The Great Escape

I threw the rope towards the barbed fence above the cemented wall. It was quite high and the hook fixed at the end of the rope would make a metallic sound every time it hit the iron frame that held the barbed wires. It was not easy to escape from prison and I had initiated the escape plan only after a lot of deliberations and preparations. The area that I chose was secluded and the focus light from the corner tower fell on that area after a gap of a few minutes. However, the sound of the hook was a major concern, it could activate the alarm system and if one is caught trying to flee the consequences would be notoriously bad. My partner in this infringement was Rakesh, a boy of my age, he was convicted of murder. His story, however, was not that of a murderer but of one who avenged the brutal murder of his brother. It was an act of bravery as the rich village lords went scot-free even after killing the poor, the law was maneuvered in their favor, and they had the power of money. So when his brother was killed he vowed to avenge. It took some time but he eliminated the entire family in one night. All male member of that family were put to silence, forever. He didn’t touch women, children, and money. The village was national news, he had surrendered on his own, and the police guys were afraid to even look at him. Such is the power that every individual carry but only a few exercises the power and only when they are pushed to the extreme of victimization. He knew that he wasn’t safe in the prison; he already had few miraculous escapes from life-threatening attacks. It was better to jump the prison walls then to get killed and be dismissed as just another case of natural death.

 Rakesh and I had stuck the cord quite early; I could read in his deep and intent eyes that there was more to his life than what was known to all the other inmates including me. It was only after our friendship started to develop that I realized how his thoughts were unconventional, how he wanted to bring changes in society. I at times listened to him in astonishment when he shared his daring and unprecedented ideas. How our lives were similar, both victims of the atrocities of society. Both of us had seen loss, both of us were left alone to fight the bad world with no one beside us. Rakesh chose to show extreme courage and removed some dirt whereas I chose to flow with the wrongdoings.

His ideas had a profound impact on me and I was seeing some reason to live. It was he who influenced me to think from my father’s perspective. Even though my father ran away from his responsibilities but that was the only choice left with him. Either way, he suffered the most. My father visited me every month and now I was in talking terms with him. It was he who managed to bring some money. He pulled heavy carts to earn little money which he gave it to me. I had bribed the prison guards with that money and arranged for the escaping material.

The hook got stuck in the barbed fence this time. Rakesh first dragged himself up with the rope and then it was my turn. We didn’t realize that our hands were bleeding; the fear and excitement bore dominance above our insignificant physical pains. On reaching the top of the wall we pulled the rope and dropped it the other side. We then slipped down through the rope to the other side of the wall.  

It was wee hours and we had to be careful, the barking dogs could cause trouble so we walked instead of running. Every minute we were moving away from the prison area, we had to leave the city as soon as possible, before our absence gets noticed. We didn’t choose train or bus; instead, we got into a truck. We didn’t know which way the truck was heading, it didn’t matter. We both woke up when the morning sunlight fell on our eyes, we peeped out of the truck trunk to collect clues as to where we were. We were far away from Kolkata, we had left behind the state of West Bengal and were in Bihar. The truck stopped near a settlement and we jumped out of the truck. We stretched our arms and inhaled the air of freedom.