The "uncommon" commoner...

He resumed.





"This business has been going on for generations. It actually was my uncle's business. One day he called me. He was ageing and turning frailer, and so, wanted me to assist him.



A new place! No caning from teachers!! My heart danced with joy! Even my father, had no objections! Things were going great indeed.



Once a year, I would come home. A month's stay, and I would resume my usual routine.



Years later, putting me in sole charge of the business, he left. Off to Haridwar.



Since then, I've been here."





"How's business going?"




"Great!


The jungle has got enough to hunt my hunger and wet my thirst. I don't need a doctor even! I get my medicine here, as well!



The Dibrugarh market is good enough. Cow milk: twenty bucks, buffalo: thirty. Absolutely pure!"






Interesting person for a dialogue!



Forty years in the jungles of Assam! He was anything but a commoner.





To be continued.....

A chanced encounter...

Bushy vegetation staring from the upper lip. 

Long, confused, curly grasslands covering the lengths of his scalp. Complete white.

A "dhoti" and a "kurta", that felt real coarse.

Even at this age, his health was clearly worth envying!

That's Birju Ram.

One of the crowd, on the vessel. Way back from Dibrugarh, where he was, on his "milky" business!

His thickly dense family's haunt near Teen-Mile-Ghat boasts of two hundred buffaloes and five hundred cows!! About fifteen people and, a few dogs, to take care of the production unit. In the interiors of Assam. Adjacent to Poba Reserve Forest.

"Am from Baliya, Uttar Pradesh. I've been here for four decades now." Birju began. 

"A hell lot of places to go! Why here, in Assam, of all places?" I couldn't help being inquisitive!

"Those days, it was far more worse here. Communication was almost non existent."

His walk down the past cut the dialogue short, for a moment.

To be continued.....

Cormorants, curlews, and a "mirka"...

Upstream.




Reasonably enough, we were going slow.





Arunachal is in the east. Here, the splendour is in a hurry, for an arrival and a departure, alike!








It was just about 3:30, when the blues turned reddish. Blushing. Chancing a quick escape.








The muddy river banks, along with the resident sandpipers and curlews, were visible. A flock of cormorants, disturbed by the noisy vessel, moved farther north. Just as we were approaching Silonimat, a dolphin emerged from the depths, and disappeared, in a flash. The moment lived short, like the ripples on the river.






Some distance away, a kingfisher on flight, adjusted motion and direction, and descended straight into the depths. Managing a prey, it settled somewhere distant, among the crowd of greens. The binocular lenses said the fish was a healthy one. A "mirka", might be.





To be continued.....

Of birth and names...

According to many, Tabu Chhopri is the amalgamation point of Brahmaputra and Siyang. The actuality is, way different, though!

It's rather Brahmaputra who assumes the name Siyang, on entering the gates of Arunachal. Moving farther east, along the walls of Tibet, it turns Tsangpo.

That simply meant, one river, many a name to call!

The origin, though remains highly debated, amongst researchers and religious pundits!!!

Facts say, some 100-150 kilometres east of Manas Sarovar, the river blooms, from one of the glaciers in Tibet.

No, it's not that I don't remember the name of the glacier, but, it's bit tricky!

Near the point of origin, Brahmaputra opens up to 4-5 arms, and it's actually hard to determine which is the "original" arm! Debates and confusion have webbed pundits throughout the world, on the birth of Brahmaputra.

To be continued.....

A tryst with Siyang...

We are moving on.




Expectedly, the driver knows the path, by heart. Even the difference of depths, are at his fingertips! Sometimes, he's changing ways, often, with a temporary stoppage.



Some busy heads, scribbling up and down.




The continuous blues, interrupted by lather and water hyacinths, at random intervals. At places, here and there, people are sailing, on rafts.



The waters, crowded with towering reeds, along the banks.




Lantana bush, shrubs of Jujube, elegantly ornamented with wild fruits, green, yellow, and some, with a reddish tinge.









Half past one.







"Hey, that's Tabu Chhopri!!! someone had, expectedly given in, to the sheer sight of the exquisite view!




My eyes widened and the jaws dropped! I just couldn't move.





The disgorged Siyang surrendering herself to the depths of Brahmaputra!!



The crystal blues of Siyang mating the smoky waters of Brahmaputra!







To be continued..... 

Casual encounters...

The lunch arrived, strictly at twelve.



The vegetables lacked "glamour" and "shapes", but tasted purely "desi"!


 100% "urea-free"!!!







A year-and-a-half back, I had come to Passighat.



The drinking water at the circuit house had, almost beaten me out of life!!! I had laid, half dead, and half nursing, for a day-and-a-half!!!




This time, I opted for mineral water, right from the start. We were carrying a couple of two-litre packs, along.









Twelve thirty.



The sun stood, royally, right in the middle of the sky, as we felt the temperature "nearly cracking" our skulls!




Among the co-passengers, we had four British guys.


And, since their arrival, they have been down with their game of cards!



Paul Robinson, Andrew Fraser, John Miller and Craig White. Residents of Manchester. Out for an outing!!!



Their last destination had been Dhaka, and now, they were, on the way to Passighat, and then, off to Markengselek. And then, finally, quenching their thirst with Delhi, they would head home!!




To be continued.....

The titbits...

Gobbling down the titbits and wetting them with tea, we were in our haunt, the deck.



Sunny morning. Well complimented with pleasant winds.




The travellers included empty milk-cans, cotton-full sacks, salt, plastic materials, clothes and machinery that smelled iron.



Came across a flock of Brahmini kites. Far away, two grey herons appeared as mere fragments.



The clock said, it was ten-thirty.





After two rounds of tea, it was time for lunch orders.


 Chicken rice and veg thaali.



Though our mouths watered, our hearts shrunk, fearing bird flu!!!




The only other option was veg!!! A far safer one!!!






A team of four though, only three meals were ordered.





Meet Mala Bose. The lady ornithologist of the team! Her "feeding" was a different story, altogether!!!




She, of late, had habitually started finishing meals, off biscuits, fruits, cakes and pastries!!! Probably, not to revisit the "nightmare", that had once made her lean, skeletal mass look even paler!!!

Setting off...

We rushed to the vessel with all the packing, and, in all this rush, I had actually forgotten the fare!!!



Thanks to Aneek. He actually saved me a real embarrassment!





Whistling away, the boat set off. Wading the waters of Brahmaputra.




Moments later, everything had pretty merged in, and it all looked a confused mass!



It was a huge vessel.


Our seats at a side, overlooked by the deck in the middle, followed by the engine room. The driver stood at, one-and-a-half storey! The toilet and the kitchen were to the other side.



Swinging his loaded bag, jingling with nickels and dimes, came a man.


 Fare. Seventy bucks. To Oiram Ghat.


Sincerely following, in came tea, with a tray of patties.



Tea: four bucks, patty: five.



The busy waters tasted appetite.





To be continued.....

The winged horse...

Run!!!



Run!!!




Run!!!






We had to reach Akondo Ghat, by 8:30 in the morning! And then, to Oiram Ghat, courtesy machined boats.





The train was late. Just good enough, to throw ourselves in, to the last jeep to the Ghat!



The driver, Tarun Phukan, justified his name well, being actually young!!


"Don't worry man! You'll get your vessel." His voice was more than assuring.


And, he went. Like a winged horse, speeding all the way, by the river banks, and even through courtyards of men, bewildered by the "act"!!!


Miles away from the river, we could see the vessel, readying to leave.



"Dude, can you just wait for a sec? We are almost there!" Tarun had called up somebody, we didn't really care about. All that mattered was, getting there!



To be continued.....

To begin things...

Call of the wild!!!


So!!



Pack and get going!!!





This time, in the heights of Arunachal Pradesh. East Siyang and Upper Siyang.



Damp vegetation. Seems like, just back, from a shower. Unkempt hair.






Howrah to Dibrugarh. On tracks.



Trying to mask off the lethargy of a 36-hour long journey, we finally reached Dibrugarh!!!





To be continued.....