in his mouth that he would relish eating at the roadside fast food stalls in Agartala.

Just outside the cordoned off area in the luggage checkout point, he could see his father waving at him. His father had come to receive him from the airport. He rushed into his father’s arms and hugged him tightly. There were tears in his father’s eyes. The smell of his father’s aftershave lotion brought back memories even forcefully. Quickly he collected his luggage and sat in the car with his father to head towards home. He told the chauffeur to take the car via a different route where there were rice fields. The light breeze brought in the smell of the green paddy fields, wet after the rain. The sun shone on the droplets nestled on the blades of the paddy plants. There was a shimmering effect and the fields seemed like a sea of jade. The setting sun behind the clouds and the orange tinted sky was a miracle that he wanted to capture. He stepped out of the car and clicked away with his camera. He could not stop himself from stepping into the fields. Suddenly in the far field there, he saw a girl in pure white and cream salwar running through the fields and touching the droplets nestled on the paddy plants. She was jumping and enjoying the beauty as much as he was. He was mystified and could not take his eyes off even to click at his camera.

“You know Duggu; your mother is waiting for you. We should go now.” His father called out affectionately.

“Coming baba”.

But who was that girl? May be he would never know. But she seemed so happy and fairy like beautiful immersed in the beauty of nature.

“Your mother has cooked Hilsa for you today.”

“Wow...Hilsa?”

“Yes dear and there is also Boyal for tonight.”

DJ loved fish and Hilsa and Boyal were his favourite. Soon they reached home. He took his luggage and ran home.

“Ma…I am back.” He hugged his mother and there were tears in her eyes too.

“So long it has been. Freshen up and come to eat...today I have made Hilsa for you”.

He felt like a child again. Hilsa made with mustard paste with rice…was his favourite. It seemed to him that the past one year that he has been away from home, he has been eating only rubbish compared to his mother’s cooking.

“Well here I am at my home and I plan on binging”. He said to his parents who were gathered around him. They were very happy to see him after such a long time.

“Tell me whatever you want to eat and I will bring for you’’, his father said with a smile.

And then they started to talk about his accomplishments in his current job and the news about the neighbors and family members.

Soon the day ended. After dinner and saying goodnight to his parents, he went to his bed. The smell of his old teak wood bed and school time books floated in the room. But he pondered… who was the girl he saw in the paddy fields today? As he floated into the dream world, serene flute music seemed to play in his ears and there was this girl dancing in the paddy fields…

Chapter 5 Chitradeep

There is a time and place for everything. But for Chitradeep, all times were good times to crack a joke. Not necessarily he had to speak, to make people laugh. Sometimes he would just have to make a face and everybody around him would start rolling on the ground with laughter. Even his cherubic body features added the fine touch to it. One thing everybody liked about him was that, he did not fear anybody. Most of the people thought that it was due to his close friendship with the tribal prince Tamluk. Both of them were born on the same date and time. They have been inseparable from childhood.

In their childhood, they would play the popular game of Rajah – mantri. Tamluk would sit on a rock with Chitradeep on his left hand side sitting on an earthen mound. Other kids would play the part as his ministers or subjects. They would imitate the court of Tamluk’s father. And each time Tamluk would ask Chitradeep what should be done with the accused? The punishments to the accused would be like climb a banyan tree, roll three times on the ground and bark like a dog, etc.

But there was a sad part to Chitradeep’s life. He had lost his mother in a fire when he was just a toddler. His mother had given her life while saving him from the fire when his father was out in the forest hunting. Since then, Tamluk’s mother had taken it upon herself to raise Chitradeep like her own son.

Chitradeep’s father, Nanimadhab, was the commander of the tribal army. He had not been able to forgive himself for not being able to save his wife. So he could not say anything to Chitradeep, even when he wanted to, of learning the ways of warfare. But instead he trained Tamluk in whatever knowledge of warfare he knew.
Instead of pondering too much on his bad plight, he turned himself into a comic personality. He hated doing any physical work. But he had always been enticed by knowledge and wisdom. He would secretly hide and listen to the judgements given by the tribal chief, Tamluk’s father, in the tribal court. He studied with the Chantai (temple priest) about all the scriptures deeply. He would always accompany Tijil to the 14 God’s temple and visit the Chantai there. He would also accompany Tijil to Matarbari, the ancient Mother Goddess’s temple. There he learned how to meditate and learned the hidden knowledge of the scriptures from the sadhus.

“Dear Maharaj, kindly accept me as your disciple” he requested Shri Dayanand Giri – Guru of Tijil – who was a very kind sadhu. Chitradeep was accepted and soon started to learn how to meditate and learn further about the scriptures and other hidden knowledge. He lived under the guidance of his Guru for five years.

When he had reached the age of 16, his guru called him and all the other disciples ,one day into his hut and told “Dear sons, I have given you knowledge. My work here is done. I am going to the Himalayas for sadhana. Tijil will continue my work here in this Ashram.”

And to Chitradeep, “Now, your fate requires you to go to your village. In due course, when your duty in this world is done, you shall come back to me. “
“But when shall it be revered guru? And how shall I know that the time has come? I do not want to leave your feet. Take me with you to the Himalayas.”
“Ha Ha. You are my dearest disciple. Do not be sad.” With his eyes towards the heavens and a mystifying smile on his face, the revered guru said, “I shall leave this place now. When the time has come, I shall come myself to take you along with me to the Himalayas. But now you must go back to your village. Remember what I have taught you and always wear this Rudraksha mala around your neck. I am always there with you.”

Chitradeep was sad and happy at the same time. He had to be away from his guru who he loved with his whole heart. Also he was happy because he could see his people in the village after such a long time. Especially he would again see Tamluk.

Chapter 4 Payel

“Stop it. Or else, I am going to throw your music system out.” Furious on her room partner, Payel switched off the music system.

“Hey, hey, hey…you have got no right to that…” said Jyoti, in a light hearted mood.

Payel and Jyoti were friends since the kindergarten. In fact they were best friends. They enjoyed each other’s company and were more than sisters to each other. They regarded themselves as sisters from different parents. Even their parents didn’t make any discrimination in between them .Both of their parents treated them as their own child. Both of them were single child. From childhood, whatever Payel’s parents would buy for her, they would get two. One for her and another for Jyoti. Same was also done by Jyoti’s parents. They would fare well and equally in everything they participated in.

But as they grew up, they started to change. Jyoti was more of the outgoing type, more influenced by western music, clothing style and food likings. When they had decided to go and study in the prestigious Women’s College in Agartala, Jyoti had chosen BSC in computer science whereas Payel had chosen Arts. Payel has had always wanted to know about her family’s past. That was the reason why she took History as major subject in her Masters.

Jyoti was not that attractive whereas Payel looked like a goddess. She had the big yet Mongoloid style eyes. Her hair was jet black and long. All her friends would envy her for her long hair. She had a bright fair complexion and a skin as smooth as velvet. She had learnt classical music and dance from childhood. Also she had a rich taste in clothing. At home, she would wear the traditional PACHRA. Other times she would wear simple light colored full length salwar kameez. She never wore jeans or T- shirts.

Payel’s father was the second son of her granddad. She had come to know about her family history from folklore that used to go about in people’s mouth, when she was a child. She had heard from her grandma that, her family was once the ruling family of the mighty Barmuras. In fact, The GOD Barmura was one of their ancient ancestors. They were among the first people to settle in these areas thousands of years ago. Even the last Rajah of Tripura was a descendant from their family. Even now, when she went to her village during vacations, she would spend more time in knowing the past. This, she would do, by interviewing old people in the nearby villages. She had taken up writing a book on the history of Tripura and the history of the people. She was in continuous consultation with the professors, not only in her own college, but also from other universities as well as other places like Kolkata and Delhi. She would from time to time visit the Chantai in the 14 God’s temple. In fact it was now, in the end of May, that she was planning to go to Unokoti, Pilak and a few other places to get some pictures for her book. She had decided to take the tourist bus facility recently started to all major attractions of Tripura for 7 days. She has bought a high definition camera for the purpose and taken her parent’s permission too.

Chapter 3 DIGVIJAY

The letters seem to be dancing and blurring on the computer screen as Digvijay can hardly control the sleep from fatigue of overworking for long hours. “This project needs to be completed anyhow before I go on leave” he has been telling himself. He has been pushing himself to his limits for the whole of this first week of May. The deadline for the project delivery is not till the end of next month. But the testers need around one month time to test the program files of the application he is developing for a renowned multinational company. Though he has a reputation of developing bug free programs, business protocol demands, that the application be properly tested before delivery. Over and above he has been working at breakneck speed to complete the application. He is now creating his own record of completing a project at such a short time, where even the experts will require not less than 2 months to complete this project. His boss, though, brought in this project at the last moment when Digvijay was winding up his pending works in the office last Saturday.

“D.J. we have got this prestigious project from our overseas client just now. I have promised them that we will deliver them within two months. They have agreed to award us this project solely depending on the lowest time frame we have quoted. And I have taken the project solely depending on your expertise and skill. I have every faith in you my boy. If we can deliver them this project, then they have promised us to give permanent contract for developing their PDA and mobile phone applications. This means we can take our business to greater heights and compete with the market bigwigs. Surely you understand the importance of this project by now, don’t you?”

“But sir I am going on leave next week!”

“D.J., I have explained you the situation. Haven’t i? I am requesting you to put in your best. I know you would not disappoint me my good lad.”

“Well let me see”. And so his instrumental music album and loads of coffee has been supporting him for the last week as days blur into night and night into day. He has been virtually eating, sleeping and working from his corner cabin for the last week uninterrupted by anyone.

Digvijay or D.J., as everyone calls him at his office, had completed his engineering in Mechanical Engineering from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Powai. In fact he was a gold medalist. Then he went on to complete his Masters from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States. After that he had come to Pune and joined a small start up company as a trainee programmer. His intention was to do a job and do programming on software for robots. Robotics was his Major subject in master’s degree.

Within 6 months he had made his bones, as his dad would proudly say, and become a programmer. Only one year later he had become a senior programmer and after two years he has become a legend not only in his office but also in the Indian industry of mobile phone and PDA applications development. International companies have been calling him everyday to give him lucrative job offers. But he has kept turning them down saying that he did not want to go overseas for doing job. He preferred to stay in his own country. Now he has made a position in his company which nobody has a name what to call and is his boss’s most trusted and prized employee. His boss has offered to make him a partner from this June which D.J. has accepted. Already he has moved to the corner cabin next to his boss’s. But he told his boss that he will still be a programmer and let his boss run the company as he loves to create applications.

When six foot tall, dark shoulder length haired, muscular and fair skinned Digvijay sits on his Bullet, heads are bound to turn. White and blue are his favorite colours. The Aviator sunglasses go well with his long drooping moustache. The strong jaw line and the broad forehead add to his muscular appeal. Nobody would say that, the 23 years old D.J., is a renowned software programmer and is about to become a partner in a successful and prestigious Indian software company.

The whiff of fresh coffee wakes D.J. up.

“Where are we my boy?”Seeing that he has woken up, his boss asks D.J.

The whole of last week, everybody in the office saw how D.J. has been working. The boss himself had prohibited anyone from even slightly disturbing him. A new coffee machine had been installed in his cabin. And that too, when he had gone home, to freshen up and change clothes. “Give me only two hours and the completed application will be at your desk”.

“WHAT? My God. You are a wizard or what?”

The face boss made, brought a slanting triumphant smile on his face.

“And sir, today afternoon, my flight is booked. I am going on leave for 20 days.

"Not before I see the application.”

“Of course.”

And obviously the boss was satisfied. He congratulated D.J. by shaking his hand.

“Enjoy your vacation my boy. You deserve it.”

This time he has planned to see the interiors of the lush green North eastern state of Tripura. A tourist bus facility has been launched recently from his home town Agartala to all the major attractions of Tripura in a 7 day’s tour package. Initially he will spend a week with his mother and father at home. He will only eat his mother’s specialty dishes and sleep. Then he will go onto the voyage. Later he plans to go into the interiors of the hilly state to spend a relaxing week, clicking away at his newly bought digital camera which is his only hobby other than programming for robots. Thinking about the vacation itself has a relaxing effect on him. Soon he falls asleep in the cool air conditioning of the flight.

Chapter 2 Sreelekha

A soft breeze filled with the sweet scent of an unknown forest flower caresses the reddish black long flowing curly hair of the princess of the plains. The big doe like eyes take in the beauty of sunrise over the pristine forests from the plains in the foothills of the mighty Barmuras. The light fog lifts like a veil slowly to uncover the beauty of the forests. The sound of the water of the fast flowing hilly river which demarcates the boundary of the king’s kingdom seems to form an accompaniment to the beautiful morning rag and the sitar of Sreelekha. Wearing a simple green colored sari, Sreelekha is as beautiful as a goddess. Her bright smooth skin glows in the first rays of the morning sun like an amber. Her petite figurine is the envy of any artist’s creation. The revered fearless merciful rajah Bhim Sen would always take her along wherever he went.
He would always look at her mango like beautiful face and say “My darling daughter you are my lucky charm. Tell me what you want”. She would say
“I want nothing father, you have given me everything. Just give me your blessings.” He would laugh, take her in his arms and say “That, my little angel, you have always”.

Everyone would say that Sreelekha was the reincarnation of her mother who passed away while giving birth to her. Bhim Sen had never married again as his love for Sreelekha’s mother was too great. He could never love any other woman like that. When Bhim Sen’s mother asked him to remarry, he disagreed. “How do we know that Sreelekha’s step mother would love her as if she was her own daughter? I do not want to leave that to chance. So for her sake, I am never going to marry again”. He was determined to give Sreelekha all the love, care, attention and happiness in the world so that she would never feel the absence of her mother.

Sreelekha had grown up to be a renowned painter. Her voice was so sweet that when she sang the devotional songs, tears would come in the eyes of anybody who would listen. She was also a very pious devotee of Lord Shiva. She would do puja three times everyday. When she would sew clothes for her father and cook food, the palace servants would be ashamed and ask her repeatedly to let them do it. She would be open hearted to help the needy and helpless, of her father’s kingdom. Everyone loved and respected her. When she danced, even the most renowned dancers of the kingdom would admire her skill. The king was very proud of her.

When the king proposed to go for hunting in the forest, she asked him to take her along.
“But my dear, this time, I intend to go to the forest near the hills. A fierce tribe rules those lands. It is very dangerous for you to come along.”
“But baba, you cannot leave me alone in this big palace”
“Very well my child. You know, I can not deny you anything. But promise me that you will never leave far from the tent”.
“You have my word for it.”

So here they were and she would never regret coming there. Just looking at the forests and sitting on the banks of the river would inspire her to start painting with her brush on the canvas. Especially today, when the rain is threatening to pour its weight on the foothills .Suddenly her brush stops as she intently listens to a sound. Anyone would say that it was the sound of a flute but to her it seemed as if someone was calling her. And the flautist was as lonely as her. It seemed to her that lord Krishna had himself come to these hinterlands from the heavens to play such a lovely tune. She wanted the music never to stop. But then the rains came with all its anger down upon the earth and the music fainted away.

Chapter 1 - Tamluk

Dancing with a sword and shield along with the tune of war drums is seen the figure of a lonely warrior in the traditional short white dhoti. It is seldom that a Tripuri grows up to a height of six feet two and the stunning physique – one that even Hercules might have envied. Flowing locks of his shoulder length black mane dance along with the muscles of his shoulder, hands and feet. A pair of charcoal black eyes is fixed on the practice mannequin in front of him. Beads of sweat fall relentlessly off his shiny skin burned to a reddish tone which once in his mother’s arms used to be pinkish white. The exertion brings out red blood to his cheeks. The strong muscular jaw line is typical of his noble lineage that dates back to early settlers of this hilly region who called themselves Tripuri after the goddess Tripureshwari. His family has been ruling the nearby range of hills covered with lush tropical forests for centuries. So says the village elders to Tamluk, a name chosen by his grandfather. When a little boy, his friends would ask the meaning of his name and he would come running into the laps of his loving grandfather. After running his hand through his now milky white beard,”Son-it was the name of a place that was the capital of the mighty rajas who ruled all of the plains that you can see if you climb up the great Banyan at the top of the hill yonder”, his grand father- Tijil, would raise his trishul in the direction of the great Mighty Barmura –the mightiest of the hilly ranges under their control.

The mystic clouds shroud the old banyan. A flock of song birds and colourful parrots raise the alarm of the great rains. The dark castles in the sky are being built by the powerful south western winds that threaten to further give a twist to the already centuries old banyan’s trunk. Even then he mightily gives resistance to the gusty winds by fluttering his leaves in a loud war cry. The birds take to flight as the first of the rain hit like arrows on the leaves. He may be a small boy, but a born warrior, admires the fearless banyan and takes shelter under it.”These words, my little warrior, hold in your heart, always respect the fearless and equally be aware of the coward. As the coward, may hurt you, even if he is your friend. But the strong and fearless should be respected, even if he is your enemy”, Tijil would hold his hand and tell. But Tijil has gone on a pilgrimage today to the 14 God’s temple. He had left his throne to his now able son , after Tamluk was born .He took diksha from the priest Chantai and became a sanyasi. So when Tamluk was missing his grandfather, he tried to get comfort by sitting in the lap of the banyan’s big branches. His grandfather had gifted him a bamboo flute on his 12th birthday.”Whenever you feel lost or sad or happy, play this.”Tamluk was so happy that he had hugged his grandfather tightly”Will you teach me how to play this gampa?”and his grandfather would lovingly take Tamluk in his arms and say”Of course my little wizard”. Now he is 16 and grandfather has left home to be a sanyasi. These four years he has been tirelessly training to be a warrior. Slowly, he started to beat the great warriors in his clan, in every skill. He would run to the top of mighty barmura a 12 mile winding road without stopping for breath even a single time. He could throw the javelin accurately at a target half a mile away. His arrow would hit the jackfruit 1 mile away. He would wrestle the wild buffalo with its horn. He would uproot the big bamboo trees with a single lurch of his bare hands. His muscles were as strong as the sand stone itself. He would fight 5 warriors at a time with the sword and shield and defeat them all in five minutes. Then came the day when his grandfather taught him to hunt deer at the dead of night by listening to its sound only. He could catch the forest fowl with his bare hands. In wrestling even the heaviest of his clan would decline to fight. They were embarrassed to fight with him as to get defeated by only a 16 year old was not good for their honor. His father was now very proud of him.

He had learnt the language of the people of the plains. He had been studying under the Chantai on the holy Vedic scriptures.

But his heart lay somewhere else. When in the evening he would come home tired, he would sit at his grandfather’s feet and learn to play the flute. He would spend hours on end sitting under the banyan, learning to play the flute from his grandfather. In the scorching heat of the summer afternoons when everyone in the village was asleep, he would practice his flute. Even the birds would forget their chirping, and listen.

But today his beloved flute hums a lonely – lonely tune like the skylark flying alone in the blue summer skies.