What a Trip!

It was all pre planned as always. It was going to be our first ever trip together to the jungle so we were all too excited. My cousins and my parents had planned to travel together whereas I was to follow them.

Not that it would ever happen had it been for real life situation, but since its my imagination, I guess its okay to think wild.

The gang as we call ourselves was all set to leave on the 16th of September. Normally gang is a word used to describe a bunch of gangsters. However we do not find it improper to call ourselves a gang because its not incorrect as per the "Mumbaiyaa" language.

They all started their journey but were a little less then two hours late which was pretty much usual. We are from Mumbai, India and we might as well prove it on every occassion we get.

The journey was pleasant and the high spirited gang had an entertaining time. They did all sorts of things from playing antakshari (Now this is such an Indian thing. I wonder if firangs play antakshari. Even if they do I wonder if its as much fun. Nothing can beat Bollywood!) to playing cards. They danced and sang on the top of their voices.

I reached there after two days of their arrival as was decided. The way we screamed on seeing each other (Thats how we normally meet) I guess even the king of the jungle must have been scared to death. I noticed that our cottage was nothing less then a palace. It was the most beautiful place I had ever seen.

We spent the day together in the cottage fighting over small things like we always do. Some wanted to play cards, while the idea didnt appeal a few others. Some wanted to go out, while the others wanted to rest at home. Although after a lot of convincing and\or forcibly we always agree to do things together. Also, together we have a rocking time which gives us the kind of happiness which we dont get from the rest of the world.

We did a lot of things together. Some got together and gossiped (a natural human tendency or should I say a natural girl tendency) So we spent a worry free day unaware of the unpleasant surprises the next day was to unfold for us.

We all argued over who sleeps with whom in which rooms. After a heavy discussion over the irrelevant topic we all settled in our own rooms.

Next morning was the most beautiful morning I had ever witnessed. The fog and the weather made the jungle look even more beautiful. The sun was just about to rise and the dew drops on the lush green leaves looked more precious than diamonds. I decided to go for a stroll in the garden outside our cottage. The beauty of the nature I had witnessed from the window of my room suddenly doubled. The spotted deers and other animals had gathered at the lake which was visible from our cottage. The scene was so enchanting that it made me wish, I had a remote control with a pause button in it. That moment I didnt think of the fact that somebody actually had a remote control with a stop button in it.

All of us were up and ready in the next few hours. I decided to go to the terrace to the swing while I was waiting for others to get ready.

I had noticed it in the morning that our bus was missing. That time I had assumed that the driver must have taken it someplace to wash and clean the bus. However even after all these hours the bus was still missing. I rushed down and asked them if they knew where the bus was. None of them was aware of it but somehow they dint look worried about it, which made me panic even more. Hours went by. We cancelled our plans to go out. We engaged ourselves in other things, but I just couldn’t understand the reason why everybody else was so calm in a situation where we (just us) were trapped inside a jungle and our bus and the bus driver were missing. I spent a restless day and night while others around me were worry free.

The next morning was equally beautiful or probably even more beautiful but I could not enjoy it. Not anymore. I looked out of the window, not to enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature but to see if the bus was parked outside. It wasn’t there and at that moment I just knew we simply can’t wait and watch. The bus and driver had been missing for two days now and something had to be done about it and I decided to take control of the situation. The moment I was ready I started talking to everybody one after the other and explained to them that we must go find out a way to get out from here. The gang didn’t look convinced and was still at ease; however they didn’t reject my proposal.

Just when we were about to leave we heard the roars of a tiger. I rushed to the balcony and got more worried because our youngest cousin Chirag had gone down already. From the balcony I could see him. He was just about a few yards away from the tiger. We were not in a zoo where we see tigers from a distance of a few inches. This was the jungle and the tiger was wild and free. Chirag however was behaving like the tiger was tamed and caged. He started walking towards the tiger and I suddenly felt I could not breathe anymore. He kept walking towards the tiger like some national geographic hero. He almost touched the tiger and returned safely. I started wondering if this had happened for real or was it my dream. I was flabbergasted. After the incident, we or at least I didn’t want to go out and risk mine as well as others lives. Everybody was behaving like nothing happened. They continued to behave as strangely as they had for the past two days. However I couldn’t get the incident out of my mind.

A few hours passed by and I was more restless than I had been in the past two days. The uneasiness and the tension was increasing with the moment. Suddenly I heard some noise and I rushed to garden. I saw a police jeep approaching towards our cottage and I thanked God for sending the help that I needed so badly. I knew the police was finally here to rescue us. The jeep halted at the front of our gate and a lady inspector got off from the jeep. I ran to the inspector and I started explaining the situation to her but she looked through me and pretended like she couldn’t hear me. I hadn’t noticed that it had started raining. I even failed to notice where the rest of gang had been all this while. Whether they had heard the sound of the jeep coming. Since the inspector was not paying attention to what I was saying I ran to the jeep without thinking. As if the jeep would listen to my story or probably I wanted to see the vehicle which would get me out of this jungle.

Suddenly I saw Chirag standing just a few meters away from me and the jeep with his back facing me. He was holding a red umbrella. It seemed like he appeared from nowhere. I looked at him and he turned to look towards me. But he moved very slowly. When he came a little closer facing me, I saw something that shocked me. I couldn’t move and couldn’t believe what my eyes saw. I was completely aware that this was not my dream. This was for real. Chirag’s eyes were hollow. The eye balls were missing from the sockets and his eyes told me the story that had been erased from my memory. The reel played in my mind and the memories flushed back. That’s when I remembered how I had met with an accident on my way to the jungle and then I realized that the gang had also met with an accident on their way to the jungle.

None of us had survived the accident and that we were all DEAD. When I was hoping to have a remote with a pause button, I did not know that God had already pressed the stop button for all of us.

Suddenly I could feel the same calmness that I saw in others in the past two days and I understood why they behaved the way they did. Now I also felt light and worry free. It is a feeling that can not be explained but can only be felt.

We all continued to live in the cottage. Now I know what heaven looks like. Now we all live in heaven and we will all live happily ever after!