Can we call it an adventure?

Initially, some of us eagerly waited for Dhunu's elder Bro's wedding ceremony. We were already into our 8th semester and we're pretty sure, that would have been our last trip in Hostel.  But later, when the marriage date was fixed, everyone was quite upset, as it was scheduled just before a couple of weeks of our final exam. Many of the guys already rejected the idea, but few of us were still pretty much interested for the thrill. Dhunu had already left for his home one week before the wedding and before he left, he discussed with us whether we would have been going or not?

Dhunu said "I know you people will not be coming, but in case if you guys change your mind, I would like to give some instruction on how to reach my home."

Dhunu's home was in Karbi Anglong district of Assam, about 15-20 km from Bokajan railway station and they didn't have a land line phone in their house. Well, it was the time when mobile phones were recently introduced and was considered as a luxury. Most of us never visited that part of Assam and Dhunu explained us in great detail, that too with appropriate diagram.

We were basically in a dilemma, as sometimes we decided to go and sometime used to drop the idea. One evening I was in my room and suddenly my room mate Nair, came out of the blue and said that Tunga and Sabine were already prepared to go to Dhunu's place and we had to move that night itself.  I thought what the hell? I had no idea what was going on. After some time Tunga, Sabine and Prasu came to our room with their backpacks. Tunga shouted at us "F*** You guys, get ready fast, bus is waiting and it's the last bus".

All of a sudden Nair, Rajat and Mehboob also got ready. Every thing happened so fast, I had no idea what to do? As my room was very near to the hostel gate, I head the bus horn. I just took whatever money I had and literally I didn't have any time to get ready. I just took a couple of T-Shirts and a jeans in one hand and my shoes on the other hand and entered the bus.

I simply shouted at my friends "What the F?" We reached the railway station and luckily didn't miss the train. Now we didn't book out tickets, but it was OK,  we knew it can be managed. We were quite upset, as we didn't plan it well or else, we could have brought a few bottles. It would have been real boring without that. Now Tunga was a smart ass, as he was able to manage it from the pantry guy, in the train itself. Even though, the pantry guys couldn't provide us my quencher, Well, I was a die hard Old Monk fan during my college days. But  considering the situation, I just couldn't have asked for anything more.

After few rounds, we started to play "antakshari".  It was a damn hypnotizing moment , boozing on the train with the cool train breezes. But we had a minor problem, as no one was confident on "how to exactly go to Dhunu's place?"

Dhunu told us that we would have to get down at Bokajan station and would've to wait there for few hours, as only after 6 AM, the buses would have started.

On the way, we met two very friendly kind of uncles and they were also headed towards Bokajan. They said to us that we could have waited in the station till morning, but they suggested us a superb idea and said "instead of waiting,  you guys could walk. It would hardly take 2-3 hours from Bokajan and you guys already have a gang"

We reached Bokajan by 2 AM and to our surprise, there was no waiting room out there. There was not even a single person in the platform.We thought it would have been a foolish idea to wait out there. One of the uncles told us "it's OK  you guys can come with us. We are also going in the same direction till we reach the highway. The highway is just 2-3 km from here. Once we reach the highway you guys would have to take a right." We had full confidence on him and decided to simply follow them.

It was very dark and foggy and we simply walked without any idea where we were heading?

Some one asked "Uncle, how far is the highway from here?"

Uncle replied "Not far, as soon as we cross the kabrastan(graveyard), it would hardly take few more minutes".

My goodness "We walked through the kabrastan?, that too in the middle of the night"

Immediately some one lighted a cigarette and another guy started to chant "Ram Ram Ram ..."

Finally we reached the highway and the uncle said to us "we will have to take left now, our house is very near from here. You guys take a right and just follow the highway. After 2 hours you will reach your destination."

As soon as we conveyed good bye to them, we started to follow the highway. It was too cold and dark and very fucking foggy. We could hardly  see beyond 2 or 3 meters. We hold each others hand and shoulders, while we walked through. It was real scary, whenever any bus or truck passed by. We were not sure what was there at the corner of the road, as nothing was visible. It could have been a culvert or a deep slope.  We were not sure whether we were going through a jungle? We didn't have much knowledge about that place, but we knew one thing that the famous "Kaziranga National Park" was not very far from there.

After we walked for about half an hour, we saw few small shops. Obviously they were closed that time, but we gained some confidence and felt that perhaps we are not very  far from our destination. We tried to take lift from some bus or truck or whatever that passed by us, but all our efforts were fruitless and once again, we started to walk.

As we walked for another half an hour, we were quite tensed. We couldn't see any kind of light far far away. We felt that there's no civilization far and wide and may be we are in the middle of some forest. Some one suggested "lets go back. It's already 3:30 AM and by the time we reach Bokajan Rly station, it would already be dawn and then we could try our luck to catch a bus"

We were not sure by what time bus would have  started? One of us suggested, "lets go, no need to panic."

With "Damn the consequences" kind of attitude, we continued to walk. After an hour, we saw a small shop and everyone was kind of relieved. At around 5:30 AM in the foggy morning, we saw a small pandal in the roadside. We discussed, if that could have been our destination and tried our luck.

There was one person sleeping on a bench and we tried to wake him up. He took some time to come back to life and then we asked "Is this Apurba Bikash Kalita's house?" Well,  it's Dhunu's real name.

The person replied "It is Kalita's house but I am not sure about Apurba bikash kalita."

He went inside to inquire and after 10 minutes to our surprise, we saw Dhunu in front of our eyes. He was so excited to see us. My words can't express the kind of expression he had on his face that moment. The only thing I could remember is that, he grasped both his hands and screamed "Krishna Krishna !"

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