Jungle Travels

It was a jungle, a deep jungle. We went for the adventurous expedition in the jungle just before our English tuition. My friends, Abhisek and Prosenjit were ready for the travel. The jungle was green and calm. But, as we entered the jungle, the scene seemed to be more dangerous. 

I texted Abhisek- 'Abhisek, will you go today in the jungle?' The reply came within seconds- 'Yes bro'. As the reply came, I became ready. Inside my bag, I kept a knife for security purposes. It was looking like I was going inside the Amazon jungle. Well, then we carried on. It was 3:00 pm. There was scorching heat outside. Prosenjit arrived. I and Prosenjit went to pick up Abhisek on the way. We carried on the travel. It was a journey of around ten minutes to reach the outskirts of the jungle. The jungle was bounded by a metallic barrier so that the wild animals do not enter the town. We crossed the barrier and entered the narrow muddy road. There was no watch with us. Just, the knife was of the only use in the jungle. As we moved on, the density of the human population started to decrease.

The first obstruction to our journey was that there was a tribal archer in front of us. We were civilized but, they weren't civilized. So, they failed to understand our nature and we too failed to understand them. There was no way to escape that person. He thought that we were going to attack them. So, I decided to use sign language and physical representation. My technique worked. He left us. We went on. Prosenjit was singing a song with his shrill voice. His voice was so beautiful that a dog will also run away if he sings. It was dark inside the forest. As he didn't have watched, we failed to attend that English tuition that we had from 3:30 pm. Slowly, it became night. The crickets were making sounds. The environment became a kind of horror. The moonlight was entering slightly. We decided to go back home after completing our expedition. Then, we again started to move on. Abhisek cut down the branches that fell on our path. We could hear some scary sounds of some animals. Prosenjit was very afraid. But, he was the strongest guy out of us.

A fox was coming towards us. We were afraid. But, for astonishment, as we made a typical sound, the fox fled away. Then, we moved on. After moving some yards, another tribal man blocked our way. He knew Hindi. He asked, "Where are you all going? You are so young to come inside this deep forest." I said, "Actually, we do want to have an expedition in this forest". The man was a tribal chief because he was having a special kind of necklace, which was worn by the tribal men only. He warned us not to move ahead. We said, "But, how can we reach back home from here?" The chief said, "Stay in our hut for the night, I will show you the path back to the town tomorrow morning." We agreed to him. We walked some distance and went to the area of the tribes. They all were so friendly. They welcomed us with special food. It was so tasty. Then, the tribal chief showed us a home to stay for the night. We all were feeling so safe in that house.

The house was made of mud and the upper part of the house was covered with straws and bamboos. There was a nice fragrance inside the house. Abhisek was so happy that he slept on the bed. We were so proud to live a life of happiness and respect. They treated us like their family members. At night, all the tribal men came near the fireplace and performed their holy dance. The art of their dance was splendid. They asked us to join them. We agreed to their request. That night is stuck in my mind. The next morning, the tribal chief showed that pathway back to our town. But, we guessed what will happen after we will reach our house back.

Here's a short quote by Eyen A' Gardner regarding this wonderful travel in the dark jungle-

"The wilderness is a place that every believer has to experience to be molded for their divine purposes."