One Great Escape, Part-6

One Great Escape, Part-1

One Great Escape, Part-2

One Great Escape, Part-3

One Great Escape, Part-4

One Great Escape, Part-5

The situation was pathetic to survive out there, as it rained the whole night and they didn't have proper shelter.  Even though Parag Da already decided to escape from that place and he even had few opportunities, but he didn’t dare to escape at night. He didn’t have any idea about the region and it would have been a suicide to escape at night. He seriously thought to try out his luck in the morning. Nobody among them had a good sleep that night, except for those frequent one minute naps. Somehow the night passed and just before the dawn and before Parag Da could think of an escape, all the rebels were on their feet and were discussing among themselves. Two of them went in search for some essential materials like tents, also for their survival they had to arrange some food. In the early morning Parag Da had a clear view of the nearby river, down the hill. The river was neither very broad nor too deep and one could have easily crossed that and could have gone to the other side of the forest.  Once Parag Da had a proper view of the surrounding, he was more determined to escape from there.

Time passed by and in the afternoon the two guys returned with a pair of plastic tents and some boiled rice,  some burned potatoes and few boiled eggs. Parag Da thought “there must be a small village nearby”. Their leader decided to stay at the same place for few more days, till the situation become normal for them. After they had food, they spent some time to make their place of shelter a little comfortable. After they fixed the tents properly, suddenly the place turned into a heaven for a while, as the mosquitoes couldn't enter the camp and they no longer had  to get wet in the rain. Parag Da slept for few hours and was desperate to escape the next morning. He thought the best time to escape would be just before the dawn. 

It was a long night for Parag Da, perhaps his longest night ever. He regularly looked into his watch all through the night and at 3 AM, he mentally prepared himself, but even a small cough from any of the rebels, scarred him like hell.  At 4:30 AM, he could see some light outside and looked here and there. Everyone was sleeping and Parag Da saw a pistol nearby. Even though it was tempting for him, but he decided not to take that pistol with him. He started to make a move very calmly and was out of the camp. He had a plan and walked slowly for the first few meters. In case anyone would have caught him, he would have simply said that he had a nature’s call.

Within a few minutes, he was near the river bank and continued to walk for some more time. He went quite far and the camp was not visible from there. He thought he came much beyond the firing range of the rebels. He then started to run and kept running. He continued to run and was very happy to smell freedom. That moment the famous GNR song (originally by Bob Dylan) "Knock-knock-knocking on heaven's door” played loudly inside his head. He continued to run through the river bank,  downstream, without  any   break. After running for a couple of hours he met a man on the way. 

Even though he was quite relieved to see that man, but he was also a little scared, as the person could have been one of the NDFB rebels. He casually asked that person, if he knew any place nearby where he could make a phone call. The person replied that at a distance of 5-6 KM, there’s a tea estate named “Mahalaxmi Tea Estate” He said that there’s a phone in the office and he guided him the way to that tea estate. The name sounded little familiar to him and after some time, he started to run in that direction and didn't follow the river any longer. On the way he saw few more people but he couldn't trust anyone out there and particularly guys who looked little similar to the rebels.

He continued to run and after almost an hour, he was extremely happy to run through a tea garden. He asked a tea labor about the office and she showed him the way. After some time he was right in front of the office, but it was locked. Perhaps it was too early for the office to open and Parag Da had a look at his watch, it was 8:30 AM that time. Parag Da went inside the nearby bungalow, every tea estate have a typical bungalow, where usually the estate manager used to stay. But the manager was not there that moment and Parag Da had a chat with the watchman.

He briefly explained him about his abduction and how he escaped. The watchman immediately opened the office and Parag Da called his parents. His parents were so happy to hear his voice, as they knew about his abduction on the very first night night itself. Parag Da was quite surprised to know that no one asked for any sort of ransom from his parents. His parents said to him that few days back one lady called them and said that their son is under their custody and asked them to come at a particular place. His father was very confused as he didn't know the place, where they asked him to come.

After talking to his parents, Parag Da called his colleagues. His colleagues immediately contacted the army as the army camp was not very far from their place. Parag Da calmly waited in the bungalow and after a couple of hours, a few army vehicles along with his colleagues arrived there. The army took Parag Da with them and interrogated him the whole day. He had to explain his story several times, to different army officials, all throughout the day. Like us, the officials were not very excited to hear about his escape and they constantly asked him the same question "whether you really escaped or they themselves released you?" Finally the army released him in the evening.

After that incident, Parag Da had a pretty normal life. He is presently working for Indian Railways and  is posted in Assam. I would like to dedicate two songs to him and I am sure he could always relate to these songs, all throughout his life. The first one is the famous Iron Maiden track "Run to The Hills". When Parag Da, along with all the rebels were running up the hill to escape from the army, he remembered it that moment.When he escaped from the custody of the abductors and was running through the river bank. That moment the famous GNR song (originally by Bob Dylan) "Knock-knock-knocking on heaven's door" played loudly inside his head.

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