The second part of the trilogy 'AN EXPLORER'S PARADISE' :

THE WOODS 

                                 Photo source: Pinterest

As the unannounced invader beat against the window, Karthik and Dhruv searched for their seats amongst the crowd pouring in and out. The crammed up space seemed to be empty as the passengers left the room, yet their seats weren't to be found anywhere. 

“Uncle, did you not book your ticket?” Dhruv asked, scratching his head. 

“I did, and don’t call me uncle. It makes me feel old, and I ain’t that old. Besides, I have a ticket. Where is yours?” 

“I thought you booked them!” he yelled. 

“We met thirty minutes ago! How would I have possibly booked two tickets for a single passenger?” Karthik laughed. 

“Great, now I am going to get a fine.”

“Relax. The train won’t leave for another ten minutes. Run up to the counter and get one, bribe them if they won’t let you.” 

“Good idea,” he said, as he ran out the door. It was the ultimate fool proof plan for any traveller in India. First request, then plead and at last, offer some money. 

The faded letters on the seat resembled the numbers on Karthik’s ticket. He dusted off the grill above him and placed his bag, waiting for the minion to arrive. He saw a silhouette approach him, and now he could see him clearly, drenched in the rain. “Did you get your ticket?” 

“Ticket price and a thousand bucks. This is why this land will never grow,” the spirited youth in him spoke. 

   

                                                    ****

“So, where is this explorer’s paradise?”  Dhruv asked. The empty streets of Assam accompanied by the Golgappa vendors looked beautiful under the night sky. 

“Only one way to find out, by exploring.” 

“So you are going to explore the whole of Assam?” 

“No, we will ask the street vendors and the people here. They must know something.”

“Then why don’t you search the internet?”

“You sure does ask a lot of questions,” Karthik grinned. “See, in the internet if you search something, images of the place start popping up. And I don’t want to see that. I want the sight of the woods to take my breath away.” 

“What if there are wild animals?” Dhruv asked. 

“We are wild enough.” 

“What if they chase us?”

“We run.”

“What if they kill us?” 

“We die,” he laughed again. “I am intrigued by your questions. Is this what your kind of people do?” 

“We generally ask Google all the questions.”

“Are you satisfied with the answer you get?”
“Of course,” Dhruv exclaimed. 

“Let me ask you a question. Which is the best way to be happy? I’ll give you ten minutes to Google it and tell me the answer.” 

“Sure.” He started fiddling on his phone, as the elder man explored the streets bathed in moonlight. 

While Karthik checked into a room for his night crash, Dhruv stayed in the lobby, searching for the answer. 

“Time is up. Now tell me honestly, did you find an answer that was satisfying to you?” 

“Yes, I can be happy by travelling.” 

“Mhm, so you are travelling, someone stole all your money and you have no place to stay and you are swarmed by mosquitoes. Will you be happy?” 

“Umm..” 

“I thought so too. See, what there is on the internet is not always the answer you are looking for. You have to experience it to find the answer.”

“I get your point, but do you know the answer?”

“I am still trying to find out, offline of course.” 

“When do we sail the ship?” 

“Seven in the morning. Goodnight kid.” 

                                                                                             ***

The morning glow wasn’t bright, nor was the light in Dhruv’s eyes. As his eyes half opened while climbing the hills, Karthik tracked the path with marks, so they could return the next day without getting lost. The half grown grass and the full grown men chased the hill, looking for the prettiest spot in the hill. 

“Are you all kids lazy in the morning?” Karthik asked, eyeing the tired Dhruv. “It is seven thirty and you are not even breathing properly. You should know that I am not carrying an oxygen tank.” 

“I am starting to get used to the elder men’s life. Don’t judge me on being slow.” 

“You better learn fast, because in about an hour, we will be climbing higher.” 

Hollow Cove’s ‘The Woods’ played on the speaker as they went up. For the each beat, they took a new step, and the sun took a step down. The hope in finding the woods seemed to be fading as there were no trees, only bushes where no one dared to hide. Karthik’s nightmare was beginning to take shape. 

“What is your worst nightmare?” he asked Dhruv, who was busy untangling his earphones. 

“Um, the fear of losing a job?” 

“Is that a question or an answer?”

“I don’t know. I don’t fear much in particular. I know it sounds fake, but I never had lost anything in life.”

“Not even a girlfriend?” Karthik smiled. 

“No, because I never had one. What about you? Where is your family?”

“I never got married.”

“Fear of commitment?”

“No, the joy of being a loner hooked me up. The single path has so many routes. I could die the next second, and no one would know.” 

“What about the thrill of leaving a mark on the earth?” 

“We all leave a mark on the earth when we are born. Everyday we leave a mark, maybe not on the road, not on the hills. I might have helped someone in need, and must have left a mark there.”

“I see,” he replied, being entertained by a wise man’s words. “Speaking of which, I think we are lost. And we have found the woods.”

Photography: F.S. 

“Oh wow,” Karthik gasped, as his eyes laid on the sight before him. The tall trees colouring the sky green, and the dark mist covering their eyes. The rustle of them were so quiet and eerie, he believed they were the only one around the woods. The explorer’s paradise he was looking for could be this, unless he found something more prettier, more wider, more miles to explore. But for all he knew in that exact moment, with a boy with the will to be inspired, this was his paradise. The explorer in him joyed, as the human in him worried. 

“What do we do know?” Dhruv asked, eyeing the empty path that ended a few feet away. 

“We camp. And we return tomorrow.”

“Aren’t you scared?” 

“No,” Karthik smiled. “The most dangerous creature in this place are us now. We have invaded the secret paradise of the animals. And this place will remain a secret between us.”

Karthik and Dhruv, each other’s hands on the other’s shoulder, enjoyed the view before them, as the band sang, “And we all sit around the fire, we feel so much better now.”