The ten-person shared cab journey from Tezpur to Bomdila was
a mess except for the fact that I was sitting next to Aarushya. Through the
mountainous terrain and beautiful scenic passes of Arunachal Pradesh, one of
the largest states in India, Mitu (the cab driver) reached on his schedule but
way beyond ours.
Wearing my good for nothing jacket and keeping my hands tightly
inside the pockets, “Have you booked a room?” I enquired her.
“WHATT! I don’t even know something like Bodmila existed before you told me. I
was planning to go to Tawang and have planned and booked everything there!”,
she told with a huge surprise.
“Bomdila”, I corrected her.
“As-if! Huhhh!”, she took a deep breath and composed herself
and continued, “You are such a terrible planner!”
The only thing I did not tell her was the letter and why I
decided to travel here. I had zero plans and a sense of fear started to creep
through my body with the cold winds blowing on my face. I stood there saying
nothing. Her face was shining with the soon to be full moon with a constant
rustling sound of river and tiny insects sounds gave a wave of scare. My stare
was interrupted by Mitu asking me “Rooms----- book-----”. I said “yes” without
knowing what those words he spoke between ‘Rooms’ and ‘Book’. He quickly dialed
a guy and started to speak something. An unusual intuition kicked me from
inside and I signaled her to listen to their conversation.
After disconnecting the call, Mitu walked towards the only
opened tea shop in that road and started talking with him.
“What did he speak on the phone?” I hurriedly asked her to
sense the situation. She was so calm and cool and responded “I don’t know. You
should have…”
“What? You know Hindi right? I know I did not plan the trip
and I did not book anything. Also, I did not plan to meet you here. Why can’t
you just listen to that conversation for a moment”, I cut her midway and tried
to show my disappointment without raising the voice.
“Hahaha! I know Hindi and I know you don’t know Hindi. Also,
I know he was not speaking Hindi on Phone!”, she told casually and smirked.
Apparently, they were speaking a local dialect and I was on
the verge of losing my temper for a moment for nothing. I could not think
clearly or understand what is happening around. Only thing I did not do was
shout instead I kept my mouth shut. It was scarier than the day before because
of increased responsibility. If I tell her this, she will start with “Why do
you feel responsible. I am on my own! Blah. Blah. Blah.”. On that moment
someone started inside my head “If it was your last week…” and was promptly disturbed
by Mitu.
“Sir... Rooms------------------“, he said, and I had no
other choice other than to look at her for translation. She replied him
something and in the next 30 minutes we both were inside a small house with two
tiny rooms and comforters. We paid him off and thanked him for the help. I
slipped him a snicker bar into his hands and wished him ‘Good night’. In the
next few minutes we exchanged smiles and I slipped into the fluffy comforter.
“Good Night :)”, a text message beep and I smiled to myself.
I remembered her telling me once that she will never sleep without wishing a
good night to me. I guess she never slept for 5 years!
I woke up a little late in the morning and looked through
the window. The clear blue skies complementing the green mountains and a river melted
from the distant glaciers glittering with golden sun streaks made an absolute
view. Went out of my tiny room in to the main hall to look for her and plan the
rest of the day. Looked around and all the doors were left open. Hurriedly
looked at my mobile phone – no text or calls from her. Her bags were gone and
so is she!
I dialed her number and an automated voice responded that
she is out of reach!
People are never meant to be the ‘constants’ in anyone’s life. It’s always the feel they made you feel!
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