The gorgeous sun was wholly covered by the thick dark clouds as if they have grudge to each other. It was midsummer of the year 2003 where one cannot predict the position of a mighty sun. The light shower was most likely to pour down.
No sooner had I took my hasty lunch, I rushed down the dormitory. I leaned my back on the folded blanket and started opening the book since only few days were left to appear for our midterm examination. Shortly, I felt bit sleepy because of my body being enfolded by a warm blanket. In order to escape away from sleep, I just got up from my bed and walked along the road towards Chamgang. I was not smartly dressed, but in simple clothes just to cover up my body.
I was walking at a snail’s pace for half an hour with all my concentration in the book. All of a sudden, somebody was calling me from the behind. When I stared at the back, it was Senegal one of my roommates. He was accompanied by another friend of mine known as Kota who shares the same cup with me. Alike me, they were also heading towards Chamgang for the sake of study.
Three of us then got united and moved ahead by teasing, joking and chatting with each other. Just before us, two of my friends called Rangdrol and Yamey were also found studying in the bush. When they saw us, they were enticed and allured to join with us. It was somewhat like an expedition, despite discussing on the subject matter for the forthcoming exam.
The group was extended. We five in total, incessantly joked and walked farther. In the midst of hilarious joy, Senegal said: “Hey! Shall we move to Wangdi?” We were all stunned and looked at each other. “Yes, why not,” I replied after a bit silence. Following me, the rest of the friends unanimously agreed to move towards Wangdue Phodrang without any plan. None of the friends had expected such things would happen in the midst of jungle.
Nevertheless, we decided to begin our adventurous journey through the dense forest, despite the unclear footpath. None of us had ever gone through that forest where other people used as shortcut to Wangdi Phodrang. Even then, we had crossed Chamgang Primary School since the sun was about to set in the west. We climbed up and up through the marshy trail and shadowy jungle.
Astoundingly, we were brightened up as if we were liberated from the torment hell. We had approached at the summit of so-called Hinglay La. It was very beautiful and fully covered with various species of flowers. There was a small stupa where the passers-by can offer some flowers and receive blessings for their safe journey. We all plucked a bunch of flowers and offered to the stupa, then prostrated for three times in exchange for blessings.
From there, we had to walk down the rift valley until village called Naahe. The journey was totally different at that time. Neither we had climbed nor hiked through the swampy dark forest as we experienced before. We moved down towards Nahe Primary School because Senegal’s father works there as a teacher. On the way, all of us were exhausted and starved, but nobody had brought anything to alleviate our hunger.
When I put my hand in my pant pocket, I found twenty bucks and said: “Hey friends! I have twenty bucks”. Upon saying this, all of them laughed and mocked at me. “What is the use of your money in the forest,” replied Rangdrol. I realized what he had said because it was of no use even if I had money.
At around 3:00 PM, we reached at Naahe village and directly went to Senegal’s house where his uncle and Aunt dwell. Since it was a monsoon season, his uncle and Aunt had just returned home from their paddy field. Notwithstanding the tiredness, his aunt prepared us food and served with generosity. As soon as we swallowed a gulp of red rice, we regained our health. On the contrary, we felt awkward because we didn’t have anything to present before them. Forget about the gift, we even didn’t have a single chocolate for their children. It was so embarrassing moment for all of us. Soon after, we left for Naahe Primary School because Senegal's father was serving there as a teacher. We met with his mom and had a hot cup of tea with some biscuits. His generous mother packed a dozen of boiled eggs for all of us.
The time struck 4:30 PM. We were almost late to continue the journey. Fortunately, we heard the vehicle sound and then we rushed towards the road. The driver was so kind; he gave us lift until Wangdi Phodrang Checkpoint. It was almost dark and the weather was windy. In the town, Yamey’s sister runs a general shop. We stopped there and had a cup of tea. It seemed difficult to lodge all of us in her house since we had five in total. Nonetheless, we had decided to set off for Yamey’s village called Ruebeysa. When we were just descending from Tencholing, the moon started escorting us with humility. The chillness of the land breeze was unsolicited yet pleasant.
And when we reached at Dangchu Zampa, we took some rest and took the boiled eggs. I couldn’t see the landscape of Rubeysa but I could at least feel its beauty. I would have had enjoyed if we could have reached there early. The trail was too steep and zigzag. After few hours walk, we finally arrived at Yamey’s home. When we stepped into the kitchen, we found his parents and relatives were seated on the floor encircling before a blazing fire. No sooner did his father see us, he (Yamey) was questioned. “Why are you so late?”asked his father. “We were actually on self study, but unexpectedly we reached here,” replied Yamey. His father smiled and so did his mother. Very soon, we were served with dinner followed by tea. His mother then arranged us bed and we slept comfortably.
The next day when we woke up, it was almost 10:00 AM. Yamey’s parents left to work in the paddy field. We took our breakfast and went down to the paddy field. His dad was ploughing the field while mom was transplanting the paddy. We couldn’t bear the hardship that his parents faced due to shortage of labor. Owing to the situation, we furled our trouser and long sleeve and started helping his parents. Unfortunately, we couldn’t manage to help them for the whole day because we had to return to the school. After working for just an hour, we took our lunch and left for Wangdi Town.
Fortunately, we got bus and reached safely to the school. Upon our arrival, our friends in the hostel showed us their infuriated face instead of warm reception. Unexpectedly, one of the friends called Jambay, the eldest among us, started rebuking. “Wai, where did you all go?” asked Jambay. “We went to Wangdi. We are so sorry for not informing you all,” we responded. “Did you know how much we were worried?” he reiterated. “We also didn’t know, it happened out of the blue,” we replied. According to them, they have been searching for us since our missing.
There were speculations among the teams that we could have been convicted for crime and detained by the police or otherwise gobbled by a bear. Consequently, they had divided into two teams. One of the teams marched towards Chamgang, looked above and below the road and vainly called our names. While other team went directly to Thimphu police custody and inquired if they had detained us. HAHAHA….We all laughed. It sounded funny for us, but irritating for them because they were so worried. “Anyhow, never repeat such things in the future,” they warned. They smiled and dismissed.
