The Honeymoon

As I was going nearer and nearer to my favorite place my heart was pounding in sheer excitement.
She kept on murmuring,'It is awful, it is awful'.

I said,'Darling it is not Kolkata, you are in the middle of Tebo Ghat range'.
When we reached Chakradharpur in the morning by Howrah Chakradharpur Mail, everything was fine. But soon we realized that our trip will not be as smooth as I thought. No private car was available on that day due to some reason that we could not understand.
We managed to catch an overcrowded public bus studded with too many animal passengers like goats and hens. The bus returned back from two kilometers short of our destination and we had to walk.

While taking rest on a big roadside boulder, I tried to comfort her, 'the P.W.D. bungalow is very near, then there will be only you and me who will enjoy this serene place'.

We were supposed to go to Hesadi, a picturesque place of tranquility beside Ranchi-Chakradharpur Road , surrounded by dense forest and hills.There is also a waterfall named Hirni falls nearby. A P.W.D bungalow is situated here just beside the road. We had a booking for the bungalow.

She refused to go any further,' I don't have any power left to move a bit. My legs are aching'. She was massaging her legs lifting her sari above her knees. I enjoyed her beautiful legs,'Wait for the night dear somebody may see'.
She laughed,'There are only trees and trees. I don't think any human being lives here'. I said, 'Darling for thousands of years people are living in forests. There are so many people living in this forest that you can't imagine'.
As soon as she rolled down the sari some villagers emerged from the jungle. They asked us where should we supposed to go. When they heard about the P.W.D. bungalow, they looked each other face in astonishment. Then a tall person of them said,'You have left the bungalow behind'. They offered a help to the bungalow. I was confused. I came here long ago with my school excursion team. Should I be wrong about the route we followed them.

After walking about fifteen minutes backwards through the jungle we left the jungle and reached the same road, the same place from where we started walking. And again to our utter surprise, they pointed to the return bus to Chakradharpur, which was starting then.

The tall man came closer to me and whispered, 'The jungle party was waiting for you .They know about the booking. They planned to abduct you from the bungalow tonight'.
I was confused, 'jungle party!' He whispered again, 'Maoists'.
Rupa was trembling, 'Why did you take the risk of saving us brother?' One of his companion told, the leader is his son.